BURLINGTON, Wash. — Once a popular retail hub, the 55-acre Cascade Mall in Burlington is now little more than a massive concrete tomb.
Mall ownership said the doors will close forever on June 30 after 31 years.
The mall has been struggling in recent years, and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic appears to have been the death blow.
"It's a blow to our local economy, both in sales tax revenues, as well as jobs lost," said Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton. "Skagit County currently has the third-highest unemployment rate in the state, and this type of development won't help us at all."
Mayor Sexton said the closure doesn't come as a huge surprise, given the recent deaths of many of its anchor stores, but losing the two dozen or so remaining businesses will hurt. The outdoor facing businesses, like Furniture World and TJ Maxx, remain operational.
“Exterior facing tenants AMC Theater, TJ Maxx, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Furniture World, Cascade Chapel, Heritage Portable Buildings and Applebees will be able to remain open and continue to operate when local health and safety measures allow,” a mall spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “As we continue to look to the future, we are considering all options and hoping to reimagine the property in a way that best meets the needs of the community.”
Around 60% of Burlington's revenue comes from retail taxes and Sexton has had to impose 10% pay cuts on city employees to make up for a million dollars in coronavirus-related losses already.
"There will be a ripple effect throughout the surrounding economy," said Mayor Sexton.
The retail industry was struggling enough, even before impacts from COVID-19.
Roughly 15,000 stores were expected to close nationwide, this year alone. Since the pandemic, that number has ballooned to about 25,000, according to data from global retail research firm Coresight. Their data says 60% of those stores will be in malls.
Coresight CEO Deborah Weinswig predicts 25% of malls will be gone within five years, but there are options to keep many alive.
"It's the town center concept," she said. "We are even talking to corporates who are thinking about having office space in malls because the consumer doesn't want to have a 90-minute commute to work. The local mall is a just few minutes away."
Case in point, Lynnwood's Alderwood Mall is open once again and surviving coronavirus. It's making plans to add apartments and expand its outdoor footprint.
Mayor Sexton said he's had interest from four different developers to turn the Cascade property into some sort of mixed-use urban village.