Retail in Richmond

[vdogg]

What is the current status of retail development in this city and what retail would you like to see come to Richmond. I have passed through this region often but never really had a chance to look around. It appears that the downtown region has a lot of unique shops. What type of national chains do you have.

[eandslee]

Our premier mall is, of course, Short Pump Town Center on the west end of town. Also, a very nice, new, high-end mall we have is Stony Point Fashion Park. Both are open air malls and are EXTREMELY nice! Both appear to be doing very well since their openings in Fall of 2003. Below are links to the stores they offer and their respective directories:

Short Pump:

http://www.shortpumpmall.com/go/dirListing.cfm?FL=All

Stony Point:

http://www.shopstonypoint-regencysquare.com/

There are many other enclosed malls in the area as well, most of which are very nice (with the execption of Cloverleaf Mall, which will soon be demolished), but these are the latest and the craze of shoppers in the area.

[wrldcoupe4]

Yea I was gonna say that Stony Point has a Saks Fifth avenue, the only other city between D.C. and charleston S.C. to have one. ShortPump has a Crate and Barrel as well.

The obvious favorite for groceries is Ukrop's. But there is also food lion, kroger, super-walmart, and a few winn-dixie's left which are all supposed to go out of business soon. I think farm fresh owns one store, called The Market, near the Bottom.

Carytown is probably one of the most unique shopping experiences you can find.

[eandslee]

Speaking of Carytown, here's a great link to Carytown to illustrate where it is what Carytown has to offer. I have to agree that it is an awesome shopping experience!

http://www.richmond.com/localguides/carytown.aspx

[wrldcoupe4]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember hearing that when the two malls opened in late 2003, Richmond MSA had more retail square footage per person than any other place in the country. Probably has changed since then, but it was positive considering how strong the Richmond market remained after the 2 new malls added soooo much retail space.

[eandslee]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember hearing that when the two malls opened in late 2003, Richmond MSA had more retail square footage per person than any other place in the country. Probably has changed since then, but it was positive considering how strong the Richmond market remained after the 2 new malls added soooo much retail space.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From what I understand that still holds true. There is A LOT of retail in Richmond per capita. The good news is that it looks like Richmond is able to sustain it. I would image that a lot of help comes from shoppers coming to Richmond from the Charlottesville, Lynchburg and other areas close to Richmond. Also, these two malls were the only one's built and developed in the United States in the entire year of 2003! Pretty impressive for Richmond (the only 2 during that year and they were both in Richmond!)!

[StevenRocks]

Richmond's retail square footage is in a continual state of reconfiguration. There are a lot of new developments, but a lot of the older ones get torn down, too.

Edited April 6, 2005 by StevenRocks

[wrldcoupe4]

Richmond's retail square footage is in a continual state of reconfiguration.  There are a lot of new developments, but a lot of the older ones get torn down, too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

StevenRocks... your thoughts on Cloverleaf Mall?

[StevenRocks]

StevenRocks... your thoughts on Cloverleaf Mall?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's my two cents...

In a lot of ways it's too good a building to get torn down, but it may be time to do that to save the neighborhood.

The primary reasons it lasted as long as it did was because of the excellent (at the time) location and because the main competiton was Chesterfield Mall, which was a shadow of its current self at the time. Thalhimers also played a large stake in the mall's survival, because instead of building two smaller stores on the Southside like Miller & Rhoads did, it went for a full-line showplace, as did Sears and JCPenney.

Unfortunately for the mall, Chesterfield Mall was closer to affluent customers in Chesterfield County, as opposed to being at the edge of a growing ghetto like Cloverleaf. The worse the neighborhood got, the more sense it made for nicer stores to go farther out on Midlothian Turnpike. Then Chesterfield expanded and Powhite Parkway created a physical and psychological barrier between the affluent and dying parts of Chesterfield County.

The last time I was at Cloverleaf for a decent length of time was in 1995. At the time, it looked like all it needed was some good management and some TLC to make it viable again. The physical plant was still okay but the anchors had stopped remodeling and the store selection was going downhill.

But things hit the skids pretty quickly after that. When Hecht's got contol of both stores on Midlothian, the attention went towards the store in the better neighborhood. Then the perception of crime in the area scared off a good portion of customers. Then it had a ripple effect on the neighborhood retail. That scared off even more people. It turned from stable to struggling overnight.

The nail in the coffin was when Sears left for Chesterfield Towne Center. That single act made the mall look dead from Chippenham and signalled that the mall was effectively toast, because anyone who knows dead retail knows Sears is usually the last place to leave a dying mall (examples: they're still at Newmarket North and at Landover Mall)

The mall itself is ugly, but well-built. It could actually become something else without changing the basic footprint, but that won't really get the site the attention that it needs for long term survival. My hope is that Chesterfield County will be able to put a suitable development on the Cloverleaf site that will attract the middle and upper classes back to that section of town. By going for a mixture of uses and incomes, it will be a neighborhood anchor like it used to be. If it's just another big box center, it won't pull in anyone.

[wrldcoupe4]

Pretty good analysis...I remember going there with my mom when I was a little kid...then it started getting 'different' I guess you could say. The good news is that the county plans to bring back this gateway after tearing down the old mall. They plan on a mixed-use development, complete with retail, office, and residential comprising the 70something acre property. Nothing more said than that really; its supposed to start sometime next year.

[HOTSPOTTNY]

Yea I was gonna say that Stony Point has a Saks Fifth avenue, the only other city between D.C. and charleston S.C. to have one. ShortPump has a Crate and Barrel as well.

The obvious favorite for groceries is Ukrop's. But there is also food lion, kroger, super-walmart, and a few winn-dixie's left which are all supposed to go out of business soon. I think farm fresh owns one store, called The Market, near the Bottom.

Carytown is probably one of the most unique shopping experiences you can find.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Raleigh has a Saks Fifth Avenue and Charlotte has the Saks off Fifth which is the same company but more of an outlet store.

[StevenRocks]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Short Pump vesus Stony Point debate, in other words, which one you like better?

I vote Stony Point: hotter stores, less walking. If they had Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, The Cheesecake Factory and Apple, I'd never have to go to Short Pump.

[wrldcoupe4]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Short Pump vesus Stony Point debate, in other words, which one you like better?

I vote Stony Point: hotter stores, less walking.  If they had Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, The Cheesecake Factory and Apple, I'd never have to go to Short Pump.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Stony Point does have the cheescake bistro though. I personally like Stony Point, even though I can't pronounce half of those upscale stores . I think it was built better and has a better feel to it. I also enjoy going into Saks just to get a laugh at how much they rip you off. Short Pump is larger and offers a greater variety of stores, plus it has the funny bone comedy club which is a plus. I'd still probably do most of the shopping I need to do at Chesterfield Towne Center. Speaking of CTC, an old Navy is opening in the front of the mall where the CVS and Pearl Vision used to be. Dillards consolidated their men's and women's stores, and the mall plans to tear down the men's store and add an outdoor plaza with more restaurants to compete with the higher end new malls. Dillard's intends on expanding their consolidated store to over 120,000 sf at some point in the future. Not to mention once the Federated and Mays deal is finished, the Hecht's will be converted into a Macy's which should go over well...Overall, CTC has faired extremely well given the new competition.

Edited April 8, 2005 by wrldcoupe4

[eandslee]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Short Pump vesus Stony Point debate, in other words, which one you like better?

I vote Stony Point: hotter stores, less walking.  If they had Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, The Cheesecake Factory and Apple, I'd never have to go to Short Pump.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like both malls and both malls have very good things about them. Stony Point, of course, is a bit smaller, looks better, but has fewer store that I would shop, whereas Short Pump is larger, has more stores that I would shop, but doesn't look as asthetically pleasing to the eye as Stony Point. Stony Point is within the City of Richmond, which makes me want to say that Stony Point is better (it definitely has some great restuarants), but just for practicality and for myself only, I personally think that Short Pump is better. Having said that though, when I was in town last year, I shopped at both and had a very pleasant experience at both malls. Short Pump just had more.

Edited April 8, 2005 by eandslee

[eandslee]

I like both malls and both malls have very good things about them.  Stony Point, of course, is a bit smaller, looks better, but has fewer store that I would shop, whereas Short Pump is larger, has more stores that I would shop, but doesn't look as asthetically pleasing to the eye as Stony Point.  Stony Point is within the City of Richmond, which makes me want to say that Stony Point is better (it definitely has some great restuarants), but just for practicality and for myself only, I personally think that Short Pump is better.  Having said that though, when I was in town last year, I shopped at both and had a very pleasant experience at both malls.  Short Pump just had more.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oops! I don't know how I managed to post this again, so I appologize.

Edited April 8, 2005 by eandslee

[StevenRocks]

Dillards consolidated their men's and women's stores, and the mall plans to tear down the men's store and add an outdoor plaza with more restaurants to compete with the higher end new malls. Dillard's intends on expanding their consolidated store to over 120,000 sf at some point in the future.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hadn't heard about the Dillard's changes at CTC. It's about time! The two-store thing was very limiting from a mall expansion standpoint.

[wrldcoupe4]

Some tidbits of Richmond's Retail Market for 2005:

"At of the end of the third quarter of 2004, retail space in the Richmond metropolitan statistical area totaled approximately 33 million square feet, with a vacancy rate of approximately 8 percent. Even with an unusually large influx of space and new retailers in 2003 with the addition of two large malls, it is expected that existing retailers will continue to add new units and that new retailers will continue to enter the market. This is based on the Richmond area

[wrldcoupe4]

The new Ukrop's in Stratford Hills on Forest Hill ave. will be opening on May 25. It is anchoring a new shopping center with target, which has already opened.

It will be similar in design to the other recently opened locations...here are some of the amenities:

Dry Cleaning, Ticketmaster, Rug Doctor Rental, postage stamps, money orders, UPS, Coffee Bar, outdoor/indoor Caf

[StevenRocks]

Ukrop's is impressive, from how it sounds. I have yet to visit one in person.

[wrldcoupe4]

Ukrop's is impressive, from how it sounds.  I have yet to visit one in person.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure can be...the new John Rolfe location included a YMCA branch and 2 doctor's offices within the location.....You'll have to check the one out they are building in Roanoke. Maybe you could update the hometown folks on its progress?

[wrldcoupe4]

Ukrop's is impressive, from how it sounds.  I have yet to visit one in person.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure can be quite a treat...the new John Rolfe location included a YMCA branch and 2 doctor's offices within the location as well.....You'll have to check the one out they are building in Roanoke. Maybe you could update the hometown folks on its progress?

[StevenRocks]

You'll have to check the one out they are building in Roanoke. Maybe you could update the hometown folks on its progress?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ivy Market is coming along with site preliminaries and all, but there's no sign of the Ukrop's building; at least not yet.

[wrldcoupe4]

Speaking of Cloverleaf Mall and its redevelopment, I thought this was particularly promising:

"The same challenge is facing aging suburbs across the country, and county planners are adopting much the same strategy as elsewhere: Encourage redevelopment. By permitting developers to build at higher densities, county planners hope to make it worthwhile for them to tear down the old stuff and start from scratch.

That

[eandslee]

Thanks for posting the article "The Tide Turns". It was a really good read and revealed some project I had no idea were in "the works". After reading the article, I felt as you do when you leave movies like "Rocky" where in my head I was thinking "Hell yeah!" It certainly increased my sense of pride for Richmond!

[wrldcoupe4]

Yea i definitely enjoyed reading that article...definitely pointed out the many positive things going on in our region, as well as a few things we still need to work on....