Christiana Mall tries to rein in teens

ERIC RUTH

Teenagers are sort of like the weather -- everybody complains about them from time to time, but hardly anybody does anything about them.

Delaware's largest shopping center is about to change that, instituting a "parental guidance" policy that forbids unaccompanied teens under 18 from entering Christiana Mall on Friday or Saturday nights, beginning July 11.

Christiana joins at least 54 malls nationwide adopting "escort" policies or curfews as a way to foil the roving teens who see shopping centers more as a place for hormone-fueled horseplay than for shopping, especially on weekends. Those crowds keep older shoppers -- and their cash -- at home, retailers say.

"Friday and Saturday nights have sort of been unshoppable," said mall manager Steve Chambliss.

It's also a policy that, not surprisingly, found little support among teens -- especially considering that it will inevitably affect the well-behaved along with the perpetually aggressive.

The mall also keeps kids occupied, Tursi said. "Time in the mall is time kids spend not getting in trouble," he said.

But the new policy did elicit some hope among shopowners and shoppers, who have been known to schedule trips specifically to avoid the teens.

"I had said for the longest time that they ought to have a curfew," said shop clerk Peg Reynolds. "They travel in large groups, which I think is intimidating, especially for the senior citizens."

While seniors tend to be scarce at the mall Friday night, some still don't bless the policy.

"They shouldn't be able to do that," said Kitty Walsh, 80, of Wilmington. "Teenagers are fine. I don't think they have any right to ban teenagers. This is America for God's sake!"

ID cards to be checked

To enforce the policy, security workers will check the identification cards of young shoppers at each mall entrance beginning at 5 p.m. Those without an ID proving they are 18 will be asked to leave, or face arrest and prosecution for criminal trespass.

Once inside, teens must remain with an adult or they will be asked to leave. Mall workers younger than 17 will be allowed to enter using an employee ID.

Teens unaccompanied by an adult already inside at 5 p.m. will be escorted out. Once intercepted, teens will be placed in a supervised holding area until their parents pick them up.

The policy won't necessarily force teens to shop with their parents -- any 21-year-old will do. They also are free to meander on weeknights and on Sunday.

Ultimately, the issue is mainly about ensuring a pleasant shopping experience -- and, consequently, a profitable one, mall manager Chambliss said.

"It's a socialized gathering and it's underproductive for a shopping mall," he said. "We'd love to have them here, but they're not here to shop."

On at least one night, they were not even there to be peaceful. Last July, the mall had to close early after hundreds of young "shoppers" jumped into a food-tossing brawl.

"They have to control them somehow," said store clerk Pam Patel. "It has gotten crazier and crazier."

On most nights, tenants say, the level of incivility is aggravating and even intimidating, but generally nonthreatening. Police have not reported any serious incidents linked to teen suspects in recent months, according to News Journal files.

A study last year by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that teens overall spent the least amount of money of any shopping group, especially when compared to the amount of time spent in the shopping center. Fewer teens at night will mean more adult shoppers returning, along with their more generous spending habits, mall officials hope.

"They generally avoid the mall on Friday and Saturday evenings," Chambliss said of adults. "That's the trend that we need to change."

Mall undergoing overhaul

With the traditional mall concept under pressure from "big box" retailers and discounters, Christiana is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar overhaul of its building and its identity. Two anchor stores have closed, including the upscale Lord & Taylor, and the mall's owners have been pushing ahead with a plan that includes a "street-scape" of stores along the mall's exterior and the addition of restaurants and upscale shops over the next several years.

In a way, Christiana Mall business owners like Ed Janvier of Janvier Jewelers can see mall management's point.

"Let's face it, a lot of the adults don't want to deal with it," Janvier said. But in another way, as a formerly leisure-minded teen, he sympathizes with today's teens, and is cautious about putting too much emphasis on lost profits. "I'd hate to think what it'll cost society if you take these 500 or 600 kids and throw them out on the street. What will that cost us?"

There is another aspect of commercial potential to consider -- turning away customers might amount to turning away revenue, now and in the future.

"That would end it," 16-year-old Holly Platt of New Castle said of her allegiance to Christiana when she heard about the new policy. "We'd have to find somewhere else to go."

Market research seems to imply merchants shouldn't get overly fretful about such threats. Platt said she makes purchases at Christiana regularly, but other teens apparently aren't so eager. In October, a survey by Piper Jaffray found that teen spending on fashion dropped 24 percent since spring, and that more teens were shifting to discounters.

Concord Mall in Brandywine Hundred does not have an escort policy, said spokesman Ed Tennyson. If teens are doing more loitering than shopping, they're simply asked to move on.

Dover Mall also has not instituted any escort policies or curfews. A spokesman said they have a conduct policy used to keep problems under control.