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New Saks Fifth Avenue in former Montaldo's?

nyxmike

By nyxmike
in Charlotte Coffee House

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

Posted
Posted

A little off-topic, but relevant:

What I think is strange these days is that the investment community is trying to put the department store industry off the map even though Americans by and lage embrace a depertment store concept when it's done right.

Examples:

--Wall to wall crowds at Nordstrom SouthPark the other day during their sale, and the giddy optimism when one of these stores opens in a town.

-- the incresingly department store-style merchandise presentation of nearly every big-box store including Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe's.

-- the rebirth of JCPenney, possibly the most "averege" store in America.

-- grocery stores like Wegman's and Harris Teeter, which are embracing lifestyle merchandising and adding restaurants and coffee shops to their mixes just like, you guessed it, department stores. Even dowdy ol' Food Lion's headed that way.

It just seems like a disconnect to me.

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appatone Hamlet

appatone

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So Saks was with Dee Dee when a Ritz like hotel was planned for seven eagles. Now that we have a Ritz going Uptown with BofA does that lend any credibilty to the rumor that Saks will locate in the Montaldo's building. BofA is aquiring the building from the Mint, BofA obviously knew that Ritz was coming and may have used that as a selling point for luring Saks, and BofA is helping Wachovia with the proposal to move the Mint out of the building. Is this some type of BofA plan to "luxury up" the area around it's headquaters? Do you think they are swooping in to take what Dee Dee lost?

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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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I think that is a good assesment.....and I think it is fair to say that BofA would be willing to entice Saks any way they can.

However, Dee Dee knew all about this, at least for the last several months. She may still fill her whole with a Ritz condo project.

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poplife88 Whistle-Stop

poplife88

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So Saks was with Dee Dee when a Ritz like hotel was planned for seven eagles.  Now that we have a Ritz going Uptown with BofA does that lend any credibilty to the rumor that Saks will locate in the Montaldo's building.  BofA is aquiring the building from the Mint, BofA obviously knew that Ritz was coming and may have used that as a selling point for luring Saks,  and BofA is helping Wachovia with the proposal to move the Mint out of the building.  Is this some type of BofA plan to "luxury up" the area around it's headquaters?  Do you think they are swooping in to take what Dee Dee lost?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, indeed. I must admit I was a little bummed at the announcement, but not too much. I was thinking that this presser was going to be about Saks coming to uptown, but am definitely happy with Ritz.

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appatone Hamlet

appatone

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True. It has been said around here that Saks doesn't like to open up in the same hood as Neiman Marcus but it seems Uptown would be the other place Saks would want to be. Maybe Neiman's presence in SouthPark is added reasoning behind a Saks move uptown. We will have to wait and see on this one though. Although I think it could be a great project I do worry about Saks economic woes. If BofA is seeking a luxury dept store for that location perhaps they should take Girly's advice and attempt to lure a Barney's CO-OP.

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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I think Saks' main hesitance about locating near Neiman Marcus would be spreading the wallets of luxury customers too thin. There is a lot of overlap between their respective customer bases, and in a smaller market like Charlotte, it could be disasterous for either chain to be, say, across the street from each other.

Locating Uptown could create enough of a market seperation to make Saks work in a small market with Neiman's nearby. Having a Ritz and several bank headquarters around won't hurt them.

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charlotte_bon_vivant Whistle-Stop

charlotte_bon_vivant

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She has an agreement with Ritz for them to brand her suburban condo project if she can pre-sell enough of it.....or so she tells her neighborhood association.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, thanks. So, was the hotel project seperate? BTW- I'm starting to doubt Ms. Dee Dee has any of the connections and potential tenents she claims she does. :P

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DigitalSky City

DigitalSky

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The hotel project was supposed to be a new hotel (a prototype if you will), headed by the former president of RC....Horst Schulze.  I have no idea if he is still interested or involved.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wonder what Dee Dee is trying to lure to that department store pad she has available.

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f0xym0p Hamlet

f0xym0p

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Well after a rousing success with Bojangles and Walgreens she may be waving her magic wand around Family Dollar's door.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you insinuating that Bojangle's is not a high class restaurant? Bo Berry biscuits are fancy.

:P

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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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No.....I don't think we will hear any more about this until the Arts Package gets approved by the State. As part of the arts financing plan, the Montaldo's space will be purchased by BofA, who is rumored to be considering leasing it to Saks.

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voyager12 Town

voyager12

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I am all for bringing more large scale shopping to Uptown. Right now there is just not enough "there" there to justify a Saks store. In the future when more condos are online and Epicentre is finished it would be ideal. The area is still too dead currently and I think Saks or any other major retailer is going to wait a few years and see how fast Uptown takes off.

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NC0775 Unincorporated Area

NC0775

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Does anyone know how many square feet the Montaldo's building has? That was a women's store, so I doubt it's big enough to be a regular, full-line Saks, but instead would be some kind of mini or express version. In any case, I hope it returns to retail use.

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

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An express store would probably be fine with me, especially if it is 55ksf. It'd let the big stores get their feet wet on an otherwise unproven intown market. They could also swap out their merchandise to suit specific groups in town for different events. Typically, they'd have products for uptown residents and employees, and the evening vistors. Then for large sports tournaments, Nascar events, arts events or whatever, they could swap out the merchandise to suit that particular group.

Maybe I'm crazy, it just seems that if Nordstrom can be satisfied with setting up shop in a Hilton ballroom for 2 days, a permanent store could shift its merchandise to match the temporary population.

Uptown, our employment population might be 60k, and our residential population might be 12k, but our visitor population can spike to 400k. Surely if you factor in the potential for a sweetheart lease from BofA, and sales spikes during events, they could make it work.

Am I just being overly optimistic?

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