There is no truth to rumors that Katy Mills Mall is in a critical financial situation and may close soon, the mall’s parent company said.
The rumors had been spreading throughout the Katy community in recent weeks.
SIGN OF TROUBLE? – Despite some broken signs and faded paint, Katy Mills Mall is not in danger of closing, the mall’s parent company said. Rumors of the mall’s closure had been circulating through the community in recent weeks.
One version of the rumor was that the mall was in financial peril, while another version said the mall would be closed before the end of the year.
Les Morris, a spokesman for the Simon Property Group, said neither statement was true. Indianapolis-based Simon owns Katy Mills Mall and 16 similar “Mills” centers across the nation.
Morris said the company generally does not address rumors, but Katy Mills Mall is in no danger of closing.
“They’re all doing quite well,” Morris said of the company’s Mills properties. “Our entire Mills portfolio is doing well, and that includes Katy Mills Mall.”
Constance Abbott of Cinco Ranch said she heard the closure rumor at church last Sunday.
“There were quite a few people talking about it. They said they’d heard about it the week before,” Abbott said. “It was quite a shock to hear something like that.”
Katy’s Marisa Muniz said she had heard the same thing and recalled thinking the mall had not looked as good recently as it once had.
“I’ve noticed the mall’s been looking a little rough around the edges, so (the closure rumor) kind of made sense to me. I mean, the last few times I was there, I noticed it was kind of dirty and the paint outside was kind of faded,” Muniz said. “When I heard the mall was closing, that kind of came to mind, like they’d been cutting corners to save money.”
Mall customer Jerry Ebner said he’d also noticed the mall had been looking a bit run-down. That, coupled with the closure of several mall retailers like Circuit City, may have caused people to believe the closure rumors, he said.
“If you look at some parts of the exterior, the paint looks faded. And some of the signs have parts broken out,” Ebner said pointing at the Burlington Coat Factory sign on the east side of the mall. “That kind of thing in a weak economy can cause rumors to spread, I guess.”
Katy Mills Mall first opened on Oct. 28, 1999. With more than 1.3 million square feet of retail space, it was one of the largest shopping malls to open in Texas.
Originally developed by The Mills Corporation, it was acquired by the Simon Property Group in April of 2007.
