Orlando Fashion Square [Renovation in Progress]

[spenser1058]

56 minutes ago, codypet said:

Couple of takes here:

• Aloma Bowl I assume Survives now since Orchard was interested in building there.
• There is a LOT of dead retail space there.  Former Floor and Decor, HHGregg, Lucky's now stalling, and Orchard Supply Closing.  Does this present an opportunity for Wal-Mart neighborhood Market?  Let's face it.  Its the largest retailer without a presence there.   If Winn Dixie was looking to add a location not near a Publix, this is the spot.
• Toole's ACE Hardware just got a HUGE sigh of relief.  

I wonder if the problem isn't a bit of an identity crisis. A few years back when OFS was beginning to fade and some of us were attempting to encourage the City to aggressively promote the idea of retailers relocating from the mall area closer to downtown, there was a surprising amount of pushback from those who insisted Fashion Square's resurrection was imminent.

That no doubt was abetted by developers claiming a miracle was coming at any moment. Of course, it really hasn't. The next shoe to drop will likely be Macy's, whose bargain 50-year lease comes to an end in 2023.

Most of my friends downtown rarely travel past Primrose these days if we can avoid it (were it not for Total Wine and Goodyear I probably wouldn't go that far myself.) To Colonial Plaza's credit, they're staying relevant with TW, treasure hunt retailer Marshalls and even a Five Below, the cross between Dollar Tree and Amazon that's  the buzz for millennials at the moment.

Meanwhile, those who insisted that Baldwin Park would be the savior of OFS neglected to notice those folks were mostly unattracted to what had become an increasingly inner-city mall and either went to Park Ave or Millennia instead, or just ordered online.

As Audubon Park transitioned from military retirees to younger folks, there really wasn't anything attracting them to OFS, either.

I'm not sure what the future holds for that stretch of Colonial but I suspect it will not primarily be retail. 

The Wild Card: Target. The Maguire store continues to do OK but what has always been an odd layout for the chain (it was built as a Gold Triangle, not a Target) will become more precarious as they increasingly divide between SuperTargets and the new small format stores. If downtown attracts the latter thanks to UCF, look for the current store either to expand to a SuperTarget (there's room for conversion in the current strip center) or for the location to close altogether.

The other less desirable option is for occupancies to continue to decline and to see the pawn shops and payday lenders move in. Hopefully, before that happens, the City will recruit more upscale apartment complexes to replace aging strip centers and perhaps most of what is left of the mall property.

Edited August 22, 2018 by spenser1058

[Camillo Sitte]

So, Seritage unceremoniously closed the region's second top performing Sears [effectively, by not renewing their lease] in order to replace it with Orchard and Tile & Floor.

Damn, I hope there's a lot of padding in that Tile & Floor lease. 

 

[HankStrong]

Plus they stole my car repair place!

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Plus they stole my car repair place!

Eeeek!

[Camillo Sitte]

20 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

...and there's already a Target right across the street. Orlando is becoming overrun with Targets as it is.

 

Well, half a Target anyway. An almost-but-not-quite Super Target as it were.

The grocery section is a joke. Their selection is little better than a 7-11, and they are always out of what little they do carry.  That corner was a lot more interesting when it was pretty much just a Golden Triangle, Infinite Mushroom, Peaches, and a real, pre-Pepsico/Yum, dine-in Pizza Hut.

Worse things could happen than for Target to build a real Super Target in the immediate area or for a Walmart neighborhood grocery store to go into the Orchard Supply space.

 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[FLClarkKent]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

Couple of takes here:

• Aloma Bowl I assume Survives now since Orchard was interested in building there.
• There is a LOT of dead retail space there.  Former Floor and Decor, HHGregg, Lucky's now stalling, and Orchard Supply Closing.  Does this present an opportunity for Wal-Mart neighborhood Market?  Let's face it.  Its the largest retailer without a presence there.   If Winn Dixie was looking to add a location not near a Publix, this is the spot.
• Toole's ACE Hardware just got a HUGE sigh of relief.  

What's going on with that Lucky's location? The "coming soon" sign has been up forever, but there doesn't appear to be any work taking place.

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, FLClarkKent said:

What's going on with that Lucky's location? The "coming soon" sign has been up forever, but there doesn't appear to be any work taking place.

They went Krogering with Hank! (j/k)

[FLClarkKent]

Once they closed the Piccadilly,  it was all downhill from there.

[spenser1058]

8 minutes ago, FLClarkKent said:

Once they closed the Piccadilly,  it was all downhill from there.

Amen! (although I was always partial to Morrison's but after the merger I was up for A Dilly Of A Meal!)

I look forward to checking out Lucky's since it seems to have figured out the balance between traditional grocer and organic specialty store. I'm curious if that's in part due to the Kroger influence. If so, I wish Target would let Kroger take over their groceries like CVS has their pharmacies. I love Target (and their perfect HRC score) but their grocery offerings are meh.

[Camillo Sitte]

24 minutes ago, FLClarkKent said:

Once they closed the Piccadilly,  it was all downhill from there.

Naw, I think it's more counterintuitive than that.

It's not that the loss of flavorless whitefish, pink carpeting, lack of table salt availability after 3PM, and the cacophony yet weirdly quiet clattering of dentures wasn't significant, but the downfall began with the elimination of the Burdines half-pipes.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[HankStrong]

Peaches.  I miss that place.

[FLClarkKent]

7 minutes ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Naw, I think it's more counterintuitive than that.

It's not that the loss of flavorless whitefish, pink carpeting, lack of table salt availability after 3PM, and the cacophony yet weirdly quiet clattering of dentures wasn't significant, but the downfall began with the elimination of the Burdines half-pipes.

Them be fightin' words! Now, where did I put my walker....

[spenser1058]

7 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Peaches.  I miss that place.

Did you know that before it was Peaches it was a HoJo restaurant (mmmmm, AYCE clams)?

[Camillo Sitte]

25 minutes ago, FLClarkKent said:

Them be fightin' words! Now, where did I put my walker....

I've eaten in that Piccadilly more times than I will admit publicly or put my real name to but the place I miss the most is Wunderbar/Mr. Dunderbak's.  Their pastrami was as good if not better than Ronnie's.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[mdeancherry]

12 minutes ago, Camillo Sitte said:

I've eaten in that Piccadilly more times that I will admit publicly or put my real name to but the place I miss the most is Wunderbar/Mr. Dunderbak's.  Their pastrami was as good if not better than Ronnie's.

Those were good brats too, but the sandwiches were the best. 

[HankStrong]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Did you know that before it was Peaches it was a HoJo restaurant (mmmmm, AYCE clams)?

I had no idea.  We had Peaches where I grew up, but I had family here in town and visited this one and the one on 436 near Altamonte when we came on vacation.

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

I had no idea.  We had Peaches where I grew up, but I had family here in town and visited this one and the one on 436 near Altamonte when we came on vacation.

Now I have a craving for fried seafood. I'll have to get JRS to take me to JB's Fish Camp!

[HankStrong]

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-11-16/entertainment/0270270099_1_vinyl-albums-compact-discs-vinyl-lps

Best quote:

Quote

''The compact disc is not going to kill the LP,'' said Patricia Heimers, RIAA head spokeswoman. ''Everyone is acting prematurely in predicting the LP's demise. It's going to be around for a long time. All these choices can live comfortably alongside each other.''

That 1986 prediction turned out to be BOTH amazing false and oddly true.

Compact disc flat KILLED the cassette tape, but only dismembered the LP.  The LP lived on life support, until digital music killed the CD and somehow revived the LP to a niche market item.

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-11-16/entertainment/0270270099_1_vinyl-albums-compact-discs-vinyl-lps

Best quote:

That 1986 prediction turned out to be BOTH amazing false and oddly true.

Compact disc flat KILLED the cassette tape, but only dismembered the LP.  The LP lived on life support, until digital music killed the CD and somehow revived the LP to a niche market item.

I'm not enough of a buff to know what I'm talking about and maybe I'm just succumbing to hipster tendencies, but I prefer vinyl to CDs and even more so to anything streamed.

The music from a vinyl recording seems much more alive and not like it's in a box somewhere. It took me several years to figure that out and I wince when I think of the albums that I traded, gave away or just plain threw out because I thought I was so cool with a Walkman. Oh, well.

[dcluley98]

I can tell the difference between high quality recordings and compressed or streamed. 192 KB or less and I can hear it.  Vinyl, I can hear differences, but it really is more about how the recording is mastered and pressed than the actual recording. Vinyl has inherent limitations in bass fidelity, so the way it gets turned into a soundwave is different than digital recordings. 

Really, for most ears, you can't technically tell the difference between a 48khz sample rate digital recording and a live analog wav. In practice, good DACs and amplification make this true, but if you are running it through a crap DAC, it won't sound like the real thing, and if you are running a crap signal through a good DAC and good amp, you can definitely tell the difference between a good signal and a bad signal. 

[AmIReal]

41 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Compact disc flat KILLED the cassette tape, but only dismembered the LP.  The LP lived on life support, until digital music killed the CD and somehow revived the LP to a niche market item.

I heard a great segment on NPR today about the music scene in Austin. They said all the cool kids are into cassettes.  A DJ friend in SF said the same is true there. Go figure...

[jrs2]

Oh, man.  What a coincidence that this thread was commented on today.  I just learned that Lowe's is closing 99 Orchard locations in the US, all 13 in The F.L.A.  Construction had already halted on their space at the Sears spot.  Terrible thing....

[spenser1058]

30 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

I heard a great segment on NPR today about the music scene in Austin. They said all the cool kids are into cassettes.  A DJ friend in SF said the same is true there. Go figure...

Wow. I never liked cassettes even when they were the only choice other than reel to reel or vinyl.

[Camillo Sitte]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Wow. I never liked cassettes even when they were the only choice other than reel to reel or vinyl.

There's a company in Tennessee, Missouri [?] somewhere that has started making a pretty wide variety of cassettes; hi-bias, CrO2, metal, etc. And TDK, the last major still making cassettes, has recently ramped up production.

Cassettes are the preferred media for touring indie and garage bands to circulate their music to fans at clubs and other venues.

I doubt however that we will ever see the variety that was available in the mid-to late 80s or that cassettes will see the significant renaissance that vinyl has.

I seem to recall as a kid preferring Maxell and Denon, though Sony,  Fuji or TDK would do in a pinch. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Camillo Sitte

[jrs2]

You darn kids and yer rock and roll!

Doesn't anybody care about Orchard closing?