The Mall of Louisiana has bucked the mall bust. Can it weather a setback?

As Business Report writes in its latest issue, the Mall of Louisiana has weathered the retail industry’s upheavals for nearly three decades while other shopping centers have faded, been repurposed or disappeared altogether. The Baton Rouge mall still draws shoppers from across the state, boasts a roster of recent retail wins and employs 3,500 workers.

But a deadly shooting in the mall’s food court this spring has complicated that momentum.

The April 23 daytime shooting, which killed a visiting Lafayette teenager and injured an adult, has prompted some shoppers to say they won’t return—and raised new questions about how perceptions of safety could affect the mall’s future.

Mall management says it has increased security and police presence following the shooting, while its existing weekend curfew for guests under 18 remains in effect. Visit Baton Rouge has also worked with law enforcement on safety initiatives, including license plate readers installed at the mall.

The stakes extend beyond shoppers. The Mall of Louisiana is a regional draw, with one-fourth of its visitors coming from at least 50 miles away. New tenants such as Mango, Zara and Dick’s House of Sport have helped bolster its position in a retail landscape where struggling malls are increasingly being converted to warehouses, self-storage facilities and other non-retail uses.

Now, some investors are taking a wait-and-see approach. One prospective investor considering the Dick’s House of Sport property pulled out shortly after the shooting, citing concerns about the area’s perception.

Read the full story from the latest issue of Business Report.