Jump to content

Crabtree Valley Mall


DigitalSky

Recommended Posts

Actually, originally they [southPark] had planned on keeping Sears and possibly remodeling it. The upscale wing, where Nordstrom is and Neiman Marcus is coming and all the shops like Tiffany, LV, Burberry, etc are is over and old part of parking garage and mostly over space that used to be a parking lot.

Where Sears used to be, came a Dick's Sporting Goods (originally supposed to be a Galyan's) and a few restaurants - McCormick's, Morton's, Cali Pizza Kitchen and an upscale bookstore called Joseph Beth... The wing leading to where Sears was was redeveloped into a "teen wing" (Abercrombie, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Hollister, etc)

ahh... ok, see how out of the loop I am? I lived in charlotte back in 2000, so it has been a while. Malls do nothing for me, so I see I am not missing much. It would be nice to live in a city with the cache of saying we have a Neiman Marcus, or Burberry's... but that is really all the effect it would have on me. ; )

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I like crabtree. I met an old classmate there last year and it gave me a upper mid-atlantic feel to it. I hadn't been there in like 12 years and was impressed. With the development going on around there the location will have a nice urban feel to it. Something needs to be done about the lack of lighting on 440 in that area. Also some pedestrian bridges would be nice too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I went to L&T yesterday and got some great deals...most clothing was either 50 or 60 percent off with an extra 20% off on top of that because of some "special" they had going....I bought a Lord & Taylor brand shirt that had the stores name on the size tag for nostalgia, even though that was the first time I had ever bought anything in a Lord & Taylor I'm pretty sure it will probably be the last time I ever see or shop in one....They were already pushing merchandise into the center of the store but had alot of merchandise left...I felt kind of sorry for the salespeople but they'll probably be able to get other jobs within the mall....

Edited by NCMike1981
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's L&T's problem? I LOVE that place and buy most everything at the flagship one in NYC; the clothes are classic trendy and aren't too expensive, although the stores seem dated and need renovations. However, L&T stores' sales per square foot are usually very low. Why don't people shop there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's L&T's problem? I LOVE that place and buy most everything at the flagship one in NYC; the clothes are classic trendy and aren't too expensive, although the stores seem dated and need renovations. However, L&T stores' sales per square foot are usually very low. Why don't people shop there?
Lord & Taylor is a great department store overall. The New York store does its job very well in that regard, but the farther the stores are from Manhattan, the less they seem to work.

They've tried to be too many things to too many people. May Company tried to take it downscale and overexpanded it, putting it too close in character to their regional chains. They alenated just about all of their customer base by doing this, and scared off people that thought it was still upscale.

They also never did the renovations that the stores needed. The Washington store is seriously stuck in the '60s, for example.

I really hope somebody will buy Lord & Taylor that cares about something other than real estate. The stores are too good to waste.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if Federated would really consider putting a Bloomingdales in that spot, since in their eyes an upscale "exclusive for NC" department store was unsuccessful at Crabtree. Did L&T start going downhill at Crabtree because sales didn't meet expectations and the managers thought bringing in cheaper merchandise would help sales, basically was the store too expensive for the market to support when it opened in the mid '90's? It would seem that L&T's sales should have steadily increased as the Triangle grew and prospered, since it was really the only "exclusive" the Triangle had until Nordstrom and Saks opened in 2002 and beyond. Perhaps the problem was the L&T salespeople, or the merchandise mix. If the Crabtree store had been more like the L&T stores closer to Manhattan, the way they are supposed to be, would it have been more successful? I just think that the mall needs to gain a new anchor, and Federated holding onto the lease seriously complicates that...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are a couple of facts: The May Company put a "B" level L&T in Raleigh, then pulled out of the South entirely due to general malaise of the chain. In the face of L&T's floundering, Saks came to Raleigh, so I wouldn't misconstrue L&T's woes as a symptom of our market.

IMHO - the May Co. bought up so many similar chains that none differentiated themselves from each other enough, so they started to cut lines, then sold the whole thing off. If BMW bought Nissan and Toyota, you can see how two of their arms would be way way too similar.

I think other chains know that we had a "B" store here. Maybe Saks is one, too, although they claim it's not. However that L&T, a long-time staple in Atlanta, closed in that market, is a good sign that we weren't the problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.