Malls resort to teen curfews to foster family environment

ST. LOUIS --Teens and shopping malls have fit well for years. Stores cater to teens' whims and they, in turn, unleash their enormous purchasing power.

But two malls in St. Louis County recently imposed new rules aimed at limiting the number of unsupervised teenagers on weekend nights.

They join two others in central Missouri and a growing number of malls nationwide that are taking back retail centers for commerce rather than teen hangouts.

By imposing teen curfews and "parental escort policies," the malls hope to cut down on fights and foster a family friendly environment.

St. Louis Mills in the St. Louis suburb, Hazelwood, launched its teen curfew in November. Last week, the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights announced a teen curfew on Friday and Saturday nights beginning April 20. Malls in Columbia and Jefferson City began teen curfews in February.

For teenagers, it can feel like they are running out of places to go.

"I was telling my mom how with the curfews now I'm going to have to go out to the West County mall and drive 30 minutes," said Paige Kluge, as she and friend Zach Behlmann made other plans for the evening. The Florissant teens are both 16.

But malls appear willing to gamble on curfews to preserve retail sales. Just 43 malls out of more than 1,000 nationwide have teen curfews, the council said. But the pace has picked up in recent years. More than half of malls with curfews have instituted them since 2004.

The first was Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., which sought to erase its nickname of "Fight City." It worked. Other malls followed its lead.

At St. Louis Mills, the curfew was unveiled a week after widespread fighting at the food court. Police were called to the Galleria on Nov. 11 and March 3 to clear out unruly young groups of teens.

"We just became the place people wanted to come and hang out," Galleria marketing manager Jenny Koch said. The mall tried posting additional security guards and handing out copies of its code of conduct. But it didn't work. "At a certain point, we decided we had to take [the mall] back."

The malls say they want teenagers to shop at their stores, but they need a way to control behavior, too.

The Galleria requires people younger than 17 to be accompanied by an adult older than 21 after 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The Mills has a similar policy that goes into effect at 6 p.m.

The Galleria's policy is modeled on one at its sister mall in Columbia.

At Columbia Mall, a teen curfew imposed since Feb. 2 has resulted in "a completely different complex," general manager Katie Essing said.

Fighting and shoplifting have dropped by 50 percent. The mall doesn't have to deal with fights like the one in 2005 between groups of teenagers that was witnessed by hundreds of shoppers.

On Friday night at Columbia Mall, unsupervised teens were escorted to a "parental pickup area" in the food court until they could find a ride home. But few teens were caught off guard by the new rules. The mall ran an extensive public awareness campaign.

"You don't see as many groups of kids, and it's definitely not as noisy," said Todd Dwight, 46, of Columbia, who visited the mall Friday with his 8-year-old daughter.

The absence of unchaperoned teens may have brought back parents of young children.

On many weekend nights, the mall's baby strollers are all rented out.