Riverdale Gloom

General Growth Properties, the owner of the Newgate Mall in Riverdale and numerous other malls in Utah, has announced today that it may be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. It is near defaulting on substantial loans. In another stroke of bad luck, Mervyns, one of the Newgate Mall's anchors, announced it is closing all stores. Circuit City also declared bankruptcy this week.

This is substantial news for our area. Many retail jobs will be lost. I am unsure at the moment what a bankruptcy would do to operations at the mall. I imagine existing tenants would continue to pay rents even if a bank assumed control of the property. However, services may be negetively impacted and those tenants may not want to do business with a bank that isn't an expert at running a mall.

It looks like shoppers will soon have a few less options to choose from in Riverdale.