外刊每日精讀 - 經濟學人雙語精讀 | 老舊的購物中心如何「翻身」?－鑽石舞台

Mallmakeovers

商區翻新

【導讀】疫情期間，零售行業慘遭重創，商業用地和購物中心面臨轉型危機。一些知名百貨公司，都已申請破產保護，各種大型品牌也大規模關閉門市。因此，美國開始進行轉型探索，紛紛將購物中心改造成了公寓、辦公室，甚至醫院門診部。

In 2018, like many other department stores, Macy’s in Burlington, Vermont, closed its doors. In 2021 it reopened as a school. Toxic chemicals had been found at Burlington High, and the empty Macy’s offered an airystopgapuntil a new building could be ready in 2025. Pupils have grown used to studying in a library created out of the chinadepartment, where books sit on backlit display shelves, and eating lunch below a Michael Kors sign (a teacher has stuck a 「café」 sign next to the designer’s name). They especially like riding on the vast glass escalators, says Lauren McBride, the principal.

2018年，隨着大批百貨商店關門大吉，位於佛蒙特州伯靈頓的梅西百貨也未能倖免於難。2021年，梅西百貨作為學校重新開業。因為在伯靈頓高中發現了有毒化學物質，而梅西百貨又虛位以待，所以便草草地將其作為臨時學校，直至2025年新校區建成。學生們已經習慣了在由瓷器部改裝的「圖書館」里學習，其間，一排排背部發光的展示柜上立着各式各樣的書籍，他們也習慣了在邁克高仕（Michael Kors）的招牌下吃午飯（一位老師還在設計師名字旁貼上了「咖啡廳」的字樣）。校長勞倫·麥克布萊德（Lauren McBride）說，孩子們尤其喜歡騎在巨大的玻璃扶梯上。

Across America empty shops in malls, notably（尤其，相當於especially）the 「anchor」 spacesonce filled by department stores like Macy’s, are being put to new use. As people spend more on dining outand holidays and less on clothes, such stores』 sales have shrunk. The pandemic, which drove shoppers online, accelerated that decline. Macy’s in Burlington was one of 100 or so closures announced by the retail chainin 2016; more followed. JCPenney has shut 175 shops since 2020. Lord & Taylor has gone online only.

在美國的購物中心，這些空無一人的商鋪，尤其是過去被梅西百貨（Macy’s）這種商場占據的「核心」區域，正在重新投入使用。正是因為人們在餐廳和假期的花銷更多，而鮮少購買衣物，所以這類商店的營業額嚴重縮水。而人們在疫情期間更願意網上購物，大大加速了實體商店的衰敗。2016年，大約有100多個零售連鎖店宣布關閉，伯靈頓的梅西百貨（Macy’s）就是其中之一，越來越多的商店緊隨其後。從2020年開始，傑西潘尼（JCPenney）已經關停了175家店鋪。洛德泰勒（Lord & Tylor）已經改成全面線上經營。

Green Street, an analytics firm, estimates that of more than 1,000 empty anchor boxes in America around 80% are in 「B」 and 「C」 malls (with lower sales per square footthan high-performing 「A」 malls). More malls were downgraded during the pandemic, says Vince Tibone, an analyst. Because some tenants have lease clausesthat allow them to pay less rent if anchors depart, and an empty shopfrontis off-putting, mall landlordsare eager to get new tenants 「even if they aren’t the sexiest」, he says.

據數據分析公司格林斯特里特（Green Street）估計，美國目前有1000多個核心閒置店鋪，其中80%位於B級和C級商業區——這兩級別商區每平方英尺的業績均低於A級區。數據分析師文斯·提伯恩（Vince Tibone）稱，疫情期間，越來越多的購物中心被降級。他還表示，因為有些租戶早已簽訂了租賃條款——如果核心租戶搬走的話，他們便可以少付一些租金，再加上店面空蕩蕩的確實也不太好看，所以商場業主極其渴望新店入駐，「就算不是『最性感的』也行」。

Those now inhabitingold department stores range from offices to theatres. In March the city council in Springfield, Massachusetts, approved plans to grow cannabis on the second floor of an old Macy’s in the city’s Eastfield mall (and sell it on the first). The Medical University of South Carolina has set up clinics in the old JCPenney at the Citadel Mall in Charleston, which still has shops. Ellen Dunham-Jones, a professor of architecture at Georgia Tech, who keeps a database of retrofittedmalls, says 32 enclosed malls have been wholly or partially redeveloped for health care. (Most redeveloped malls, she says, are mixed-use.)

如今，辦公室、電影院等占據着舊時的百貨商場。馬薩諸塞州斯普林菲爾德的市議會於三月份通過了計劃，決定在當地梅西百貨舊址（位於伊斯特菲爾德購物中心）的二樓種植大麻，隨後於一樓售出。查爾斯頓（Charleston）城堡購物中心的傑西潘尼（JCPenney）舊址周圍仍留有商鋪，而南卡萊羅納州醫科大學已經在此設立了門診。佐治亞理工學院（Georgia Tech）的建築教授艾倫·鄧納姆·瓊斯（Ellen Dunham-Jones）正在維護一個商區翻新數據庫，她說，32處關停的購物中心已部分或全部用於醫療保健，多數商區改造後都成了綜合用地。

Health-care businesses can make good use of large stores and malls because many hospitals were built in places where there is little room to expand. Malls offer a lot of parking space (a benefit enjoyed by Burlington High’s pupils and teachers). In suburban areasmalls are often well placed for ageing populations that need more doctor’s appointments and fewer new shoes.

因為許多醫院的原址並沒有多少擴建空間，所以醫療保健行業可以充分利用大型商店和購物中心。此外，購物中心還設有多處停車場（伯靈頓高中的師生也因此收益）。在城郊地區，購物中心所處位置老年人居多，比起購物，該群體可能更需要醫療服務，因此，將購物中心改做醫用更為合適。

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