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Retail in Richmond

vdogg

By vdogg
in Richmond

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rjp212
rjp212

Carytown Publix opens next week. 

rancenc
rancenc

Follow up article on the March posting of Buc-ees coming to the Richmond area. https://rebusinessonline.com/buc-ees-to-expand-to-virginia-with-new-75000-sf-location-in-metro-richmond/

rjp212
rjp212

I agree and there's WAY too much parking there.  I'd replace the parking lot in front of Latitude with more Townhomes with a grid street and alley layout.  Allow for public street parking but garages

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burt Megalopolis

burt

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I may have mentioned this previously, but if you downtowners have not yet visited THESE FOUR WALLS at 14th and Cary, you're missing a treat. I browsed around the store on my last visit and found it quite unique. Pop in next you're noshing st Southern Railway Deli. It's an excellent counterpoint to the sleek and delightful LA DIFFERENCE just down 14th Street.

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burt Megalopolis

burt

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Stony Point Fashion Park is represented by the Barber Martin Advertising Agency. (In the National advertising field, the name "Martin" is quite common. Barber Martin has no connection to the famous Martin Agency in The Slip.)

Barber Martin has outfitted a truck "with a three-dimensional scaled-down model of Stony Point's buildings along with twinkling lights and snow falling in the glass enclosed structure.

"The truck will travel throughout the area promoting the mall and its nightly MagicSnow show."

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burt Megalopolis

burt

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It was in the parade and actually looked really cool.

I believe the magic SnowShow is actually some kind of mist that looks like snow but doesn't accumulate on your hat or coat. :rolleyes:

If anyone happens to be at SPFP of an evening, please snap some pix from your always-ready camera.

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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I had a chance to visit Regency Square, Stony Point and Short Pump over the weekend. Here's my thoughts:

Regency Square - Compared to the excellent tenant roster it used to sport, this is a mall in decline. The new stores tend to be very middle of the road and not that special anymore. The older upscale stores seem to be holding pretty well, but there doesn't seem to be much growth. Traffic was good because the anchors are strong and it was cold outside, but there's a sense that not much is happening here anymore.

Stony Point - if you stay at the Saks end, this is a healthy mall. Go towards Dillard's and Dick's, however, and things get a little sketchy. The Dillard's end of the mall is in dire need of some retail excitement, and the Dick's end is one of the more poorly leased corridors I've seen in a while. The potential is there for this mall to be something really great, but it's not reaching it for a number of reasons, one of which is that Short Pump stole its thunder early and it never recovered. I think they're going to have to diversify and two great things that would help would be a (sorely needed) food court and a high style anchor like Neiman Marcus.

Short Pump - How can a mall have all the right parts and still seem dull? This mall has an excellent tenant roster, decent design for a contemporary mall, and is in the middle of a groundswell of retail activity. It doesn't seem like people are really hanging around though, and having the other upscale stores that should have been here at Stony Point is affecting the destination potential of the mall. This place needs to break out of its holding pattern and try to incorporate more community-type elements or face being overshadowed by everything else around it.

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burt Megalopolis

burt

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Posted (edited)

Steven I agree about a general lack of excitement in the air at Richmond's malls..

Perhaps Stony Point Fashion Park has no food court because of contractural arrangement with the upscale restaurants that seem to thrive (except for the poorly located Rio Grande which shuttered and remains empty.) Maybe if P.F.Changs, Flemings, and Brio Tuscan Grill had entrances inside the mall as well as along the north parking area, it would add some spice. I agree, the short stretch near Dick's as well as the street between Godiver Chocolates and Dillards need an umph factor. I'm no expert on Malls, but I do believe Stony Point is one of the more attractively landscaped shopping centers I've seen. Except for Saks, Dillards and Dick's, it is a one-story neighborhood of stores, such as the recently enlarged Brooks Brothers. Stony Point is within the Richmond City Limits where the meals tax is high, whereas all other malls are in surrounding counties. Unlike the others, it allows leashed dogs. I would think Nieman Marcus would do well there.

Regency Square was never very alluring, IMO, despite it being the premier mall and top grosser before Stony Point and Short Pump. Richmond's flagship Macy's (two of them within the mall) are at Regency, and the relatively new Texas de Brazil churrascaria bring large numbers of shoppers and diners to the Mall off Parham Road in the West End. It lost traffic in 2003 when the two giants opened simultaneously, but according to reports, sales have rebounded to a level not anticipated. Regency's food court went thru rehabilitation about a year ago.

Short Pump Town Center has, for the most part, a rather bland look, IMO. It's one million + square feet contains many big name retailers such as Nordstroms, Crate and Barrel, Orvis and a lot of top line stores. It also has a large food court in addition to some very high end restaurants -- Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's, Copper Grille among them. A new hotel, Sierra Suites, is rising next door to the Dick's sporting store at Short Pump. (Incidentally, the Dick's in Stony Point has a climbing wall, which is lacking at the Short Pump store.) The commercial/retail growth in and around Short Pump is staggering.

My hope is that downtown retail will revive. Meanwhile, perhaps Bloomingdale's will join the mix at one of the outlying malls. :)

Thanks for your commentary, Steven. I always value your opinion.

Edited by burt
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eandslee City

eandslee

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If ever there is to be a region that is going to be over-populated with retail options, it has to be Metropolitan Richmond. Read Greg Gilligan's story from today's inRich:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/busines...12-30-0103.html

Cool link, Burt. I went browsing the Internet regarding some of these projects and I happened upon this link:

http://www.taylorlongproperties.com/available-listing.htm

It shows some available spaces for retail in the Richmond area, but it showed a lot of detail on the Hancock Village to be build off Hull Rd. in Chesterfield. I just found it all very interesting.

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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Posted

If ever there is to be a region that is going to be over-populated with retail options, it has to be Metropolitan Richmond. Read Greg Gilligan's story from today's inRich:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/busines...12-30-0103.html

The eastern Henrico center is sorely needed, as there's not a lot of modern retail out that way. The Hull Street project is apparently filling a need as well, though I question if there's really a strong need for yet another strip shopping center on that corridor. West Broad and Westchester seem excessive and I worry about the long term success of dumping more retail space onto oversaturated retail corridors.
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eandslee City

eandslee

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Maybe that's the answer for downtown -- one huge outlet mall stretching along Broad and Grace streets with shuttles running every 2 or 3 minutes from outlying parking lots.

I think you guys are on to something...really! In fact, I think that's the one thing that Richmond is missing...an outlet mall. I realize that there is one in Williamsburg, but perhaps Richmond and Williamsburg outlet malls could co-exist. I wonder why there hasn't been a push for one...other than the reason I mentioned?...or is that reason enough?

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burt Megalopolis

burt

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I don't think an outlet mall would work downtown. It'd attract some new customers downtown, to be sure, but would they keep coming back?

Remember, there is a work force of 80,000 + people downtown and about 8,000 + residents. If some kind of clever, FREE, SAFE and FREQUENT transport could be set up to and from massive parking decks built over nearby expressways, I think it would be so unique in the world of marketing that it just might work!

Combined with historic attractions, offices, academia and entertainment venues, it would be unlike any other outlet mall of which I am aware. A FREE transit loop could carry shoppers, workers and visitors from one district to another. The overall plan would probably reduce vehicular traffic in the heart of the city.

Needless to say, top outlet retailers would have to be recruited.

When talking motorized shuttles, FREE, SAFE and FREQUENCY OF SERVICE are of paramount importance.

That's Burt's 2 cents for tonight. :)

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