New Saks Fifth Avenue in former Montaldo's?

[dubone]

Not really. Perhaps with a lot of expense they could build up, but that seems like it would be tough and expensive.

[StevenRocks]

Saks would probably expand the Montaldo's building some. Their typical small-market store is around 80,000 square feet these days.

[DigitalSky]

Well the Tax Site for where the Mint Museum, 220 N Tryon St (Montaldo's), said there was 55,000 heated s/f but 70,000 s/f total... so I don't know what they could do with that?

[mallguy]

Who owns the building now? The Mint itself or BofA?

I'd be happy with even an "emergencies" Saks (ie, if I need a nice tie or new pair of shoes or something before a business dinner)- kind of like the one in Charleston.

[StevenRocks]

I'd be happy with even an "emergencies" Saks (ie, if I need a nice tie or new pair of shoes or something before a business dinner)- kind of like the one in Charleston.

"Saks Express" perhaps?

[mallguy]

"Saks Express" perhaps?

Right. I don't see a full-line department store surviving uptown in the near future, although Belk Express (with makeup and gift items) and Jos.A.Bank (limited selection of clothes- but who would drive all the way uptown to shop there? it's just for a replacement tie or the like) do fine. Saks could have the same products- high-profit makeup counter and limited clothing selection and probably do OK.

[dubone]

Maybe they could brand it Saks Press.

(say it fast).

I wonder if there is a possibility of working with the Berkman project to get some retail space expansion into that building somehow.

[mallguy]

And how much interest do uptown Charlotte's large corporate citizens have in getting high-end department stores there? I'd think that if they were itching to do whatever it takes to get high-end retail uptown (such as giving incredibly good lease terms), Founders Hall and the Wachovia buildings would already have fancy stores in them- not the local chains and the like that are there.

[DigitalSky]

Maybe they could brand it Saks Press.

(say it fast).

Ha! Cracks me up.

[StevenRocks]

I see it differently. Eastland Mall has a pretty good possibility of losing most of its anchors in about 5 years, and the Midtown Square project is bringing retail interest back towards Uptown, so there will be demand. Who will fill it is anybody's guess.

[mallguy]

There will definitely be a void left when Eastland goes under, but will that void be filled by an uptown Saks?

[StevenRocks]

Saks would be part of an Uptown retail district. I think if Belk leaves Eastland, they will consider a store in Uptown or Midtown to fill in the market gap. Belk and Saks could be the anchors of something substantial, either a development or a district that would serve the center city.

[dubone]

There will definitely be a void left when Eastland goes under, but will that void be filled by an uptown Saks?

There won't be that much of a void, as it isn't doing that well. The void has already been filled by Walmart and other general stores in the area. There is less demand for mall-items when there are lower priced items to be found in Walmart.

But no doubt, Saks will have absolutely nothing do with Eastland. The only connection I could see is that if Saks locates uptown, maybe Belk will open, too. Then maybe there'd be some overlap in markets with Eastland.

[mallguy]

There won't be that much of a void, as it isn't doing that well. The void has already been filled by Walmart and other general stores in the area. There is less demand for mall-items when there are lower priced items to be found in Walmart.

But no doubt, Saks will have absolutely nothing do with Eastland. The only connection I could see is that if Saks locates uptown, maybe Belk will open, too. Then maybe there'd be some overlap in markets with Eastland.

Maybe Belk would open a store at the Midtown Square redevelopment site, along with Target and Home Depot? Odd mix of anchors, but such things do happen.

As I've said, people in Charlotte who work or live uptown generally will not walk more than a few blocks; some people I know who live uptown and who work in Gateway Village even drive to work and consider going all the way to Tryon from Gateway Village to be a real journey and will not walk that far. Thus anything like a Belk's that would feed off mainly office-worker foot traffic (and maybe tourist traffic from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, if that would generate shopping traffic) would need to be as close as possible to the Square. The only spaces I can think of that would work would be the Montaldo's building, the Ivey's building (surely better things can be done with that place than the retail/restaurant component it has) and maybe something at the Epicentre or in the Wachovia buildings, which seem to already have their possible retail spaces already accounted for. If Belk or another department store wants to go uptown, it would need to be working on getting one of those spaces- preferably now before the Epicentre is finished.

[dubone]

There are plenty of sites that could work, but they are going to be fewer in the coming years. I'll grant you that Belk's best bet would to locate nearest as possible to hotels, retail, office towers, and tourist destinations.

While it is a little crazy to do it daily, Third Ward, Gateway, and even First Ward are half a mile to a mile from CBD locations around Tryon. Also, there isn't much between right now. It doesn't always work out to walk that far, and somehow the sea of parking lots make it seem farther away. Also, if it were free parking, I'd probably drive if I lived 2 blocks away, as I always run late .

The sites I could see Belk working would be:

- The green parcel behind Charlotte Plaza across 3rd from Hilton

- On Brevard between 3rd and 4th.

- The 1/4 block site at College and 5th

All those sites are in the center of much of the downtown employment and tourism activity.

- 1-2 blocks from Convention Center, Arena and NHOF tourist hubs

- Could be connected to Overstreet Mall

- Is 1/2 block from EpiCentre

- It is next to 3rd Street LRT station

- 1-2 blocks from Wachovia towers

- 1-2 block from BofA towers

- Only a few blocks from most downtown hotels

[mallguy]

I agree. That "green parcel behind Charlotte Plaza across 3rd from Hilton" is so unattractive- surrounded by cars and weeds and aging asphalt. Are there any plans for it- has a developer with plans for it already bought it? Great location, and so unattractive that it would be great to have a department store there.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

It will be awhile. Now that the store remodeling is almost done, Saks is now putting their money into remerchandising their stores. They finally figured out that what will sell In NYC won't necessarily sell in Atlanta and vice versa. In other words, Saks is desperately trying to stay in business. A couple of months ago, they were entertaining acquisition offers.

[StevenRocks]

I think the Saks brand will suvive. It's got some major name recognition and the flagship stores sit on some serious real estate.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

I think the Saks brand will suvive. It's got some major name recognition and the flagship stores sit on some serious real estate.

I hope so. They just don't seem like they really want to sell it. Like they'd rather it die than let anyone else run the company. I guess a bankruptcy judge can decide for them.

(BTW_ Did you hear they're selling Parisian? They had been entertaining offers, but couldn't make a decision to sell or not. Now it looks like Parisian is leaving Saks. L&T might be sold by Federated. Maybe the new owners can expand? Perhaps Charlotte would get one....)

[DigitalSky]

Perhaps. That's interesting, I didn't hear Parisian was being sold. So i guess Saks is left with Saks only?

[StevenRocks]

(BTW_ Did you hear they're selling Parisian? They had been entertaining offers, but couldn't make a decision to sell or not. Now it looks like Parisian is leaving Saks. L&T might be sold by Federated. Maybe the new owners can expand? Perhaps Charlotte would get one....)

I figureed they would sell. The questions become "who bought it?" and "are they really going to try to keep it open?" I'd like to see Parisian live, but I'm not optimistic it will.

So i guess Saks is left with Saks only?

Saks and Club Libby Lou...for now. They could be gearing up to purchase Lord & Taylor from Federated.

[DigitalSky]

Saks .... could be gearing up to purchase Lord & Taylor from Federated.

THAT would be interesting.

[mallguy]

So Parisian is definitely being sold? I had read a few weeks ago that Saks was pursuing "strategic options" (i.e., "figuring out what to do with the chain") for Parisian but didn't know that the decision had been finalized. Thanks for the update- you are so knowledgeable about retail!

This is interesting as at least in the last reporting period, Parisian's sales were much stronger in terms of increase than Saks Fifth Avenue's were. And I always thought that Parisian and S5A would be a good fit- kind of like Banana Republic and the Gap, with one more upscale than the other, but both upscale, and that both chains could make compatible anchors at high-end malls such as Phipps Plaza.

Another odd thing is that Lord & Taylor's sales per square foot are terrible, yet Parisian's are pretty good. (I do a lot of commercial real estate finance and work on a lot of malls, and a lot of this info is publicly available in prospectuses filed and available at the SEC website.) Yet the two chains are very similar in terms of market niche, brands, etc.- you will see, for example, Taylor Byrd shirts, BCBG ties, and Silverstone suits in both stores. So I'd think that the same people who've made Parisian do well could apply their wisdom to turn L&T around, having Parisian cover the Southeast and part of the Midwest and having L&T cover the Northeast.

End of rambling, but I'd love to see a Parisian and a Saks together in uptown Charlotte. I'd shop at both every day! (As well as a L&T but that wouldn't happen anytime in the near future.)

[dubone]

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/14294215.htm

All this merger and acquisition talk reminded me of Belk's acquisition last year of McRae's and Proffitt's.

Do you guys think it is possible that instead of "Saks", that one of the smaller department stores bought by Belk, or that they are rumoring to be looking into, could be what goes uptown to the Montaldo's space?

I'm not sure if it was danced around in this thread, but I didn't see it said outright.

How large are typical Proffit's or McRae's or Parisian stores compared to the Montaldos building? Is Belk phasing out or eliminating any of those brands (obviously they haven't bought Parisian, but the rumor is that they might)?

It seems to me that Saks would be pretty much set on locating at SouthPark, so why not have our local department store, Belk, put one of these newly acquired smaller stores uptown. It would give them a presence, give them a smaller format that they could experiment with a bit, and would be adding a brand that would be new to the city.

[DigitalSky]

Well all Proffitt's and McRae's are Belk stores now. It's interesting they're shopping for more stores though. One would think they would have bought the other Saks stores (Carson's, Younker's, Herberger's, etc...) but those were bought by Bon-Ton stores; but it's obvious that it was a "bold move" as the article described to buy Proffitt's and McRae's first.. something that Belk could handle and was in their niche.

It' will be interesting if Belk comes to malls where Federated has 2 stores and is looking to sell one (I.E. Macy's and Foley's or Macy's and Filene's). I don't know if Belk would buy Parisian.