A mall walker in mourning for Knoxville Center

Brenna McDermott | Knoxville

For the last five years, I’ve been an avid mall walker.

Before you ask: I am under the age of 30. Not your typical mall-walking demographic.

Mall walking is a sensory experience

If you’ve never done it before, mall walking is a sensory experience: The sound of swishy pants as other walkers swish by; the smell of salt and butter wafting from the pretzel stand; the sight of husbands trying not to look awkward while their wives peruse Victoria’s Secret. There’s always so much to take in.

I started mall walking to get more exercise in the winter months when I lived in Missouri.

I continue mall walking because I am, at heart, quite nosy. I love the chance to glimpse people’s lives and purchases; I love window shopping and being the first to know about a new store.

Since moving to East Knoxville, my husband and I have made Knoxville Center Mall our walking destination.

So, instead of knowing which stores have opened, I know which ones have closed.

The decline of Knoxville Center Mall

Sci-Fi City owner Frank Uchmanowicz explains the store's move to N. Broadway Sci-Fi City owner Frank Uchmanowicz explains the store's move to a new location at N. Broadway in Knoxville.

Probably a dozen businesses have closed there in the 10 months I’ve lived in Knoxville, including JC Penney, Gold’s Gym, a barber shop, Sci-Fi City, Sears, Chick-fil-A and a store that sold samurai swords.

More: Gold's Gym at Knoxville Center to close

In some ways, Knoxville Center is now a mall walker’s dream: no shoppers to slow down your pace. This winter, it felt more like my own personal indoor walking track than a mall.

On the other hand, there are so few stores to peer into that it felt like a ghost town. There were times on our walks when I thought, “Am I supposed to be here?”

If someday soon I laced up my tennis shoes and the doors to Knoxville Center were locked, it would be a disappointment. No more Bath & Body Works, no more Payless, no more Belk.

More: What's your Knoxville retail wish list? IKEA? Container Store? Tell us.

Sadly, Knoxville Center isn’t really the “center” of anything anymore.

Read the Facebook comments on any News Sentinel article about the mall and you’re apt to see replies like “Knoxville Center used to be THE mall.”

You’ll also see comments disparaging the mall.

The thing is, if you haven’t been in the mall lately, it’s kind of nice in there. There are some beautiful art installations in the Sears wing. It’s clean, it doesn’t smell, and if you see a movie at Regal, there’s often a decent crowd.

In general, though, I’ll wager the mall is even emptier than you’re imagining. As much as I would love Knoxville Center to stay open as is so I can walk four nights a week during winter months, it’s time for a change.

More: Sears at Knoxville Center Mall to close, along with 71 other stores

The longer the mall sits in its current state, the more the space will negatively impact the surrounding area.

For years, failing malls have been seen as “evidence” pointing to an undesirable area of town. But look across the U.S. If malls failing are an indication of a less-than desirable area, the entire country is in trouble.

Former JC Penney CEO Mike Ullman recently estimated only about a quarter of the remaining 1,200 malls in the U.S. will survive.

Malls with hope of surviving will have an Apple or Tesla store, Ullman said. That bodes well for West Town Mall, which currently has an Apple store and plans for a Tesla dealership.

More: Tesla dealer may recharge Knoxville's West Town Mall

Innovative use could save Knoxville Center

What does the future hold? Let’s look to some alternative uses for dead malls across the country. (While Knoxville Center might not have flatlined yet, let’s agree it’s on life support).

Many malls, like ones in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, are transforming into mixed-use entertainment facilities, with sit-down restaurants, bars, attractions and living quarters. A luxury apartment developer recently purchased the soon-to-close Sears facility at Gwinnett Place Mall in Atlanta, which the community hopes will spark a renaissance.

Unfortunately, redevelopment is measured in years, not weeks, so the mall will continue to empty out if it doesn't shut its doors altogether.

More: Knoxville Center: Mall problems may take up to a decade to fix

Patrick King, representative of mall owner Knoxville Partners LLC, told the East Knoxville Business Association on June 21 that turning Knoxville Center around will be a five- to 10-year project.

Hopes for the facility include office space on the top floor, an entertainment attraction of some kind, and apartments somewhere on the land. No deals have been signed.

Imagine for a moment the vacancy rate in only one year from now if the mall stays open that long. And at what point does a dying mall become a drag on the surrounding community? Perhaps we’ve long passed that point.

Generations will miss the Knoxville shopping experience

So I mourn the loss of malls all over the country, not just for me, but for the generations who will grow up without the mall experience.

Maybe my love of mall walking stems from spending a good chunk of my teenage years at the mall. Where else would I have occasion to wear my hot pink parachute pants except to shop at Hot Topic? It’s hard to imagine a world in which teenagers won’t sit in the food court for hours on end, killing time with friends.

Where will families with young children meet Santa? Where will the senior mall walkers and this 20-something go to stretch their stems on a cold February night?

Malls were such a through and through icon of America when I grew up. It's sad to walk through one so empty.