Never mind Bullock's — Target is the future of dying malls
Target instead of Bullock's, Macy's instead of the Broadway
Don Bauder, SAN DIEGO READER
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
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It’s no surprise that according to the California State Board of Equalization, San Diego County’s taxable retail sales have not returned to pre–Great Recession levels. Kelly Cunningham of the National University System predicts that inflation-adjusted sales this year will still lag such sales of 2004–2006. San Diegans suffer the old squeezeroo: incomes are 20 percent above the nation’s, but costs are almost 45 percent higher.
In the nation, and in San Diego County, “the middle class is shrinking,” says Cunningham. He fears that a stiff rise in the minimum wage will result in job eliminations, worsening the plight of the middle class. (Others disagree.)
Horton Plaza, Image by Andy Boyd
Cunningham thinks some San Diego malls will die in the next ten years. “Many retail centers will continue to struggle unless they can find their own specialized niche,” he says.