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Triangle Towne Center


perrykat

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just my two cents about ttc... my parents live in wake forest, and i know they love having a mall so close by, as crabtree had gone from a 25 minute drive to 45... traffic has gotten so much worse over the years. i know it is more suburban sprawl and all... but for their sake, i am not that down on ttc. i mean I am, in that i hate seeing all that land gobbled up when it could all be done so much more efficiently... but i have met my mom there for lunch and stuff a few times, and well, for what it is (a suburban mall) i think it is a pretty nice one. it serves that segment of our cities population pretty well.

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just my two cents about ttc... my parents live in wake forest, and i know they love having a mall so close by, as crabtree had gone from a 25 minute drive to 45... traffic has gotten so much worse over the years. i know it is more suburban sprawl and all... but for their sake, i am not that down on ttc. i mean I am, in that i hate seeing all that land gobbled up when it could all be done so much more efficiently... but i have met my mom their for lunch and stuff a few times, and well,for what it is (a suburban mall) i think it is a pretty nice one. it serves that segment of our cities population pretty well.

we used to live in WF and would've for sure shopped at TCC if it had been around then. No doubt it's great for folks up there not to have to schlep all the way down to Crabtree like we used to do.

That said, it's a crappy mall, and is already showing its age, after, what? a year? Two? How long has it been out there? It's a throwbak to the 70's/80's that will always be considered a sad little stepchild in comparison to the considerably more innovative places like the re-done North Hills and the Streetes at Southpointe (each of which have their own iss-yews, of course, but each of which are, on balance, MUCH nicer than TCC).

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we used to live in WF and would've for sure shopped at TCC if it had been around then. No doubt it's great for folks up there not to have to schlep all the way down to Crabtree like we used to do.

That said, it's a crappy mall, and is already showing its age, after, what? a year? Two? How long has it been out there? It's a throwbak to the 70's/80's that will always be considered a sad little stepchild in comparison to the considerably more innovative places like the re-done North Hills and the Streetes at Southpointe (each of which have their own iss-yews, of course, but each of which are, on balance, MUCH nicer than TCC).

What signs of age are you noticing? I think this mall is "alright" and it serves as a destination mall for people from Franklin County and possibly even Henderson County. I think it does its job alright. Once the are gets more devloped over the next decade I think you will see Triangle Town Center fit into its own niche. Also does TTC have an outdoor portion? I saw thic pic on the internet of TTC and I thought it was interesting.

Here's the link

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I managed a store there for a couple years. TTC certainly doesnt see as many people as Crabtree, but while I was there the foot traffic picked up some. Its kinda crazy when you campare how many people were there the opening week to how many people go there now. I remember the first day it opened. That place was full of people, then it just kinda died. I think one reason for that was because there were so many empty spaces when it opened. They probably shouldve waited until more places were ready to open up shop.

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It's a mall. It's not supposed to do anything other than make money for its merchants. If the mall is in any way pleasant to be in or walk through, it is only that way because someone thought it would make the mall more profitable- not because they gave a hoot about community impact.

Having "expectations" for a mall to do good things in terms of community function is like having expectations for Duke to contend for the ACC Football Title each year.

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Profit is the motivator for all forms of development, be it downtown, at a transit station, or in the suburbs. Perhaps some downtown developers pay lip service to community building, and yeah they may enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling, but really it's only because the positive image helps them to profit more.

You won't get any developer to build TOD by saying "You'll be helping the community!" If there's no profit, very little gets built anywhere. You can't expect governments and non-profits to construct an entire city, especially not when there's profit to be made!

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We need a developer to come in and build a affordable property where density/functionality are met. If this could be done for a reasonable profit and was successful, we'd have developers piling on the band wagon.

5 years ago when I moved here, I remember when a developer decided to try to build TownHouses as an 'experiment'. As I drive around, that was clearly a success as (guessing) 30% of all new homes are townhouses.

We need that type of success in one of the areas that the leaders deemed as high density. If anyone really thought that TTC would be developed into high density, you should hear me laughing at you. :rofl:

TTC, and Brier Creek are both in areas with plenty of land. There is no motivation for developers to build much density. Best case, is in 20 years when both areas have filled in, someone can do a 'North Hills' style make over to them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was looking around at the mallmanac and there seem to be tons of vacancies outside the Saks and Hecht's entrances- how long before Saks scurries over to Crabtree? There didn't seem to be a lot of high-end stores that would complement the Saks, unlike at Crabtree.

Is this mall even worth visiting?

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I wonder how much longer SAKS will stay there. They will have a tough time if anything else "upscale" opens up in Crabtree like the rumors are saying. There are a lot of open stores there in that mall, which gives me an uncomfortable vibe walking around. Overall, the mall isn't that bad. It is definitely better than the Cary Town Center.

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Yep. Just as much as the others. The high enders are coming trust. There are only a couple of vacant spots also. So soon enough Adrienne Vittadini, Cold Water Creek, Z-Gallerie, and Lindt Chocolates will have more company. It takes time for the high enders to come into malls. Look at Southpark and Crabtree, for that matter Crabtree still has a lot of work to do. Malls typically don't open with tons of high end type stores in them. Malls should be looked at as what they can do for the area as a whole. If I want to shop at Lacoste i'll have to drive to Crabtree. If I wan't Nordstroms I'm going to have to drive to South Point, and if I want Saks, I'm going to have to drive to Triangle Towne Center.

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Good points. I just find it odd to have one pretty nice mall (Crabtree) and then 2 other malls that have some high-end stores in them (Nordstrom and Saks at Southpoint and TTC).

In my hometown (Greenville, SC), we had Greenville Mall, which was dead and then re-opened as an upscale mall and then died again, and McAlister Square, which was a decent mall that slowly slid downhill (never was a bad mall- just mid-priced with some nice stores and became a mid-priced mall), and Haywood, which has been the dominant mall ever since it opened. The better stores migrated from Greenville Mall and McAlister Square to Haywood, and even though Greenville Mall in its second incarnation was a nice mall, many of its better stores moved to Haywood after Greenville Mall was clearly dying.

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  • 5 months later...

Opens July 29th. Tomorrow!! Free Samples, And Wireless Internet!!!

I've been watching this one materialize the past few weeks and if the view from the windows is any indication the deserts, sandwiches, and coffees will be first rate.

One also coming soon to the Southpointe Area.

Website here>>> Bake House Bistro

Also Shanes Rib Shack is open Next door. A first For Raleigh and only the second in the State ;)Shanes Rib Shack

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Opens July 29th. Tomorrow!! Free Samples, And Wireless Internet!!!

I've been watching this one materialize the past few weeks and if the view from the windows is any indication the deserts, sandwiches, and coffees will be first rate.

One also coming soon to the Southpointe Area.

Website here>>> Bake House Bistro

Also Shanes Rib Shack is open Next door. A first For Raleigh and only the second in the State ;)Shanes Rib Shack

I saw their ad in the North Raleigh News today. Is BHB where Just Frest or Simply Fresh or whatever was?

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  • 5 months later...

whew....I have had to spend some time at TTC lately to burn up a gift card I got for christmas.....man that place just flat out is terrible. I cannot understand why Saks decided to go locate there.....Saks and its $1,000 Armani lightweight jackets is just completely out of place in a mall surrounded by middle class neighborhoods. Crabtree and Southpoint are several notches above TTC. Even the people walking behind me showing their out of town father around were apologizing for taking him there instead of one of the other two...it was so quiet there I could of course hear a conversation 10 feet away perfectly.

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I was looking around at the mallmanac and there seem to be tons of vacancies outside the Saks and Hecht's entrances- how long before Saks scurries over to Crabtree? There didn't seem to be a lot of high-end stores that would complement the Saks, unlike at Crabtree.

Is this mall even worth visiting?

I think this mall is trying to be something that it's not. The draw of Wakefield and the Falls Lake neighborhoods made the developers try to make it upscale. The majority of the area is middle-class suburbia or rural. Saks should have gone to Southpoint (which is centrally located to most of the Triangle) or Crabtree (dense wealthy population). Northgate in Durham is going to survive and thrive because it targets a whole group of people that the newer malls could care less about. Plus its a lot easier to park.

If they are planning a mall in Garner, it should not try to go upscale either. Also even though I like North Hills, it is still finding its way in the Triangle shopping mentality. There seems to be heavy turnover in the boutique stores. I think it will be very succesful in the long-run especially after the hotel and North Hills East are in place.

As far as suburban malls go, I am liking how the whole Southpointe area is shaping up. There are not vast expanses of commercial land in the area so it is a little more concentrated (definitely not dense). After buildout, I would love for them to build a couple 4-6 story residential/hotel/retail buildings with parking decks between the outdoor area and the highway.

tried to stay on topic...sorry.

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Northgate in Durham is going to survive and thrive because it targets a whole group of people that the newer malls could care less about. Plus its a lot easier to park.

Hey fellow Durhamite,

I hope you're right on Northgate. I have to say, though, I'm getting more bearish than bullish, mostly because I feel like the fact that its locally-controlled management (it's owned by a Durham family -- not one of the big REITs) has not been able to market the mall and execute on its renewal strategy. The new movie theater is awesome (my favorite projection and A/V in the area -- much better than Brier Creek or Southpoint) but they have leased only one of the ~12-15 new outdoor shopping spaces near it.

I live near there and love being able to walk there for things I need, but I'm beginning to wish the Rand family would either sell out to CBL, General Growth, Simon, etc., or turn it over to Kane or another developer to become mixed-use. With the East End Connector coming through there in a few years, it'll be in an *awesome* location for RTP commuters, and is already a great spot for Duke campus/medical center, downtown Durham, and Durham Regional Hospital employees.

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In my opinion, the only stores out at TTC that are of any worth to me are Saks and Orvis. If I could have my way, I'd move the Orvis to the second part of North Hills and move the Saks to Crabtree to fill the Lord and Taylor vacancy.

Whenever, I've been to both the Saks and Orvis at TTC, particularly the Orvis, it has been dead, only a few shoppers in the store. I've heard somewhere in the past that the TTC location of Saks is one of their lower performing stores, so if there is any truth to that, I honestly cannot see the store staying around but a few more years before leaving completely or moving to another location.

In contrast, I think that the Belk men's department moving into the empty Lord and Taylor at Crabtree is a mistake. Just seems like too much room, too high of rent, and not enough draw to keep it financially running for years to come. That location and the mall itself needs a high end department store like Saks or Bloomingdales to fill the void.

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In my opinion, the only stores out at TTC that are of any worth to me are Saks and Orvis. If I could have my way, I'd move the Orvis to the second part of North Hills and move the Saks to Crabtree to fill the Lord and Taylor vacancy.

Whenever, I've been to both the Saks and Orvis at TTC, particularly the Orvis, it has been dead, only a few shoppers in the store. I've heard somewhere in the past that the TTC location of Saks is one of their lower performing stores, so if there is any truth to that, I honestly cannot see the store staying around but a few more years before leaving completely or moving to another location.

In contrast, I think that the Belk men's department moving into the empty Lord and Taylor at Crabtree is a mistake. Just seems like too much room, too high of rent, and not enough draw to keep it financially running for years to come. That location and the mall itself needs a high end department store like Saks or Bloomingdales to fill the void.

I have to agree with you. Saks doesn't belong at TTC.. IMO TTC is kinda like Northlake in Charlotte, it's just there and then that's it. Not a whole lot special about it, and I think in a more perfect world Orvis would be moving to the 2nd phase of North Hills and Saks would fill the L&T space.

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I was also kinda surprised to hear Ten Thousand Villages opened a location there. That just seems like an odd choice for their second Raleigh store. North Hills I could see...but TTC?? Contrast that with their first store in Cameron Village, as well as their Durham affiliate One World Market on Ninth Street, which are both full of the type of shoppers that are attracted to their product. So I just wonder what they were thinking. :wacko:

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I think even Northlake in CLT makes better sense than TTC. Northlake is between downtown CLT and 3 towns with median household incomes of 85-95K (Davidson, Huntersville, Cornelius). TTC is just big and out there. I don't think Saks will be there for too much longer. If Knightdale and some of the other east/north Wake suburbs had high median household incomes, Saks makes sense. With regards to affluence, the surburbs right now just aren't there yet.

I have to agree with you. Saks doesn't belong at TTC.. IMO TTC is kinda like Northlake in Charlotte, it's just there and then that's it. Not a whole lot special about it, and I think in a more perfect world Orvis would be moving to the 2nd phase of North Hills and Saks would fill the L&T space.
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