Allen Premium Outlets is “closed indefinitely” after Saturday’s mass shooting, and the company has listed the mall as closed through at least Sunday on its website, which is a departure from how the shopping center’s owner has responded after other recent shootings.
“The shopping center is closed indefinitely,” said Megan Hakes, a spokeswoman for the mall’s owner, Simon Property Group. She added it’s a “fluid situation.”
Simon added a message to the shopping center website on Wednesday that said, “As we move forward, the needs of our retailers and our community will guide when and how we reopen the center.”
Simon is the largest U.S. mall operator and last year had revenue of $5.29 billion and a profit of $2.14 billion. Simon-owned and other malls bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic as shoppers felt more comfortable returning to everyday activities like going to the mall.
Simon lists mass shootings, random acts of violence and consumer perceptions of safety among the risks that could materially and adversely affect its business.
“Concern around safety risk may impact the willingness of consumers, tenants and tenants’ employees to shop and/or work at our properties, which could result in decreased consumer traffic and decreased sales at our properties, directly and indirectly impacting our revenue and overall asset value,” the company said in its most recent annual filing.
The mass shooting at the outlet mall Saturday was not the first for Indianapolis-based Simon, which has more than 200 U.S. properties.
Last summer, a gunman killed three people in the food court of its Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Ind., before he was shot by an armed civilian.
That mall — including its food court where 34 bullets had been fired — reopened two days later, but some of the stores remained closed, according to published reports.
The largest mall in Indiana, Castleton Square mall in northeast Indianapolis, was also the scene of shooting incidents in recent months. A 16-year-old boy died and a man was hospitalized after a shooting there on Jan. 3. After a lockdown, the mall reopened.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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