Bye-Bye Mall Rats: Shopping Centers Restrict Teens

June 16, 2006 — -- At the Fairlane Shopping Center in Dearborn, Mich., retailers believe one of the best ways to bring business in ... is to kick some people out.

Watch John Berman's full report tonight on "World News Tonight."

Everyday just before 5 p.m., a message blares over the loudpeakers saying, "Any one of our guests that is under 18 years of age should be prepared to leave the center at 5 p.m."

Kicking teenagers out of malls? Can they be serious? They might as well take away their oxygen.

Immortalized in films such as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," malls have been a mecca for teens for generations. The problem is that at many malls too many teens make the pilgrimage.

"On any evening we would see numbers anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 youngsters that would come into the center," said Catherine O'Malley, the general manager of the Fairlane Town Center.

Retailers complained of problems with shoplifting and security. And for many older shoppers -- who are the bigger spenders -- the teens created an atmosphere they did not want to be around.

"There was a lot of noisemaking and profanities," said Sherrita Wright, who works at the store Forever 21. "It was a bother to a lot of older couples, mall walkers, just people who want to shop."

At Fairlane the number of seniors walking the mall has doubled since the curfew, and the mall reports better sales all around. So does the Galleria in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which implemented a similar policy.

"Instead of kids coming in unattended and maybe spending $15 or $20," said Joe Castaldo, the general manager of the Galleria Mall in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., "they are now coming with the parents into the same stores and spending $70 or $80. So it has been a win-win situation."

There are already more than 100 shopping malls with some kind of curfew in place, and the number is growing.

But we found one group conspicuously and unsurprisingly opposed to the policy -- teenagers.

"It pisses me off," said Keli Leterksy, a 17-year-old who was out shopping for a spring dress.