Pritchard Park Mall — Local services in Racine

One of the last times I was at Regency I put down a bag that contained 2 used dvds from FYE. Just laid it on a table directly behind me as I walked a few feet away to buy a pretzel. It took no more than 2 minutes and by the time I turned around my bag was gone. That's the kind of place this has turned into.

In the 80s Regency was amazing. 2 bookstores (one on each end), 2 music stores (one on each end), Suncoast, Software Etc., Kay-Bee, Karmelkorn, all kinds of unique and individual stores. Lots of business, lots of families. Now, or at least last time I was there (before the buyout and restructure plans of 2017), the place is slipping. What happened?

Four things happened: The 2000s recession, the modern obsession with buying things online rather than at brick and mortal stores, the opening of other malls 20-30 minutes to the south, and in particular the growing presence of ghetto types who have nothing better to do than occupy random space in obnoxious groups. Even up until around the turn of the millennium this place was still nice, but sometime after that the unique stores started disappearing. Not just here but everywhere. A lot of malls started becoming less popular, and apparently a new law was enacted that demanded that all available space to be filled with sleazy kiosks of cell phones and cheap knockoff merchandise. As the malls started losing the nice businesses and family clientele, more and more of society's dregs started moving in. Regency is no different, as the place is now regularly populated by packs of wannabe gangstas just milling around doing nothing but making the atmosphere unpleasant for everyone else.

My understanding is that the stores that are still there (most of which are clothing-based, I believe) are nice. I don't recall the last time that I had bad service at the mall (other than the security guard who basically threw up his hands and said that nothing could be done about my stolen dvds). Law of averages says that there are some bad employees in there but I don't really associate the mall with that kind of thing. I also don't remember the mall being dirty or broken down - the parking lot is in need or repair but overall appearance wasn't a problem. It's no one thing at all, really. Like I illustrated above it's an unfortunate combination of several things that contributed to the downfall of many malls in the country. Poor economy, disappearing businesses, increase of local punks. This mall (and this city as a whole, to be honest) has just struggled more than some of the others have.

Regency isn't beyond repair and can definitely see glory days again, it just needs a bold and comprehensive plan to completely overhaul the way the place is run. Chase off the scum, get rid of the flea market kiosks, maybe repaint the place and bring in some sculptures and fountains like the old days, court larger and more diverse retailers, etc. The mall was bought within the last year or two and it seems like the owner has had success with turning around other malls in the past. I wish him well with Regency because I have a lot of fond memories of the place and don't wish to see it die. It just needs a long-term,...

That's a big mall. U knooo. That's minennnn. Gioo shopping. U knooo. Taaaa yaaaa. Where's my 💰 to get... Got to go some where. No ok ok u ook... Looking for my stuff... Got a good bad something about my grade... Got get my doll stuff animal ice cream 🍕 to get... My shirt my paints my coat my hat my shoes... Who is that I don't know.. my glasses... My purse my lip stick. My necklaces... Thinkuuuu yhea my maccccdddd and ccciiiigger. No u don't smoke ohoh. Where is he.. need to go somewhere I all ready went to college I got to go to the school of arts... U ever heard of jlo. Wow. Hay that's mines where is my 7 million dollars or 500 dollars. I mean that's my got somemonnnerr, need to get something... IE... (Yes u do call him tell him I said great u and your classmate mate can have what u want u got the best stuff it all right I'm sure money is not a opption.. they probably give there food for free()... Hope to see my children real soon so mommy can take u shopping too that would really be a dream come true but some people aren't loved at all sorry. I just cry all the time the world hates me because if those lyers my be I pray they old people will do that to there self I...

Other than to go to one of the outside stores (joanne/partycity) or to have my wedding ring set inspected twice a year, I Pretty much avoid Regency Mall. You can have the "used to be here" tour on any given day and see how sadly this Mall is doing. Yes, the new management/owners have fresh ideas for the Mall and I hope they do well, but there are many things stacked against them. One is the amounts of loitering, looting and fights that randomly occur on a regular basis. I love that I can go to some places (outside entrances and outlot) and never actually step foot into the actual mall. The other thing stacked against them is being a strictly local Mall. It's Location is no where near the Highway and there aren't stores that you can't find to the north (mke) or South (keno). I get they cannot change this fact... We need stores that can draw more than this small nitch of local customers. Or how about more functional things like membership stores or places like meijers. Something that will make it worth while to enter that lot other than a few chain restaurants and handful of decent stores. I really want this Mall to be better, for...