Midland Mall sees 100 percent capacity, focuses on providing a common community space

Midland Mall owner Jordan Dice had a vision when he purchased the ailing facility almost three years ago. And the dynamic duo of Beccah Billmeier, Operations and Social Media Manager, and Sarah Thomas, Advertising and Event Coordinator, are making that vision a reality. 

“Malls are usually all about money. We want to focus on it being a common space, welcoming to all people who want to hang out for an hour or a day,” Billmeier says. “We want another purpose [more than just shopping and eating].”

Thomas echoes this sentiment when she says, “Money has never been the goal. [It’s about] bringing it back to life as a community space.” 

The success of this strategy is evidenced by the 100 percent occupancy of the mall and the increased revenue of the businesses. One example is Maurice’s, which Billmeier says is number one in sales out of all of their franchises, and another is Matty’s Pizza, located in the food court. Billmeier says Matty’s had its best sales ever over the last couple of years.

A group of women has been meeting at the Food Court for decades. Vicki Leigeb, Bonnie Gregg, Jill Bertuleit, and Linda Mogg meet every Friday afternoon for lunch and to play Bridge. They like the fact that no one has to host, the parking is convenient, and they can pick lunch wherever they want. They also like to people-watch. Jill says they frequently see Jordan around. “He’s done marvelous things, things for kids and families. He cares about the mall and makes people feel welcome.”

Like the 54 storefronts in the mall plus the larger anchors, the Food Court, housing eight businesses, is at full capacity. All are independently owned; none are chains. Focusing on these small business owners is another goal of the Midland Mall team. 

Billmeier says the mall helps small businesses establish a customer base and a reputation by offering rent discounts to open and get started. She says it’s a fine line because the bills still have to be paid. “It’s more important, [however], to have tenants in the storefronts than to have them sit empty.” 

The majority of the businesses in the Midland Mall are retail and food-based, but several are aimed at family activities and general services. In addition to supporting these places initially through reduced rent, events and vendor exhibits also help their bottom line. Thomas says, “The best part of my job is showcasing small businesses and doing things for the community; events provide this exposure by bringing people in.”

Holiday-themed activities are two such examples. Thomas says a Halloween costume giveaway last fall saw an outpouring of donations. “We thought it would be worth it to help maybe 10-20 children [get a costume], but we ended up giving away over 1,000.” Thomas says she also loved seeing the kids’ happy faces at a recent Easter scavenger hunt. “It made all of the work worth it.” This year’s Comic Con brought in an estimated 15,000 people and 120 vendors over the course of the three-day event last month, making it by far the largest the mall hosts.

Most malls today are not seeing the success the Midland Mall is experiencing. And that’s saying a lot since the relatively small team (five in housekeeping and six in maintenance, plus Dice, Billmeier, and Thomas) oversees the work, all of which is completed in-house, even snow plowing and landscaping. This approach saves a lot of money. Billmeier says, “If you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of the facility.”

Billmeier and Thomas not only complement each other’s skills, but they also freely compliment each other for the work each does. Together, they lead a team that works hard to provide for the tenants, employees, customers, and the community at large, making the Midland Mall atypical in the age of online shopping and food delivery. They say Jordan is a great boss and has faith in them and allows them to run with ideas. “He’s very nostalgic. He cares about preservation and wants to turn things into something important,” Thomas says.

Ashley Sova, Bartender and Server at Alex’s Railside, says the previous owners let the mall go. Jordan [and his team] have done a lot. “People come here to have fun. The mall is alive again.”