Encouraging signs at two malls

An elaborate Christmas tree graces the courtyard of a new Glendale shopping complex while a going-out-of-business banner hangs above a major tenant in the mall across the street. Gregpry J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

While the scenes are contradictory, the atmosphere is the same inside the Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria, where operators worry how they'll cope with the most challenging retail climate in decades.

At the same time, they're encouraged by the foot traffic drawn by the malls' proximity and their central location in a thriving city of nearly 200,000 people.