Wolfchase Galleria Changes

[memphismike]

I went to Wolfchase yesterday to visit my favorite store, Eddie Bauer, only to find it had closed. So, I emailed the mall manager today and he informed me that yes, they did close, but Forever 21 was moving into their space. I asked him what other stores were coming soon and he told me Sephora and Swarovski will open this summer. I have several female friends that will LOVE that news!

[northernbizzkit1]

I went to Wolfchase yesterday to visit my favorite store, Eddie Bauer, only to find it had closed. So, I emailed the mall manager today and he informed me that yes, they did close, but Forever 21 was moving into their space. I asked him what other stores were coming soon and he told me Sephora and Swarovski will open this summer. I have several female friends that will LOVE that news!

[Psalm 91]

Question: Do you all think that Parisian could make it at Wolfchase Galleria, since an upscale retailer is opening there?

[tennreb]

Parisian was bought by Belk and they are all being converted to Belks. They closed the Collierville store because it didn't make any sense to have one store in the metro that doesn't offer anything different than what we already have.

[atlantakid25]

i wonder why memphis dont have any upscale stores i mean birmingham has a whole lot more and for memphis to be th biggest city nashville is outdoing them very bad with new projects and retail

[sleepy]

i wonder why memphis dont have any upscale stores i mean birmingham has a whole lot more and for memphis to be th biggest city nashville is outdoing them very bad with new projects and retail

[Manolos]

Um. Memphis does not have an Hermes and Nashville has a Macy's too?

[atlantakid25]

nashville has louis vuttion and a tiffanys why doesnt memphis have one???????? is all th retail going to nashville

[pearlbobb]

i wonder why memphis dont have any upscale stores i mean birmingham has a whole lot more and for memphis to be th biggest city nashville is outdoing them very bad with new projects and retail

[Clobber]

But that's the point, some of these alleged upscale 'buyers' and homeowners are strapped ! Many have the 'appearance' of wealth, but don't have the true 'disposable incomes' to enjoy and participate in an 'upscale lifestyle'. I haven't owned a lawn mower in 20 years. I 've heard some of my friends in Germantown even speciously suggest that they 'enjoy' that kind of slaving in their free time...! (yeah right ...that doesn't past the laugh test....let's see, doing the lawn, or the golf course...hmmm.....doing the lawn, or on the boat....hmmmm.....doing the lawn in 100 degree heat in July, or buying some new clothes or gadgets in the new shopping plaza ?....hmmmm yeah, that's a tough choice for a person with actual high amounts of disposable income)

[northernbizzkit1]

Um. Memphis does not have an Hermes and Nashville has a Macy's too?

[pearlbobb]

I'd caution anyone against imposing their own sense of what's enjoyable activity on anyone else. My mother LOVES gardening. It's a release for her. My father LOVES to work on the car. Neither of them love to sit on their a$$ like a couch potato, nor do either of them like the feelinig of reliance on others. Your choice is different from theirs. Some of those people truly enjoy it, not out of poverty or necessity. Except for the necessity to maintain an active and productive lifestyle.

There may be some posers out there, but I'm not sure if that's for us to draw conclusions who they are and impute motives on them.

Welcome to the board, though!

[sleepy]

I can only speak to my experience in living all over the US in relatively upscale or very upscale commnities.

My experience is not anyone else's, neither are my observations !.....Again MY experience in ALL of the places that I have lived with homes over 400K to over 1.5 , I have SELDOM known freinds, neighbors, or members of my own family who mow their own lawns. My brother is a physician, many many other relatives are executives with large firms, and NONE of them slave over a lawn mower like I have witnessed in Germantown, TN. THAT is only my experience and my own observation.

Similarly I have never seen so many poorly decorated interiors of homes in my entire life in an alleged upscale bedroom commnunity or suburb. AGAIN, that's MY observation and my own truth. Clearly there are reasons for this sort of thing existing, and it CAN't be that everybody on the block enjoys the same labour....that defies logic....and common sense.

Certainly everyone does what they want to do, but I belive that one can CERTAINLY "impute motives" on why people engage in certain activities and not others ! Your father workd on his CAR becasue you conclude he loves it....that's great. Working on your car or the activity of 'gardening' is NOT lawncare in blistering heat for instance. For give me, but hose sound like 'hobbies' to me. Is lawn care a 'hobby' ? ....well NO....it's like taking out the garbage or trimming hedges.

As I stated, I know very few people that live in very upscale communities that look forward to the duty, or engage in the ritual of lawn care services. Perhaps we have a different definition of what makes a family 'upscale'.

[northernbizzkit1]

I suppose I should go back and look at the actual numbers again for accuracy, but there are a lot of considerations for upscale companies locate in certain areas, and consciously omit others.

I would think true and accurate comparisons of 'disposable income' levels may reveal a deficit in Memphis area when compared to disposable incomes in other cities.

Debt ratios also may be revealing.

For instance, I saw my neighbors in Germantown also living in relatively huge and expesive homes, with big yards, etc., but most of them that I knew, had little or no furniture or furnishing....if they were furnished, the junk looked like it came from J.C. Penney Co.

Additionally, when I live in an upscale community, I don't slave in 100 degree heat and 90% humidity in my free and leisure time with my wife operating the weedeater and blower.......I HAVE some one cut my grass, or have a service do that..

But that's the point, some of these alleged upscale 'buyers' and homeowners are strapped ! Many have the 'appearance' of wealth, but don't have the true 'disposable incomes' to enjoy and participate in an 'upscale lifestyle'. I haven't owned a lawn mower in 20 years. I 've heard some of my friends in Germantown even speciously suggest that they 'enjoy' that kind of slaving in their free time...! (yeah right ...that doesn't past the laugh test....let's see, doing the lawn, or the golf course...hmmm.....doing the lawn, or on the boat....hmmmm.....doing the lawn in 100 degree heat in July, or buying some new clothes or gadgets in the new shopping plaza ?....hmmmm yeah, that's a tough choice for a person with actual high amounts of disposable income)

That also seems to explain why some of my neighbors and alleged upscale friends eat at Chili's, and lousy Mexican joints.

Upscale shops depend on constant upscale traffic and a flow of sophisticated BUYERS, not lookers or wannabes.

That probably explains why I can't think of a group of, dynamite, innovative, dynamic independent and thoughtful restaurants in Germantown, or Collierville. If you simply 'looked' at the houses and community arura, you would think there would be exceptionally great shops, upscale restaurants, etc. in just about evry plaza in Germantown or in and around Collierville. There is NO such thing.

The answer may lie in the fact that a supply will always arise to meet a DEMAND. There is obviousl not enough sustained demand (meaning actual buying power on a consistent basis). Conversely there is a substantial demand for cheap, chain food. pub grub, and health endangering BBQ.

Most of my friends who reside in Germantown are stretching and living beyond their actual means. Most don't travel, most don't save, many eat burgers, or cheap Mexican take out at least once a week, many are driving upscale 'image' cars that are leased (not purchased), and many have huge unsecured debt plus their mortgages.

Retailers aren't stupid, they do their homework.....upscale retailers dig even deeper than that before they commit to a capital investment.

You mentioned Birmingham....I would challenge you to look at the disposable income numbers of Moutain Brook, AL (suburb of Birmingham), and compare them to Germantown, TN (suburb of Memphis). We might be all enlightened ? or we might have a good laugh !

[Clobber]

I can only speak to my experience in living all over the US in relatively upscale or very upscale commnities.

My experience is not anyone else's, neither are my observations !.....Again MY experience in ALL of the places that I have lived with homes over 400K to over 1.5 , I have SELDOM known freinds, neighbors, or members of my own family who mow their own lawns. My brother is a physician, many many other relatives are executives with large firms, and NONE of them slave over a lawn mower like I have witnessed in Germantown, TN. THAT is only my experience and my own observation.

Similarly I have never seen so many poorly decorated interiors of homes in my entire life in an alleged upscale bedroom commnunity or suburb. AGAIN, that's MY observation and my own truth. Clearly there are reasons for this sort of thing existing, and it CAN't be that everybody on the block enjoys the same labour....that defies logic....and common sense.

Certainly everyone does what they want to do, but I belive that one can CERTAINLY "impute motives" on why people engage in certain activities and not others ! Your father workd on his CAR becasue you conclude he loves it....that's great. Working on your car or the activity of 'gardening' is NOT lawncare in blistering heat for instance. For give me, but hose sound like 'hobbies' to me. Is lawn care a 'hobby' ? ....well NO....it's like taking out the garbage or trimming hedges.

As I stated, I know very few people that live in very upscale communities that look forward to the duty, or engage in the ritual of lawn care services. Perhaps we have a different definition of what makes a family 'upscale'.

[Fellowmann20]

I remember when my dad used to mow the lawn when I was young, and now I do it. Doing things like that teaches responsibility and other lessons in life. It also makes you want take care of things better when you do it yourself, such as the lawn. When I have kids I will give them chores and responsibilties to prepare them for things later in the future.

[Manolos]

pearlbobb, i have similar experiences.

I have also lived in St. Louis and Arizona, and in addition to those states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.

I know very few families who mow their own lawn or consider it "a hobby."

Moreover, there are other ways to teach children responsibility than manual labor.

Northernbizz - fyi, theres no such thing as a Bloomingdale's co-op, its Barneys co-op.

[Fellowmann20]

pearlbobb, i have similar experiences.

I have also lived in St. Louis and Arizona, and in addition to those states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.

I know very few families who mow their own lawn or consider it "a hobby."

Moreover, there are other ways to teach children responsibility than manual labor.

Northernbizz - fyi, theres no such thing as a Bloomingdale's co-op, its Barneys co-op.

[northernbizzkit1]

pearlbobb, i have similar experiences.

I have also lived in St. Louis and Arizona, and in addition to those states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.

I know very few families who mow their own lawn or consider it "a hobby."

Moreover, there are other ways to teach children responsibility than manual labor.

Northernbizz - fyi, theres no such thing as a Bloomingdale's co-op, its Barneys co-op.

[Clobber]

pearlbobb, i have similar experiences.

I have also lived in St. Louis and Arizona, and in addition to those states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.

I know very few families who mow their own lawn or consider it "a hobby."

Moreover, there are other ways to teach children responsibility than manual labor.

Northernbizz - fyi, theres no such thing as a Bloomingdale's co-op, its Barneys co-op.

[ricky_the_great]

wait wait wait, are you effing serious. youre determining peoples wealth based on if they take care of their lawn, or if someone else does??

wow! i should tell my parents your motto on homes over 400k= hiring someone to mow the lawn- because crap when visit home every few months theyre still mowing their lawn in the 420k home they live in.

Youre idea of wealthy and disposable income is almost movie-esqe. yes it does exist. But some people dont like to flaunt it in the manner you may think they should. Germantown has a wealthy population in it- census reports and statistics show that youre wrong for collierville and germantown.

[G-townTN]

You know I must say that I am quite amazed that even though my father is an owner of a relatively large engineering firm, that because he landscapes his yard he is considered poor. It would never have occured to me, he must cover it up pretty well because he has told me for a very long time that he enjoys it. Spring time is one of his favorite times of the year because this is when he goes to the nursery and buys his flowers and other plants. Gardening is where my father releases stress that has built up during the day.

My grandfather was a neurosurgen, he also enjoyed yard work...when he actually had the time. I think most people know how much they make.

Someone mentioned hermes' earlier. The store has closed in Oak Hall. The levy's are family friends and I asked them why it did. Hermes is trying to market their stores differently right now, meaning they want freestanding stores that sell everything they have; clothing, home furnishings, and etc. Hermes has closed many of their stores in the US because of this. Ties and scarves were very hot sellers in memphis. Some of their other clothing did fine here as well, when someone actually wanted to spend $500 for a button down. This is true, I have held in my hands a $500 button down dress shirt. Why would someone pay that for a shirt?

While on the subject of Oak Hall. This is one of the nicest stores in the us. James Davis is as well. It is very rare to have two stores of their caliber in a city of our size. Because of this many high end retailers don't want to come in due to their boutiques within these two stores doing so well. Nashville doesn't have a nice men's store. Levy's is the closest, but it doesn't come close to carrying the extensive clothing lines either of these stores. For instance, Levy's used to carry Brioni, due to the brand not selling well they had to let it go. On the other hand, oak hall has recently expanded their selection of brioni, they also keep a could of their $15000 suits on hand.

Also Oak Hall carrys the full line of Ermenegildo Zegna. If you look at their web page, memphis is one of only a handful of stores in the us. Birmingham does carry zegna but nashville doesn't.

I have never heard of nashville having better shopping than memphis. I have also only heard birmingham as being at most comparable. As for the saks in birmingham, the only reason it is their is because that is where the headquarter is. It is just a little bit nicer than what our parisians in collierville was like.

As for mednikow, cities would die to have a jeweler like this. I would encourage everybody to read about the mednikow family and their travels to america. It is very similar to tiffany and other well known names around this country. I would also encourage everyone to visit mednikow second store in atlanta's premier mall Phipps Plaza.

Truly memphis must have bad shopping.

[UptownNewOrleans]

I call it good parenting because it basically taught me and my friends and neighbors that money isn't just handed to you. You have to work for it. Other than that, I don't think you should call people out as poor or mistakenly upscale for getting a thrill out of pushing a lawn mower or trimming hedges.

[TchulahomaKid38118]

I stated this in another thread that saying people here do there lawn because they can not afford it is ridiculously closed-minded. A lot people do work hard for what they own and getting in the yard may be second nature. I am here for the summer and I told my Dad that when I come home, that the yard is mine because it is therapeutic and I take pride in our lawn. In my house, we believe that if you want a job done right, then you do it yourself. If you ask me, it wouldn't hurt people to get up and do a little yard work from time to time.

[fearlessvk]

I never equated good shopping with high-end retail anyway.

I mean, they just opened a new shoe store in south main where all the shoes cost about $500 apiece. Does that mean Memphis has arrived?

Personally, I think you'd have to be insane to spend $500 on shoes. But then, I grew up in a family where we mowed our own lawn, so what do I know...