Northpark is now at the bottom of the list :(
Northpark Mall has gone from a once great venue a couple of years ago to a flat, dull and sinking ship. I remember when you could drive off countyline and would be greeted by nice landscaping and flowers. Now the islands are overgrown with no flowers and the areas that do have flowers are so sparce it will make you laugh. My home owners association has better landscaping than the mall. The theater used to be trashy and the landscaping dull, now they have it looking better than the mall. Thumbs up to the theater for taking pride in their property. Northpark used to have local companies taking care of the interior & exterior landscaping and now they have a National Company with big green lettering and fancy trucks, heck I've seen better at a roadside park. Come on you have to have some curb appeal, put a little mulch out on the plants that are still alive and heaven forbid cut the grass before you butcher the shrubs. The City of Ridgeland should serve them notice like they do homeowners for the overgrown areas near each entrance, I think they are supposed to be retention ponds, heck you could hunt deer in there. The mall used to be managed by a staff that took ownership in the property. I understand the Mall Manager and Operations Manager have since been promoted within the company or have moved on to more accomplished positions outside the mall, that much is evident. You can tell they are not there anymore, Simon has let the new management run it into the ground. It used to be a breath of fresh air to come to the mall early to walk and be greeted by the Operations Manager out there smiling at everyone while he picked up trash or was assisting his staff or housekeeping. At times even the General Manager would be there with him, just as cordial and always smiling and offering assistance. Between the two they made it a place that you could come feel safe and enjoy a clean shopping enviroment, they didn't allow any nonsense that is present now. What was once an upscale interior is now stripped of plants, bland, empty stores (7-8 my last visit) and empty carts everywhere. Then you also have a crazy jumping thing on the 2nd level and vending machines at every available outlet. If you were a tenant would you really like to see this at the entry to your store? Then the stores have gone from class to whatever they can get. I understand hard times press you into taking what you can get but come on make the stores look presentable at best. Why not donate a vacant space to a civic group ot nonprofit group, it would beat the heck out of looking at black curtains for months on end. I'm sure if you sat in on a meeting with the powers to be at the mall, it would be "well Renaissance this or Dogwood that and we just can't get anybody because blah, blah, blah..." that is affecting our retention of current stroes or the recruitment of new stores. Come on Simon this isn't Dallas or one of your more affluent areas, times are tough loosen up or you will continue to dry up what was once a symbol of excellence that opened in 1984. Of course in real time, when they bleed the tenants dry until they have no more, they will sell off and wash their hands of the place. Mark it down when the first anchor store closes and based off the numbers of cars currently in the parking lot it will be sooner than later, then Mayor McGee will have the next "Ridgeland Medical Mall"