Future Of Palm Springs Mall In Doubt
The signs still say “Palm Springs Mall”, but it prompts many to ask “What mall?”
Go inside, and it looks more like a ghost town.
“It’s like you could hold a dance in there. I mean, there’s nothing going on. It’s like it’s dying. It’s like it’s dead,” said shopper John DeGroot.
A directory still shows all the stores that used to be in the mall, but only a handful remain. Somehow, they’re trying to do business with very little traffic.
After more than a decade at the mall, True Value just moved out — to a new location in the Smoke Tree Village complex.
“We’ve been well received here. We like it here. Our customers like it. We’re seeing most of our familiar faces coming to the mall, coming here,” said store owner Meredith Miller.
Miller says the future was murky at the mall — with owners, for a time, not signing leases — and not sure about what was going to happen with the property.
“Their first idea had been they were going to demise the mall which meant we wouldn’t have a home for our store for at least a year. That’s not really going to work for a retailer. So we started to look around,” said Miller.
Along with True Value, Rite Aid looked around and also moved out last month to a new spot a few blocks away.
Still, locals are hopeful the mall will, at some point, come alive.
“There isn’t really a good place to go shopping. The little stores in downtown Palm Springs are mostly geared towards the tourists. You’re having to go to Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert. Not exactly next door,” said Palm Springs resident Isabelle Graham.
