YOU ARE HERE : New Merchants Replace Those Who Lost Hope

Ruth Warren was people-watching at the Carson Mall, just as she has nearly every week since the shopping center opened in 1973. “I like to watch people’s expressions as they stop by store windows,” the 66-year-old Carson resident said.

Warren, like many other Carson residents, shops at the mall because it’s close to her home. But she and other shoppers often define the mall by what it lacks: movie theaters, escalators and fancy decor. The mall also lacks the crowds of shoppers that flock to many other shopping centers. In the weeks before Christmas there was rarely a line to have a picture taken with Santa or a hassle to find a parking space.

Over the years, the Carson Mall has reported disappointing sales figures and a high vacancy rate, problems the mall’s current managers are working to solve. “It’s a slow process to change the image of the center,” said Mark F. McGaughey, one of the mall’s owners, “but it’s one that we are working on.”

In all, 27 new merchants have signed leases since Carson Mall Partners purchased the center in August, 1987. The vacancy rate stands at about 2%, compared to rates as high as 20% in previous years. Mall officials say many of the new stores are replacing merchants who had sluggish sales or lost faith in the center’s potential.

The mall has three anchor stores--J.C. Penney, Broadway and Sears--and other key tenants include Toys R Us and Big 5 Sporting Goods, a recent addition. Fast-food restaurants, once scattered, have been consolidated into a central food court. In addition, public restrooms--previously available only in the department stores--have been installed in the mall’s common area, said Sharron King, the mall’s director of marketing.

The median family income in Carson is $33,000, mall officials said, just under the county household median of $34,891. The mall’s owners say Carson is a solid market, but many shoppers have long ventured out of the city.

As part of an effort to reach out to residents, a community center is expected to open at the mall by the end of next year. The mall also sponsors an International Cultural Fair and a Job Fair.

McGaughey said the center has increased security to combat gang and crime problems that residents have cited as a reason for shopping elsewhere.

Increased security officers--as many as 10 are on duty at one time--have cut dramatically into the number of serious crimes reported at the mall, according to Joseph Greene, the mall’s director of security. Felonies, primarily burglaries and auto thefts, have dropped 65% from four years ago, from 325 in 1986 to 211 in 1989.

Randy Petro , manager of a sportswear retail shop, said that when his store opened in June, 1988, there would be gang fights in the mall every day. “Now, you’re lucky if you see one a week,” Petro said.

CARSON MALL

Year opened: 1973

Retail square footage: 865,000

Anchor stores: J.C. Penney, The Broadway, Sears

Number of stores: 96

1989 sales tax paid to city: $927,920

% of city’s sales tax revenue: 7%

Memorable feature: Has a full-time sheriff’s recruitment office situated in the mall.