BUILDING CONNECTIONS
Hudson Valley Mall owners see engagement with the community as vital to comeback
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » During their heyday, shopping malls were often disparaged by critics as “Anywhere, USA,” generic retail designs with no sense of place, differing little whether in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Akron, Ohio, or Spokane, Wash.
Today, under siege from online shopping and overexpansion of bricks-and-mortar capacity, the mall industry is struggling to survive.
Executives of the Hull Property Group say they believe revitalization of the Hudson Valley Mall could hinge on a steady, conscious effort to build connections to the surrounding community.
Coles Doyle, marketing director for the Georgia-based company, discussed what those efforts will be during an interview last week.
“We want this to be a community place, something that the community is proud of, a true community shopping experience,” she said.
Renovations of the complex at 1300 Ulster Ave. began in the fall, with walls going over vacant storefronts, carpeting laid in the corridors, and decorative lighting installed overhead.
However, connections to the region took hold with installation of 10-foot-tall photos of significant Ulster County landmarks, such as the Kingston Lighthouse, SUNY New Paltz, the Shawangunk Ridge, and Ashokan Reservoir.
“I actually have about 12 more walls ... and, around the end of the month, we’ll finish up most of the walls,” Doyle said.
“We certainly couldn’t attract a tenant the way the mall used to look,” she said. “It wasn’t inviting. It wasn’t an attractive place to come and be in.”
“We want this to be a community place, something that the community is proud of, a true community shopping experience.” — Coles Doyle, marketing director for Hull Property Group
The makeover comes as the mall continues to hemorrhage tenants. In addition to the recent announcement that anchor store Sears will be departing later this year, there are the imminent departures of Wood-
stock Music Shop, which set a Jan. 15 closing, and Spencer’s, with both stores in obvious moving mode in anticipation of closing.
Doyle said that, even with an effort to infuse regional character into the mall, the loss of Woodstock Music Shop demonstrates why some businesses are bettersuited to a different retail environment.
“Sometimes it’s just not a fit,” she said. “It’s not really about local versus a national tenant. It’s what’s successful in an enclosed mall space. This goes from the tenant’s side and from the owner’s side. You have to be able to run long hours, you’re open on holidays. It’s a different environment.”
In a press release that announced the closing of the mall shop, Woodstock Music Shop owners seemed to agree, noting a return to a single location in Woodstock at 6 Rock City Road. Co-owner Jenn Herrigfeld acknowledged that the mall provided some benefits, but also said the online economy will help advance some of the products that were developed since her business moved into the mall just 22 months ago.
“We will continue to grow the sound engineering, online, and vinyl art production part of the business by reducing the overhead of operating a large store,” she said.
“We feel very positive about what we accomplished at the mall store. We’ve been able to expand the business in ways that were not possible before,” Herrigfeld said. “We started the design and manufacturing of ‘Vinyl Art,’ 2D and 3D designs cut into scratched, unusable vinyl, available both in store and on our Etsy site. We grew our online sales both of vintage records and vintage music gear.”
Hull Property Group bought the mall a year ago from PCK Development for $8.1 million, but no significant changes in mall appearance or apparent business plan were made until a tax case was reduced the property assessment to $6.57 million for 2017 through 2021, down from $66 million.
Hudson Valley Mall opened in the early 1980s and was expanded in 1989 and the early 2000s.
Turning things around will take time, Doyle said.
“It’s takes a long time for a property to go down hill,” she said. “It’s going to take a long time for the property to go uphill.”
She noted that, despite talk that clothing retailer Old Navy was seeking to move to Kings Mall — a strip mall adjacent to the Hudson Valley Mall, but fronting on Ulster Avenue — the chain recently signed a new lease to stay at Hudson Valley Mall.
Hull Property Group officials, she said, are working on improvements intended to increase the volume of shoppers, but she was reluctant to share specifics information until plans are finalized.
“We are working on a plan to upgrade the theater,” she said. “We are still working on the details of that plan.”
The uncertainty about the future of the multi screen cinema comes as the owners have been asked about the future of the Sears space.
Sears Holdings Corp. announced Jan. 4 that its location at the Ulster mall will be among 39 Sears stores and 64 Kmarts to close over the next few months. That departure means three anchor spaces in the mall will be vacant. J.C. Penney left in 2015, followed by Macy’s in 2016, and neither of those spaces has been filled. The only anchor that will remain at the mall after Sears leaves in early April is Target.
“It’s not meant to be cryptic, but it is a process,” Doyle said. “We’re constantly thinking of ... Scenario A and Scenario B. So there’s no plan set in stone for the Sears space, there’s a lot of different possibilities, and what we’re really working on is trying to build a consensus on what could be the best use for that space — working with city leaders, other business owners, and out-leasing team to find out who prospective tenants could be.”
Part of future growth is expected to include building relationships with community groups.
The first event in that regard is “Color for a Cause,” scheduled for March 15, in which representative of local organizations will participate in creating 6-foot-tall murals for their group and be provided with a stage to talk about their cause. Winning presentations will receive $250 donations.
“It’s just a fun community event and is one of the things we want to bring in from the Hudson Valley to do in the mall to bring the community together,” Doyle said.
Doyle said rebuilding the mall’s tenant and customer base requires a patient but determined approach that Hull Property Group has developed with other commercial properties.
“Our leasing team has a lot of national relationships because we do own 30 properties,” she said.
“It’s tough, especially right now with ... the new realities of retail — called Amazon and online shopping — and people’s habits are changing,” Doyle said. “Certainly, it’s a property that has some potential. We’re going to have to work hard to achieve that potential.”