Westfield Shoppingtown Eastridge (I-85 exit 20)

[mallguy]

The Wall Street Journal's front-page article about Eastland and other struggling malls included a list of 84 malls at risk for failure, with sales per square foot below $250. Eastland, Columbia Place in Columbia, a mall in High Point, and others were included- as was, surprisingly, the regional mall in Gastonia.

What do people think of this mall? I went to it, and it seemed fine; its anchors are all newish editions of the stores, its interior had some vacancies but had plenty of newish stores (including a massive shoe store that replaced a Goody's that closed) and while the mall wasn't packed, it seemed to be doing fine.

I'd assume that Target and Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers, plus perhaps unemployment in Gastonia, aren't helping this mall, but I didn't see any typical signs of a dying mall (new mall competition, neighborhood going to pot, loss of anchors, etc.) and so I am optimistic on its future- people in Gastonia aren't going to drive all the way to Charlotte when they have a large mid-tier mall nearby, right?

In addition, the re-do of the Gaston Mall looks nice so far, but that's a small outdoor center now- not a massive new development.

Am I missing something?

[Batou]

Yeah that's really the only "mall" IN Gastonia so I don't see it going away anytime soon, it has come a long way from what I remember it when I was little.