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A sprawling Maryland shopping center once filled with big-box stores is rapidly losing tenants.
Several tenants have announced plans in the past month to leave the Towson Town Center, which has had growing crime problems. According to reports, four teenagers were arrested in November after a robbery and stabbing took place at the mall.
However, malls have been struggling for years as e-commerce and changing consumer behavior have changed shopping habits, while inflation continues to hit pockets, contributing to less foot traffic.
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Last month, Wockenfuss Candies said it had “made the difficult decision to permanently close this location with immediate effect.”
According to various reports, Gap-owned Banana Republic, Tommy Bahama and J.Crew’s Madewell have also left or are planning to leave the mall.
An exterior view of the Towson Town Center shopping center on June 20, 2022 in Towson, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
This comes after the mall already lost a flagship Crate & Barrel store and eateries such as Rainforest Café, according to reports.
Traditional shopping centers were once bustling trading centersbut their popularity began to wane before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Amazon and online retail began steadily pulling sales away from brick-and-mortar stores. The pandemic then accelerated this decline as lockdown orders prevented people from shopping in person. Economic pressures from inflation made matters worse, with households tightening their budgets and spending less on discretionary expenses.
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The Apple Store at Towson Town Center Mall on May 10, 2024 in Towson, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Between 2020 and 2023, the mall lost 46% of its stores, The San Francisco Standard reported. That includes major department store Nordstrom, which announced in 2023 that it would close both of its downtown San Francisco locations, including its flagship store in the Westfield San Francisco Center. The mall’s other anchor tenant, Bloomingdale’s, left in early 2025.
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At least six eateries have left the mall in recent months, including sandwich shop Jamba Juice, Izzy & Wooks and taco shop Mija Cochinita, according to the San Fransisco Chronicle.
Shoppers at the Westfield San Francisco Center mall in San Francisco, California, on June 13, 2023. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Still, there are significant hurdles to converting commercial real estate to residential use, especially when it comes to local zoning regulations and construction costs.
