CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – With nearly 20 vacant stores and a food court that has been reduced to a lone Dunkin’ Donuts, the Steeplegate Mall is in desperate need of a makeover.
Bustling strip malls that surround it and a refurbished downtown in Concord have siphoned away customers, leaving the 26-year-old complex looking like a ghost town on many days. The few shoppers who remain can point to the spots that once housed Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle and Old Navy – found these days at a glitzy mall down the road in Manchester.
The mall’s slow decline has left it the hands of a consortium of banks, which are keen to find a buyer and willing to reconsider what it means to be a mall. Rather than high-end retailers, they recently attracted two tenants that would seem more at home at a carnival than a shopping mall: a children’s amusement center and a theater that offers magic shows and burlesque dancers.
The move is part of a nationwide trend by older malls to reinvent themselves – either by spending millions of dollars on extensive renovations or knocking down buildings and starting over. Increasingly, malls across the U.S. are looking to expand beyond traditional retail outlets.
Dan Caouette opened VI Party Rentals and Entertainment Center at Steeplegate in the former Old Navy store, creating a huge children’s playground complete with inflatable bounce houses, laser tag and pizza parties. The other new addition, Hatbox Theater, turned another shuttered clothing store into a community theater offering an eclectic mix of plays, live bands, magic shows and burlesque dancers.