Norfolk Stores and Retail and Resturants

[spiker3]

BTW, I haven't been to Fatburger. Is it good?

Five guys has locations in Hampton Roads. One in the TOTALLY BUILT OUT Greenbriar. I go over there to go to a place related to work and holy crap is that place built out.

A friend is friends with one of the proprietors of the Fat Burger franchise I think. I believe the other guy is a rap star or made his money from rap stars. The chain was brought here because of it's popularity in rap music I believe (I think Fat Burger is more of a Dre thing, because we all know... the Beastie Boys went to the White Castle and they got thrown out).

FatBurger is no longer a franchise in this area, Pharrell and the owner were bought out by FatBurger. Pharrell is still a partner in the company but the store does less than $500K a year (it's an awful location with no street visibility) The growth potential they saw happening didn't show up, so Chesapeake remains their only store (originally had plans to open a NoVa location and a Virginia Beach location by the end of 07)

[brikkman]

Went there the other week for the first time. Didn't eat though, nothing struck me as something I could not get at home. The auroma was blahh, like something you should have found inside of walmart. Its probably a good night after club spot in the mix of DT, but your right, its not going to do well in that area.

I don't see why a few places do not open after club hours in DT. I'm sure they would do well.

[Telmnstr]

We tried to go to Harry's BBQ in downtown Norfolk for lunch today. There was a closed / No Trespassing sign on the door. The kind that the property owner puts on a place when the tenant hasn't paid.

Bummed, we ended up at the Granby Bistro.

Meanwhile, Harry's old location sits there with for rent signs in every window.

Jack Quinns, will Katsias ever sell it?

[VAGATOR]

We tried to go to Harry's BBQ in downtown Norfolk for lunch today. There was a closed / No Trespassing sign on the door. The kind that the property owner puts on a place when the tenant hasn't paid.

Bummed, we ended up at the Granby Bistro.

Meanwhile, Harry's old location sits there with for rent signs in every window.

Jack Quinns, will Katsias ever sell it?

The whole situation on Granby Street with Harry's BBQ was a joke. I loved going to that place after a night on Granby Street. Serves that ripoff artist landlord right. Shame Harry's looks like its in trouble.

[vdogg]

The whole situation on Granby Street with Harry's BBQ was a joke. I loved going to that place after a night on Granby Street. Serves that ripoff artist landlord right. Shame Harry's looks like its in trouble.

Of course they're still in trouble. The corner they're on has nowhere near the visibility of their former location. It's a sad situation because Harry's is the type of downtown staple that makes a city unique. Oh well, guess only chain resturants can afford Granby now.

[Former Resident of HR]

Of course they're still in trouble. The corner they're on has nowhere near the visibility of their former location. It's a sad situation because Harry's is the type of downtown staple that makes a city unique. Oh well, guess only chain resturants can afford Granby now.

What chains are moving into Granby? The only action I am seeing there is more and more "for rent" signs in the windows. Most of the places left are unique in name if not concept.

Drove past the "new" Pizza Hut which is actually just a take-out place in some really crappy looking mini-mall across from the U-Haul lot. The old one on 21st could be something cool considering the location.

If Granby/Ghent were struggling to fill space when the economy was "good", I hate to think about the next few years ahead as things slow down.

[vdogg]

What chains are moving into Granby? The only action I am seeing there is more and more "for rent" signs in the windows. Most of the places left are unique in name if not concept.

Drove past the "new" Pizza Hut which is actually just a take-out place in some really crappy looking mini-mall across from the U-Haul lot. The old one on 21st could be something cool considering the location.

If Granby/Ghent were struggling to fill space when the economy was "good", I hate to think about the next few years ahead as things slow down.

I know of no chains that have moved in yet. The point I was trying to make is that with them jacking up rents on Granby, soon only chains will be able to afford to rent there.

[mikeas]

I know of no chains that have moved in yet. The point I was trying to make is that with them jacking up rents on Granby, soon only chains will be able to afford to rent there.

A pilates place and a coffee shop recently opened on Granby. Somehow they can afford the rents, maybe it's not so bad.

[Telmnstr]

It was an omen. Later on in the day some of our coworkers were laid off from our job, several of which were on the trek to Harry's.

Also found out there were some layoffs at my old spot up at NASA yesterday.

[Former Resident of HR]

I know of no chains that have moved in yet. The point I was trying to make is that with them jacking up rents on Granby, soon only chains will be able to afford to rent there.

The reality is probably that the chains that want to be in dt Norfolk are there (at Waterside and Macarthur). So the stupid building owners will probably end up killing the goose that lays the golden egg by charging higher rents and chasing out businesses. Typical Norfolk mentality for you.

[Telmnstr]

Yea I was thinking the same thing. But never underestimate the brilliance of the greedy. It's the "I'm not going to let them rip me off" mentality. I was looking at a biz space to rent to replace the old world headquarters in Virginia Beach. There was a sorta cool place on York Street. Went round and round with the property management jokers. I closed the deal on my other office in a day. After a month of going around and around, the final cut and paste HACK of a lease had odd things like... If I brought my own air conditioners, even if they are portable they are to become the landlords property and crap. Stuff was hacked in there that conflicted with the other stuff. And the lease was 6 months at a time. Basically, I'm pretty sure they expected to rent it to the construction company that is using it for the buildout of the 9 story hotel.

And yes, my intentions were to do pretty hardcore graphical projections on the front window, and probably send 5 to 50 watt laser beams to safe points against other nearby buildings (the WTKR satellite dish, the Hauge tower, etc) on event nights. Ah it would have been so killer.

I *started* to sniff around regarding the open empty space across from Yorgos in the ?Monticello Arcade? ... but the city said it was taken... and it's been empty since I asked 7 months ago. They also quoted greedy rates. I've changed my opinion though on funding a hacker space in the area. I'd rather put my money into my own retirement investments versus making the area look cool to outsiders.

[Weaver24]

MacArthur/Military Circle Mall Store Closings

Phone service provider Alltel (1st floor), women's shoe retailer Nine West and some Bridal store on the 2nd floor closed in MacArthur Center this week. I heard that Banana Republic bought the spaces of the Bridal store, Nine West and Chico's. Chico's supposed to be moving to the old Coach space and Nine West isn't sure if they going to open in another location in this mall. This mall is always loosing stores and it seems like its missing something...you know certain stores that malls need. Military Circle has lost some stores as well like Street Stuff, Lady Foot Locker, some music store named Sound Shop, Rave, NY and Company and some store called Trina's Place. The two malls in Norfolk must not be doing well, but about 4-5 stores (Suncoast, 5-7-9, B. Moss, etc) are leaving (store closing sales) or have left Lynnhaven, which gets plenty of traffic, so maybe alot of retailers aren't doing well all over. I hope that the management of these malls put some decent and quality stores in those vacant spaces, especially MacArthur and Military Circle because they seem like they aren't doing as well as they should. I mean MacArthur is always having barricades covering stores.

[spiker3]

MacArthur/Military Circle Mall Store Closings

Phone service provider Alltel (1st floor), women's shoe retailer Nine West and some Bridal store on the 2nd floor closed in MacArthur Center this week. I heard that Banana Republic bought the spaces of the Bridal store, Nine West and Chico's. Chico's supposed to be moving to the old Coach space and Nine West isn't sure if they going to open in another location in this mall. This mall is always loosing stores and it seems like its missing something...you know certain stores that malls need. Military Circle has lost some stores as well like Street Stuff, Lady Foot Locker, some music store named Sound Shop, Rave, NY and Company and some store called Trina's Place. The two malls in Norfolk must not be doing well, but about 4-5 stores (Suncoast, 5-7-9, B. Moss, etc) are leaving (store closing sales) or have left Lynnhaven, which gets plenty of traffic, so maybe alot of retailers aren't doing well all over. I hope that the management of these malls put some decent and quality stores in those vacant spaces, especially MacArthur and Military Circle because they seem like they aren't doing as well as they should. I mean MacArthur is always having barricades covering stores.

To add to this, Greenbrier looks to be doing horrendous as well, Pac Sun's old space, a jewelry store, DEB, Suncoast, and two or three other stores are either empty or going out of business.

[urbanvb]

I rarely visit Greenbrier but I happended to go there recently and was surprised at home much the mall had gone down. The feel of the place left a lot to be desired. I also agree it seems more stores come and come in MacArthur. It's hard to tell whether it's more a problem of slow sales or just stores going out of business period.

[vtfan18]

I will say that as plain as MacArthur mall is with its stores, its definitely the nicest mall in our area. I haven't been to lynnhaven mall for some time and after a recent visit, I couldn't believe how fast that mall dropped in my book. A great deal of "mom and pop" stores but even stores like footlocker had the worst build out I had ever seen.

[urbanvb]

I visit Lynnhaven quite a bit since I work in the area. Since the mall was sold to General Growth Properties a few years ago it has not been the same. The quality of upkeep the prior owner had (Simon Properties) is definitely gone including keeping tables cleaned, floors swept and empty storefronts closed up.

[ace707]

MacArthur/Military Circle Mall Store Closings

Phone service provider Alltel (1st floor), women's shoe retailer Nine West and some Bridal store on the 2nd floor closed in MacArthur Center this week. I heard that Banana Republic bought the spaces of the Bridal store, Nine West and Chico's. Chico's supposed to be moving to the old Coach space and Nine West isn't sure if they going to open in another location in this mall. This mall is always loosing stores and it seems like its missing something...you know certain stores that malls need. Military Circle has lost some stores as well like Street Stuff, Lady Foot Locker, some music store named Sound Shop, Rave, NY and Company and some store called Trina's Place. The two malls in Norfolk must not be doing well, but about 4-5 stores (Suncoast, 5-7-9, B. Moss, etc) are leaving (store closing sales) or have left Lynnhaven, which gets plenty of traffic, so maybe alot of retailers aren't doing well all over. I hope that the management of these malls put some decent and quality stores in those vacant spaces, especially MacArthur and Military Circle because they seem like they aren't doing as well as they should. I mean MacArthur is always having barricades covering stores.

I don't think MacArthur Center is going down as much as you say. First off, Alltel isn't exactly a huge loss IMO because the mall has a bunch of cell phone shops already and of the major services, Alltel is the smallest. Bridal shop I don't think was really a sought after store before it even opened. I think that was more of a test to see if a store like that has a market at the mall which apparently it doesn't. Nine West I thought was good for the mall and I always saw alot of women shopping there. Hopefully they will find a new location in the mall. Chico's is moving to the old Coach location which doesn't make it a loss for the mall. Adding in Banana Republic I think is a much more suitable addition to the mall plus I think it will surely pull more traffic than the bridal and alltel store combined.

Military is practically following Tower Mall and NewMarket Mall tracks at this rate and honestly the anchor stores, movie theater and the DoubleTree Hotel are the only places that make this mall still have some (though declining) revelance. Janaf is on a roll and I think military circle may become an archilles heel to Military Hwy's progress unless its management steps up their game and goes back to the competitive track.

Edited January 30, 2008 by ace707

[vdogg]

All I care about is that their apple store is doing fantastic. Always busy no matter what time of week I go in there. I finally broke down and bought an ipod and I love it so much I definitely plan on buying more products in the future. As for the rest of the stores, it's not as bad as you think. Most of the stores that have left Macarthur have actually gone out of business period, as in all stores closed. Most of the rest are shuffling to different locations inside the mall. An extremely small amount have decided to close only their MacArthur stores while leaving other locations open. In fact, MacArthur seems to be doing quite well.

[adctvmonkey]

I visit Lynnhaven quite a bit since I work in the area. Since the mall was sold to General Growth Properties a few years ago it has not been the same. The quality of upkeep the prior owner had (Simon Properties) is definitely gone including keeping tables cleaned, floors swept and empty storefronts closed up.

The funny thing is, General Growth Properties owns Tysons Galleria here in Northern Virginia, THE most prestigious mall in the DC region with LV, Cartier, Burberry, Gucci, etc. Ironic I guess.

[Weaver24]

All I care about is that their apple store is doing fantastic. Always busy no matter what time of week I go in there. I finally broke down and bought an ipod and I love it so much I definitely plan on buying more products in the future. As for the rest of the stores, it's not as bad as you think. Most of the stores that have left Macarthur have actually gone out of business period, as in all stores closed. Most of the rest are shuffling to different locations inside the mall. An extremely small amount have decided to close only their MacArthur stores while leaving other locations open. In fact, MacArthur seems to be doing quite well.

Yeah their apple store is doing well but clearly you can see that a good amount of stores are not doing well because too many have closed since the mall opened. If you look at the list of stores that were in the mall when it first opened and look at it now...there have been some changes. Yes alot are still there, but alot are gone. I know some like Bombay had company issues like filing for chapter 11, downsizing, rent raising, etc. but alot have left and there aren't a whole lot of stores in there that are exclusive to the market. There are some but not alot. Now there are alot of barricades on store fronts because the two calendar club-go toys and games stores closed, which were seasonal anyway. A couple of co-workers from williamsburg told me that they were not impressed with the mall and that it seems like its struggling because it lost alot of stores and they like Patrick Henry Mall better and they not going back. But its whatever....I just think that the mall should have a more competitive edge because I heard alot of negative comments about that mall and Military Circle as well. A girlfriend of mine was upset because it seems like there aren't that many shoe stores with good high heels except Bakers and the department stores...and Payless will not do for her. And yeah Alltel leaving isn't really a lost but it adds another closed space. As for Greenbrier, I haven't been there since last year but its weird how they have carpet on one floor and the tile on the other.

spiker3...I remember you saying that you used to work in MacArthur's food court with HSM Host. You need to go back because the quality with the food at Burger King and Lotus Express sucks. The customer service was piss poor as well. They also closed the fresh attractions area and have that barricaded...maybe they could put something decent there like a Chick Fil A. The Cheesecake Factory Cafe is still pretty good though.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Weaver24

[okinawatyphoon]

The mall in general is in decline, but I hope MacArthur is doing well. I think the addition of Banana Republic and the expansion of the Coach store speak volumes.

[lil-bear]

Speaking of MacArthur Center, I think that Macy's should close their sub-par store at Military Circle and build a flagship store as the third anchor at MacCenter.

I can't wait to go to NY to see the real Macy's.....

[vtfan18]

Speaking of MacArthur Center, I think that Macy's should close their sub-par store at Military Circle and build a flagship store as the third anchor at MacCenter.

I can't wait to go to NY to see the real Macy's.....

Skip Macy's and go to Bergdorf Goodman. It'll blow you away, just make sure to visit the mens Bergdorf Goodman as there are two. Actually Macy's is fun if you like running around in a maze. Its so easy to get lost in that place!

[spiker3]

spiker3...I remember you saying that you used to work in MacArthur's food court with HSM Host. You need to go back because the quality with the food at Burger King and Lotus Express sucks. The customer service was piss poor as well. They also closed the fresh attractions area and have that barricaded...maybe they could put something decent there like a Chick Fil A. The Cheesecake Factory Cafe is still pretty good though.

It'll stay vacant for the next year until they lose their contract, i tried getting them to consider a Chick Fil A for the spot and was told the cost of build out was too expense (bids were around 900K - $1.5 million to add hood systems, drainage, without a brand in mind) HMSHost is on the way out, hopefully the mall will bring in a traditional vendor this time around. I'm well aware of the issues in the stores since i left though.

[spiker3]

Speaking of MacArthur Center, I think that Macy's should close their sub-par store at Military Circle and build a flagship store as the third anchor at MacCenter.

I can't wait to go to NY to see the real Macy's.....

When Macy's bought out Hecht's that ended any chance of Macy's at MacArthur, the brand is simply too watered down and too common now for MacArthur to bring them on. They want a national anchor with a very limited or non-existent presence in Hampton Roads, and will not settle for a Macy's, Pennys, or the like.