Park Plaza Mall

[Architect]

4 hours ago, theman said:

According to the Democrat-Gazette neither store will relocate inside Park Plaza. Also it stated that a spokesman from the mall said that new retail announcements will be made in a few weeks.

The only other Hollister in the state is at Pinnacle Hills Promenade.

What?!  I can't imagine A&F and Hollister are leaving the metro...it's too big of a market.  Since it said they weren't relocating inside Park Plaza, I would assume perhaps they're relocating to another center. Promenade, perhaps?  So weird.

[adman0468]

47 minutes ago, Architect said:

What?!  I can't imagine A&F and Hollister are leaving the metro...it's too big of a market.  Since it said they weren't relocating inside Park Plaza, I would assume perhaps they're relocating to another center. Promenade, perhaps?  So weird.

I went by there last night and Lane Bryant is also closed. The sign refers you to the Lakewood, Outlet and Bryant locations. 

 

That leaves a major space on the 2nd floor (along with the old Bailey Banks & Biddle). Then, directly above it would be the old Hollister location as well as the rumored-to-be-kicked out Cafe and Massage place. That would be sizable enough for an H&M.

[Architect]

Is H&M considered a more upper end tenant than Hollister or A&F?

[adman0468]

1 hour ago, Architect said:

Is H&M considered a more upper end tenant than Hollister or A&F?

No, it's lower-priced. Lower quality but trendy. Similar to Old Navy. But it's a very desirable tenant to have. Hugely popular.

 

[ArkansasTraveler]

2 hours ago, Architect said:

Is H&M considered a more upper end tenant than Hollister or A&F?

I think the key thing is that H&M is generally considered as having broader appeal than either of the A&F brands. Plus, the company offers home furnishings (if not furniture), though we'll see in due time just what Little Rock's product mix includes. A&F's brands are almost exclusively about apparel, even if Hollister supplements with a bit of entertainment offerings.

[ecity3138]

3 hours ago, ArkansasTraveler said:

I think the key thing is that H&M is generally considered as having broader appeal than either of the A&F brands. Plus, the company offers home furnishings (if not furniture), though we'll see in due time just what Little Rock's product mix includes. A&F's brands are almost exclusively about apparel, even if Hollister supplements with a bit of entertainment offerings.

I wonder if this H&M will be two story? Also, the mall needs to have a sit down restaurant. The food options are very limited.

[Architect]

Reflecting on this...if Hollister and A&F are truly pulling out of the market (and sadly, it would seem that's the case since they closed at the same time), this would be the biggest kick in the teeth for LR retail in a long time.  I realize traditional retail is under attack everywhere with online sales, but this would not be a positive trend at all.  Ugh.

Perhaps LRretail can fill us in on the real scoop.

[ArkansasTraveler]

29 minutes ago, ecity3138 said:

I wonder if this H&M will be two story? Also, the mall needs to have a sit down restaurant. The food options are very limited.

Everything certainly seems to be headed toward a two-story store for H&M, given where the vacancies are clustered. As for sit-down restaurants, I'd say that ship mostly sailed when Forbidden City packed up and moved out west (as the current Forbidden Garden), making way for Gearhead Outfitters. I'd love to be proven wrong.

And Abercrombie & Fitch (including Hollister Co.) has been getting kicked in the teeth by competitors on a national scale for most of last year.

[dnashobviously]

I think that most people my age (college students) much prefer H&M to Hollister & Abercrombie & Fitch.  In fact, you don't see many college students wearing those brands anymore. 

[Architect]

So I just read the DemGaz article, and it says that the closest A&F store is in Central Mall in Fort Smith?  Okay, seriously...there must be something up and they're relocating, because I cannot even imagine that a Fort Smith location in a metro 1/4 the size would remain a viable outlet yet Little Rock is not?  Either way, even if they move, this isn't good news for Park Plaza...it certainly undermines the credibility or confidence of other major retailers like Banana Republic, etc.

[Allen Alexander]

29 minutes ago, Architect said:

So I just read the DemGaz article, and it says that the closest A&F store is in Central Mall in Fort Smith?  Okay, seriously...there must be something up and they're relocating, because I cannot even imagine that a Fort Smith location in a metro 1/4 the size would remain a viable outlet yet Little Rock is not?  Either way, even if they move, this isn't good news for Park Plaza...it certainly undermines the credibility or confidence of other major retailers like Banana Republic, etc.

I don't think they planned on moving. I think something similar to what happened to the stores the floor above happened to these stores too. it's not bad news for park plaza if h&m is becoming a reality. however, they should still relocate a&f and hollister. there's room in the mall elsewhere or there's the promenade or the outlet mall. they could make it work.

[theman]

3 hours ago, Allen Alexander said:

I don't think they planned on moving. I think something similar to what happened to the stores the floor above happened to these stores too. it's not bad news for park plaza if h&m is becoming a reality. however, they should still relocate a&f and hollister. there's room in the mall elsewhere or there's the promenade or the outlet mall. they could make it work.

Agreed. If H&M is coming to Park Plaza this is good news. It will draw more people by itself than A&F and Hollister combined. H&M is one of the few "it" retailers currently.  Also the article said new retail announcements. I wonder if more retailers will be announced besides H&M if it's even coming.

Someone mentioned the lack of a sit down restaurant at Park Plaza. Can't you sit at Zoe's Kitchen?

[SangreRaVen]

I would think of Zoe's as sit down really

 

-R

[ecity3138]

4 hours ago, theman said:

Agreed. If H&M is coming to Park Plaza this is good news. It will draw more people by itself than A&F and Hollister combined. H&M is one of the few "it" retailers currently.  Also the article said new retail announcements. I wonder if more retailers will be announced besides H&M if it's even coming.

Someone mentioned the lack of a sit down restaurant at Park Plaza. Can't you sit at Zoe's Kitchen?

Hopefully, there will be more exciting announcements coming to the mall. The mall do needs at least one full service restaurant similar to other malls in the area like McCain Mall (though MCCain Mall has more space) and the Promenade did to generate more crowd. Zoe's Kitchen is a fast casual restaurant but I feel there needs to be more food options (ex: Kona Grill) to attract more dining patrons in the mall.

Edited January 25, 2017 by ecity3138

[ecity3138]

22 minutes ago, SangreRaVen said:

I would think of Zoe's as sit down really

 

-R

Zoe's Kitchen is a fast casual restaurant rather than a full service restaurant. There needs to be at least one full service restaurant in the mall similar to what the Promenade at Chenal did. Park Plaza used to have a couple of full service restaurants in the past (ex: Luby's, Ruby Tuesday, and Forbidden City) but they were unsuccessful inside the mall and closed. They need to bring an upscale full service restaurant (Kona Grill for example) to the mall that would attract more dining patrons to the mall.

Edited January 25, 2017 by ecity3138

[Architect]

2 hours ago, ecity3138 said:

Zoe's Kitchen is a fast casual restaurant rather than a full service restaurant. There needs to be at least one full service restaurant in the mall similar to what the Promenade at Chenal did. Park Plaza used to have a couple of full service restaurants in the past (ex: Luby's, Ruby Tuesday, and Forbidden City) but they were unsuccessful inside the mall and closed. They need to bring an upscale full service restaurant (Kona Grill for example) to the mall that would attract more dining patrons to the mall.

Well, I wouldn't call Forbidden City, Ruby Tuesday's and Luby's "unsuccessful" since they were all there for about 20 years!  Ultimately, they closed, but they had quite a run.  I agree finding a suitable, appealing replacement would help traffic.  Coincidentally, Midtown across the street has MUCH better options (Pei Wei, Cantina Laredo, Big Orange).

10 hours ago, Allen Alexander said:

I don't think they planned on moving. I think something similar to what happened to the stores the floor above happened to these stores too. it's not bad news for park plaza if h&m is becoming a reality. however, they should still relocate a&f and hollister. there's room in the mall elsewhere or there's the promenade or the outlet mall. they could make it work.

After reading some online news about A&F/Hollister, the company is doing very poorly and most articles were saying that up to 50% of their location's leases were coming up for renewal in the next 18 months, and speculation is that they won't renew half of those.  It's possible Park Plaza management forced their hand to land H&M, but since they're not in a solid position financially, it's doubtful they're relocating - sadly.

[Arkanzin]

16 minutes ago, Architect said:

After reading some online news about A&F/Hollister, the company is doing very poorly and most articles were saying that up to 50% of their location's leases were coming up for renewal in the next 18 months, and speculation is that they won't renew half of those.  It's possible Park Plaza management forced their hand to land H&M, but since they're not in a solid position financially, it's doubtful they're relocating - sadly.

This.  A&F/Hollister have slowly been closing a number of store for the last several years.  This wasn't anything about the LR market but more of a reflection of the A&F company. 

[ArkansasTraveler]

12 minutes ago, Architect said:

After reading some online news about A&F/Hollister, the company is doing very poorly and most articles were saying that up to 50% of their location's leases were coming up for renewal in the next 18 months, and speculation is that they won't renew half of those.  It's possible Park Plaza management forced their hand to land H&M, but since they're not in a solid position financially, it's doubtful they're relocating - sadly.

That's precisely what it sounds like A&F's situation by way of Park Plaza/CBL was. If the rebranding underway for the Abercrombie & Fitch chain ultimately sticks (and it very well could, since it's already been overhauled a time or two in its 124 years), then I can see an eventual re-entry. But it'll be somewhere other than Park Plaza, probably.

[ndark]

Foot locker is relocating opening up another spot in the H&M proposed area. Right now they are right next to the now closing Lane Bryant and under Hollister. Foot Locker is moving to the old bath and body works location. 

[adman0468]

31 minutes ago, ndark said:

Foot locker is relocating opening up another spot in the H&M proposed area. Right now they are right next to the now closing Lane Bryant and under Hollister. Foot Locker is moving to the old bath and body works location. 

A google search says the average size of an H&M is 20,000-25,000 sq. ft. I guess all these together would make that range? It almost seems that it would be bigger.

Good to know that the empty Bath & Body space will be occupied. They'll just have the Limited and Abercrombie spaces to deal with. And that small part of Ann Taylor. 

 

 

[ArkansasTraveler]

On 1/25/2017 at 0:55 PM, adman0468 said:

A google search says the average size of an H&M is 20,000-25,000 sq. ft. I guess all these together would make that range? It almost seems that it would be bigger.

Good to know that the empty Bath & Body space will be occupied. They'll just have the Limited and Abercrombie spaces to deal with. And that small part of Ann Taylor. 

I could see Express possibly shifting amidst all these changes. The A&F space (#2090 on this map) is slightly larger than the existing Express space (#2076). But if Express isn't doing as well and looks to downsize, the old Limited space (#2074) would be easy enough.

[Smith]

The H&M announcement is officially here. No exact location given but it will be 29,000 sqft so I think the previously discussed cluster of empty storefronts is a good bet.

[SangreRaVen]

http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-news/hm-to-open-in-lrs-park-plaza-mall/647253995

-R

[Architect]

15 minutes ago, SangreRaVen said:

http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-news/hm-to-open-in-lrs-park-plaza-mall/647253995

-R

So there was already an H&M in Jonesboro?  I'm glad they're filling the space, but that doesn't sound like a unique catch in that regard.  Losing A&F and Hollister doesn't sound like it was a great trade.

[Arkanzin]

25 minutes ago, Architect said:

So there was already an H&M in Jonesboro?  I'm glad they're filling the space, but that doesn't sound like a unique catch in that regard.  Losing A&F and Hollister doesn't sound like it was a great trade.

Yes, there is an H&M in Jonesboro.  There was discussion about an H&M locating in the Landing at Conway.  The demographics are good for both locations with the number of college kids in Jonesboro and Conway.