Four Seasons Town Centre

[StevenRocks]

Confirmation that Williams Sonoma is closing at Four Seasons...their last day will be sometime in late October, with an opening at Friendly scheduled for the first week in November.

Victoria's Secret has consolidated their stores int the main store space, and has opened a concept store called Pink.

Impressa costume jewelry has closed, replaced by a tailor shop.

The Disney Store has closed

Kiss, the store that replaced Ann Taylor, has been closed all weekend.

FYE has cut back their store space by at least a third.

The Aveda concept store has closed, and has been replaced by a handbag store.

Yankee Candle, however, is staying for at least the foreseeable future.

[Roadgeek]

Confirmation that Williams Sonoma is closing at Four Seasons...their last day will be sometime in late October, with an opening at Friendly scheduled for the first week in November.

Victoria's Secret has consolidated their stores int the main store space, and has opened a concept store called Pink.

Impressa costume jewelry has closed, replaced by a tailor shop.

The Disney Store has closed

Kiss, the store that replaced Ann Taylor, has been closed all weekend.

FYE has cut back their store space by at least a third.

The Aveda concept store has closed, and has been replaced by a handbag store.

Yankee Candle, however, is staying for at least the foreseeable future.

That doesn't sound good. I went there a few Saturdays ago and was disappointed in the way that FYE is now.

[StevenRocks]

Retail's in a tough spot right now, and four seasons is caught between that and the increased competition from Friendly Center and Wendover.

[suburban george3]

General Growth Properties, which owns Four Seasons has warned of bankruptcy. It has $1 billion dollars in debt due that it probably will not be able to fund. General Growth is the nation's 2nd largest mall owner, and also has over $3 billion dollars in debt due next year.

Read about it here!

[DigitalSky]

what does this mean for Four Seasons (and Carolina Place and Southpoint for that matter)?

[JerseyBoy]

It's likely they'll start selling off their portfolio to Simon and CBL (if they're in the position to buy as well).

[StevenRocks]

what does this mean for Four Seasons (and Carolina Place and Southpoint for that matter)?

I think Koury Corporation will buy back Four Seasons at a discount if GGP goes belly up. They have the most to lose if with a declining mall sitting smack in the middle of their real estate holdings. Southpoint and Carolina Place will likely go to CBL because they're well positioned malls and the company is likely willing to pay more than Simon to control the regional retail markets.

[coastalmindset]

what does this mean for Four Seasons (and Carolina Place and Southpoint for that matter)?

I would imagine GGP will eventually be sold off in pieces mostly to Simon and Westfield. These guys are about the only two not fully leveraged and in a position to buy a bulk of the malls. Four Seasons will probably go to Simon or maybe to a smaller REIT as it is a less than desirable mall. I think CNBC also mentioned Vornado Realty as a possible player to buy a larger chuck of the portfolio. Although what's $3 billion in the grand scheme of things, let the tax payer pay it off for them.

Someone mentioned Koury Corporation picking it back up but I highly doubt that would happen, especially in todays economic and retail climate. A large building like a mall is expensive to maintain unless you have huge contracts throughout the country to help with costs. It'll be interesting to see how many retailers start closing stores after the holidays.

[StevenRocks]

Koury Corporation was the original developer and under their charge, the mall was one of the region's premier places to shop. Things went a little awry after Joe Koury died, but the mall was still a major player in the market. Under GGP, the place has gone to crap, losing all of its nicer stores and filling space with very similar stores selling identiacal merchandise. It's a recipe for disaster.

[winston's finest]

This mall is continuously going down. I hope that whomever buys it will be able to save it becasue it is too large of a mall to go under and lose all its major stores. I think a major issue is that High Point Road is deteriorating as well. It is unsightly and not attractive to shoppers on its own.

This is a major plus that Stratford rd and Hanes mall have. At least there is much to do on that long retail strip and its much more attractive than High Point Road. Simon is a great company that they should seek out

[StevenRocks]

I would be worried about Belk leaving in the short term, but Dillard's and JCPenney don't have any other stores in town, and it'd be hard for them to move unless a new shopping center popped up.

Slightly OT, but Stratford Road is really only healthy around Thruway and towards downtown. The portion from Carrabba's down to Hanes Mall Blvd is not very attractive and it's losing chain stores and restaurants rapidly.

[DigitalSky]

I would be worried about Belk leaving in the short term, but Dillard's and JCPenney don't have any other stores in town, and it'd be hard for them to move unless a new shopping center popped up.

Interesting question. Where would the next Greensboro mall, er lifestyle center, potentially pop up?

[suburban george3]

Slightly OT, but Stratford Road is really only healthy around Thruway and towards downtown. The portion from Carrabba's down to Hanes Mall Blvd is not very attractive and it's losing chain stores and restaurants rapidly.

Stratford really never had much of a national chain presence in that area and was geared more industrial with Hanes/Sara Lee and smaller commercial, office space. Hopefully a lifestyle center around the Hanes/Sara Lee plant would help to remedy that. A big difference though is that Stratford Road does not have an image of being high crime like High Point Rd does.

[StevenRocks]

Interesting question. Where would the next Greensboro mall, er lifestyle center, potentially pop up?

There is no really good spot for one that I can think of.

[DigitalSky]

There is no really good spot for one that I can think of.

The only next hotspots are the economically viable northern suburbs of Guilford County, i.e. Oak Ridge, Summerfield.. but up there i see more of a Birkdale Village type of development rather than a full-scale lifestyle center if anything.

[suburban george3]

More bad publicity for Four Seasons.. a shooting has forced the evacuation of the Grand Theater complex...

FOX 8 Story on Four Seasons Shooting..

[beyonce245]

More bad publicity for Four Seasons.. a shooting has forced the evacuation of the Grand Theater complex...

FOX 8 Story on Four Seasons Shooting..

That is unfortunate. I had high hopes that this theater and the new Four Seasons Station shopping center would do better than the mall since Koury Corp. owns these. The mall was so nice until it went under new ownership. General Growth Properties have not given Four Seasons the time and attention it needed...and it shows.

[DigitalSky]

Yeah this is not good news for that area, probably couldn't have come at a worse time either

[cityboi]

It happened during the premeir of the movie "Notorious" about the life and death of rapper Biggie Small. The actor, who is also a rapper, that play Biggie in the movie was at the theater during the shooting. The rap culture is being blamed for the shooting.

[JerseyBoy]

It happened during the premeir of the movie "Notorious" about the life and death of rapper Biggie Small. The actor, who is also a rapper, that play Biggie in the movie was at the theater during the shooting. The rap culture is being blamed for the shooting.

He was in GREENSBORO? I would think he'd be at a premier party in NYC or LA instead of at a mall's theater. Apparently, there were a few other incidents around the country when this was released. I wouldn't necessarily blame it on Four Seasons being crime ridden, but the general public looks at it a different way. It appears as if the writing is on the wall for the fate of this mall.

[StevenRocks]

He was in GREENSBORO? I would think he'd be at a premier party in NYC or LA instead of at a mall's theater. Apparently, there were a few other incidents around the country when this was released. I wouldn't necessarily blame it on Four Seasons being crime ridden, but the general public looks at it a different way. It appears as if the writing is on the wall for the fate of this mall.

Four Seasons is not crime ridden, and neither is Friendly, but everything negative that happens at Four Seasons sticks to peoples' memories, while hardly anything at Friendly does.

[cityboi]

Four Seasons may die if a new enclosed mall is built in the city.

[JerseyBoy]

An enclosed mall is highly unlikely, however, a lifestyle center or outdoor mall may not be out of the question. The question is: where would it go? Personally, I feel the next major retail center will be at the I-40 and Business 40 interchange in western Guilford County (if gas is cheap and the Triad continues to promote HOT), though I don't think this would happen for another 8-10 years. Truly, I don't think we need anymore malls. The area is already "over-malled," in my opinion. Any new competition would steal stores away from the three big players in the area (Hanes, Friendly, and Four Seasons).

[StevenRocks]

The mall business is heavily tied to the department store and superstore businesses, so I have a feeling that unless the department store business improves or new superstores are built, there won't be a lot of mall building.

[DCB]

An enclosed mall is highly unlikely, however, a lifestyle center or outdoor mall may not be out of the question. The question is: where would it go?

They already have been built --

Jefferson Village

The Shops at Friendly Center

The Village at North Elm

All three of these have been built in the northern/northwestern parts of the city in the last 4 years. Enclosed malls are really a dying breed, so Four Seasons is already in a pretty bad position even without the crime.