Hanes Mall is apparently considering banning unsupervised teens from the mall on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Mall officials plan to announce a new policy Thursday at a news conference but declined to give specifics yesterday.
But some store operators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the policy would require parental supervision for shoppers under the age of 18 after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
There are similar policies in place at other malls owned by Hanes Mall's parent company, CBL & Associates Properties Inc. For example, Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, which is co-owned by CBL and the Richard E. Jacobs Group, and Columbia Place in Columbia, S.C., require that visitors under 18 be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 5 p.m.
Charles Gwinn, the general manager for Columbia Place, said that the mall decided to start the policy in 2004 because of behavior problems ranging from disorderly conduct to inappropriate language. He said that the policy has been a success.
"When it was implemented, I remember that the number of what we would consider reportable incidents dropped almost 60 percent in the first two weeks," Gwinn said.
Northlake Mall in Charlotte started its policy last June in response to an increased number of unsupervised youth at the mall, said Phil Morosco, the mall's general manager. "It got to a point where we just felt uncomfortable with our ability to provide a safe environment for them," he said.
Sharon Warren Cook, the director of the undergraduate social-work program at N.C. A&T State University, said research shows that about 20 percent of the 1,100 enclosed malls in the United States have some type of parental-escort policy.
"I think some of the malls are concerned about disruptive behavior, foul language, loitering, fights that may break out in or around the mall and then combating some negative public perception, that the mall really ends up being kind of a suburban hangout for teens," Cook said. Cook said that escort policies could be risky for malls in the current shaky economy.
"It would seem to me that your tenants and your businesses would be extremely concerned about the potential loss of revenue since we know that teens spend just an inordinate amount of money," she said.
Richard High, the district manager for Sports Fan-Attic, said he hadn't heard about the change, but he would not be in favor of a parental-escort policy because young people wear Sports Fan-Attic's clothes. "I think it would definitely affect our business," he said.
But Mohammad Ali, the owner of Gold Valley, said he would approve of such a policy.
"Parents drop their kids off, and they don't know what their kids do while they are away," he said.
Several teenagers at Hanes Mall yesterday said they would not want to be escorted by their parents.
Austin Connick, 15, of Yadkinville used the word "stupid" to describe parental-escort policies.
"This is where a lot of kids come to get away from their parents," he said.
Friends Alice Martin, 17, of Pfafftown and Alix Fry, 16, of Winston-Salem didn't like the idea of not being able to shop on their own at night. "There's not always a parent to go with you," Fry said.
fdaniel@wsjournal.com
727-7366
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement