The Esplanade Mall is struggling these days. This is the 2nd largest mall in the metro area, but management changes and the loss of several stores is hurting the mall. The area between the center of the mall and Macy's is doing fairly well with only a few vacancies, but the other half of the mall is really struggling. I will not go into the history of the mall, but you can see it here on my previous article. This is still a very nice, clean mall so there is the potential to make this mall great again.
The former Dillard's Men's store entrance.
The main Dillard's store corridors have seen better days. Most of the stores along this corridor have left the mall or moved. The Dillard's was converted to a clearance store. This mall had 2 Dillard's stores 4 years ago. One store closed and the other one only operates the first floor as a clearance store.
This is how the second level near the main Dillard's looks now.
The food court. A film crew was taking down all kinds of equipment for a show or movie being filmed in the mall.
Here are a couple of shots from the Target corridor facing the store and looking into the mall.
Here are a couple of shots near Macy's on the first and second floor.
The Target appears to be the most popular anchor.
The new Grand Theater is a short distance across from the mall. I wonder why they did not connect this to the mall.
The old General Cinema at the back of the mall sits almost in the shadow of the new Grand Theater
The Macy's looks faded and worn on the outside, but the inside is nice and recently remodeled. The 3rd floor was closed as part of the reopening of the store. Flood damage from Hurricane Katrina caused lots of damage to the store and took several years for Macy's to finally reopen. The new Lakeside Macy's opened at the same time as this store reopened. The New Orleans Centre Macy's never reopened and still sits awaiting redevelopment.
I really am surprised that this mall is still standing. I was around six or seven when this mall opened and you couldn't keep me away from it. Now it is completely depressing inside. There are a few stores that are still hanging on but when you venture into the actual mall, it is an empty, desolate wasteland. I have lived in Kenner my whole life and I seldom venture into this mall anymore. On the rare occasions that I do, I see that there are more and more empty stores. You can tell that there is no foot traffic because the food court is always empty. It really is a shame to see a place that was once so nice steadily decline into a shell of its former self. That sad part is that this mall has been in steady decline for the past ten years and I can't think of anything that could be done to help it. Not that it matters, because the owners don't really seem to be interested in fixing it up anyway.
ReplyDeleteI am also surprised at how quickly this mall has declined. I left the area in the 90's and the mall was still booming. In the mid 2000's after Katrina, the mall seemed to be very busy, but some vacant stores had popped up near the main Dillard's. By 2010 vacant stores were in every section of the mall, including the Macy's wing which was always the strongest part of the mall.
DeleteI believe the mall can come back if the owners were more aggressive with getting stores in there. Several malls in the US have come back, but the owners have to make the changes necessary to bring good stores back.
Well, Macy's is closing. I'm really not sure how the mall can survive without Macy's. The second floor in particular won't have any anchors. Target alone doesn't seem like the kind of anchor that can keep the mall afloat, I'm surprised the Dillard's clearance has lasted as long as it has, and the movie theater isn't actually connected to the mall. Macy's seemed like the mall's last hope, so with that leaving, I'm really not sure the mall's going to be around much longer.
ReplyDeleteIt's really a shame. As late as 2012 I went there a lot, but the mall kept dying, and I just found less and less reason to go, and started reluctantly going to Lakeside more. Still hate the crowds there, but I'd just given up on The Esplanade.
It is sad but not surprising to see Macys leave. It seemed like they did not want to reopen that store after Katrina. When they did, it was a smaller store. The property will probably eventually be redeveloped by demolishing the mall. Target and the movie theater will remain but the rest will probably go. It is a shame, The Esplanade was a good mall not long ago.
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