蜜柚直播

On the other side of the mall at 5870 E. Broadway, live theater has taken over the 12,500-square-foot retail footprint where they sold designer T-shirts and jeans. Folks sip wine in another former retail space near Dillards as they search for their inner DaVinci.

Across town at at 4500 N. Oracle Road, has created a multi-use arts and makers space that encourages collaborative arts from photography to robotics. One of the 鈥榮 neighbors hosts puppet shows. Another creates body art, and right next to the sprawling department store, the Howell family is about to celebrate the fourth anniversary of their mall residency.

Over the past several years, as big box anchors and smaller retail operators have fled shopping malls or have gone out of business, mall developers are increasingly turning to the business of arts and entertainment to fill the vacancies and drive traffic to the retail side of their operations.

鈥淧ark Place and 蜜柚直播 Mall 鈥� are always looking for ways to enhance the retail experience, and this includes adding entertainment venues such as Round 1, Arts Express and Century Theatres at Park Place, and 蜜柚直播 Rose Theatre, Mystery Escape Room and Catalyst at 蜜柚直播 Mall,鈥� Park Place General Manager Brighid Dawson said in a prepared statement.

In the past couple of years, both malls, owned by Chicago-based Brookfield Properties Retail Group, have filled the vacant spaces left by retail giants with everything from Legacy Tattoo and Mystery Escape Room at 蜜柚直播 Mall to Stone Karaoke Box booths and Arte Belle social painting at Park Place.

鈥淚 think the malls are really trying to get creative,鈥� said Nancy McClure, a retail specialist and executive with CBRE 蜜柚直播.

It鈥檚 a trend that is happening nationally and one that the Japanese gaming giant has honed in on as it makes inroads into North America.

Last fall, Round 1 moved into 44,000 square feet of the former 104,000-square-foot Sears store at Park Place, filling the space spread over two floors with more than 500 games and bowling lanes. It is Round 1鈥檚 only location in 蜜柚直播 and was the 35th it opened in the U.S., where it will open No. 45 in Vancouver, Washington, later this year, said 蜜柚直播 manager Kasey Schwamb.

Round 1 made its push into the U.S. a few years ago, locating all of its American operations in abandoned mall footprints, Schwamb said.

Brookfield Properties has yet to announce plans for the rest of the Sears space or the 153,511-square-foot vacancy created when 惭补肠测鈥檚 closed during the summer as part of the retail giant鈥檚 plans to shutter numerous stores nationwide.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

For years, had bounced around from community stage to community stage, holding performances at the Temple of Music & Art鈥檚 cabaret theater and Zuzi near the University of 蜜柚直播.

鈥淎t the time, we, like many theaters that don鈥檛 have a home, we moved around from performance space to performance space,鈥� said Brandon Howell.

But then came a time back in 2016 when they couldn鈥檛 find a venue for an upcoming show. And since they were familiar with the ebbs and flows of mall life through their annual Santa鈥檚 Workshop toy drive at Foothills Mall, the Howells approached 蜜柚直播 Mall about putting on their show there. The mall counter-offered with a longer-term lease for a 3,800-square-foot space near 惭补肠测鈥檚 that can seat 70.

鈥淪urprisingly we started finding success pretty quickly鈥� after the move, Howell said. 鈥淪ince we opened, we have consistently been able to make ends meet.鈥�

Lisa Sturz had similar success when she opened her in 蜜柚直播 Mall, tucked into what was the temporary offices for Southern 蜜柚直播 Arts & Cultural Alliance as they built out their Catalyst space.

鈥淎t least half my audience is people who walked by and saw the posters on the window and then signed our mail list,鈥� said Sturz, who started her puppet theater and workshop in Los Angeles in 1988 before moving it to Asheville, North Carolina, and then 蜜柚直播 last fall. 鈥淗aving a mall location has been advantageous that way.鈥�

Karen Wiese, executive director of , said mall walkers made up a portion of the audience for their recent production of the musical 鈥淪weeney Todd.鈥�

The nonprofit arts performance and education entity moved into Park Place in early October and transformed the 12,500-square-foot retail space into a socially distanced theater with tables creating a 6-foot barrier between seats and a makeshift stage encircled by drapes. With COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, they can seat between 100 and 120 for their upcoming holiday performance of 鈥淎 Christmas Carol & Dickens Festival鈥� Dec. 4-13.

Having its own theater was on Arts Express鈥� wish list when the Park Place opportunity came up.

鈥淥nce we walked in and saw the space and particularly saw the ceiling 鈥� it鈥檚 a beautiful artistic ceiling 鈥� we knew it was right,鈥� Wiese said.

ALONG CAME COVID-19

Arts Express opened in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic鈥檚 second wave.

For many arts organization, the coronavirus threw them a big wrench. They had to shutter their studios and stages. Some transitioned online, but most were forced to wait it out.

蜜柚直播 Rose was forced to cancel performances including its mainstage production of 鈥淚nto the Woods,鈥� which should have been a big audience draw, and the youth production of 鈥淏eauty and the Beast,鈥� which was transitioned to an online production. Howell said the December performance of the comedy 鈥淎ll in the Timing鈥� will stream only on Dec. 5 and 6.

Nearly eight months later, things are slowly coming back. Southern 蜜柚直播 Arts & Cultural Alliance鈥檚 Catalyst space, which opened last December and was just finding its rhythm when it was forced to close in March, recently began allowing artists back in its studios. Last month, it hosted Southern 蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 first in-person concert featuring its string section. The musicians all wore masks as did the socially distanced audience of 50.

As the orchestra performed that Sunday afternoon, mall shoppers strolling by stopped and watched the performance through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

鈥淚f you just take COVID out of it, I think on the whole, it is a great way for the malls to fill some space and provide some compelling reasons why people should visit the malls,鈥� said CBRE鈥檚 McClure. 鈥淚 think everybody is hopeful that we will get through this in some sort of quick manner. I think in the long run, people want to be around other people and experience things that bring them joy.鈥�

BUT WAIT, THERE鈥橲 MORE

Tempe-based

• , an indoor airsoft shooting range, moved into the Park Place and 蜜柚直播 Mall in 2019, about a year after the company opened its first location. Since then, it has opened 19 locations in malls in 蜜柚直播, Colorado, California, Florida and Texas.
• Air Force veteran Jen Christiansen took a leap of faith when she signed a lease for a space at Park Place for her 9-year-old mobile paint party business

• . And until COVID-19 hit, business was better than she had expected, with 90% of her customers coming from shoppers who discovered her studio by chance.

鈥淚 never really thought, 鈥楾he mall?鈥� It never crossed my mind that I could do that,鈥� she said. 鈥淢all rent is fine because it basically pays for itself. And now everything is turning toward entertainment, and with COVID-19, people are looking for entertainment, safe entertainment.鈥�

Christiansen limits her painting party sizes and requires participants to wear masks whenever they are walking around. She also sanitizes everything from paint brushes and easels to surfaces.

• at 蜜柚直播 Mall, an offshoot of the original Legacy Tattoo on West Grant Road, has a staff of tattoo artists and piercers, offering everything from simple body art to body piercings.

Owner/artist Josh Hagan said he and his partner, Derek Dooley, decided to open a second location in summer 2019 because they were fast outgrowing their original shop.

鈥淲e wanted to have a busier walk-in location, but we didn鈥檛 want to be on Fourth Avenue,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 think at least 10 times a day we hear people walk by and say, 鈥極h wow, there鈥檚 a tattoo shop here,鈥欌�夆�� he said. 鈥淭hey would never have expected it. I think it catches a lot of people off guard.鈥�

So you think you can sing? Slip into the Stone Karaoke Box near the food court at Park Place, select a tune and let 鈥榚r rip. You can record your performance . The booths are similar to the old photo booths that used to dot malls nationwide.