A few years ago the idea of a pedestrian friendly big box store was almost unthinkable, but the idea is catching on. Here's a piece with several examples from around the country: http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=2733
Through the white ashes and glowing ember floating in the sea of time, history is truly repeating itself.
Look at Macy and other department stores in their beginnings during the Late America Industrial Revolutions. Cars weren't commonly available, so they would have to place them in pedestrian friendly areas obvious in a city block.
For the idea, the original Macy's and Montgomery Ward, Sears & Roebuck, and other stores fall on the same class as large stores like Home Depot, Target, Wal Mart, and others.
I can assure you that Wal Mart will be the LAST company to adopt this idea, because they are so stubborn.
-Josh
Quote from: wsansewjs on June 10, 2011, 02:41:29 PM
I can assure you that Wal Mart will be the LAST company to adopt this idea, because they are so stubborn.
From the same site: http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=2327
Quote from: finehoe on June 10, 2011, 02:44:34 PM
Quote from: wsansewjs on June 10, 2011, 02:41:29 PM
I can assure you that Wal Mart will be the LAST company to adopt this idea, because they are so stubborn.
From the same site: http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=2327
I will be DAMNED! Quick! Someone get me a tomato, so I can stuff in my mouth. Wow! That's amazing! I hope Wal-Mart can follow through!
-Josh
On a recent trip to Seattle & Vancouver I saw a lot of these types of big box stores in small urban footprints.
To see a Home Depot that wasn't on 10 acres was mindboggling....I stared at it like I had seen an alien.
Wal-mart has to adapt to trends just like everyone else, to stay competitive.
Speaking of, it'd be funny to see an Ikea with people walking those huge flat packs back to their downtown condos.
Here are some examples of urban oriented big-box stores in Florida's other major metros:
Office Depot - Orlando
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1309750689_t44DXRB-M.jpg)
Publix - Fort Lauderdale
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1215533136_6PYbb-M.jpg)
Publix Greenwise Market - Tampa
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1133040024_mHSB9-M.jpg)
Ross - Downtown Miami
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-3428-p1070852.JPG)
Publix - Downtown West Palm Beach
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1215510180_CAg3k-M.jpg)
Macy's - Downtown West Palm Beach
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1215509972_rtjZa-M.jpg)
Super Target - SODO - Orlando
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/453951900_4XDHS-M.jpg)
Target - Midtown Miami
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Miami-Design-District/P1430022/1104851572_gM4D4-M.jpg)
Marshall's - Midtown Miami
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Miami-Design-District/P1430058/1104854035_3uPpp-M.jpg)
Speaking of Walmart. Here is a bad urban Walmart (Downtown White Plains, NY) shot I took back in Summer 2008.
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-7882-p1120138.JPG)
If the market is there and zoning demands it, all of these guys will develop more pedestrian oriented sites.
The Publix Greenwise store in the picture is terrific. Parking on the roof. Still can't figure out why they couldn't do the same thing in San Marco.
The problem isn't big box stores. It's not suburbs VS the core (like a lot in this very blog believe). It's more to do with crappy/lazy planning & infrastructure built solely around the automobile & not pedestrians.
Silver Spring MD
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2630528280_f5dfd6ab6a_z.jpg)
(http://www.cooltownstudios.com/images/silverspring-ellsworthdr.jpg)
Reston VA
(http://whereoutsideisin.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/rtc-concert-2.jpg)
(http://www.k4lrg.org/Service/ARC_Reston_Bike_Ride/Reston_Century_2009/Reston_Town_Center_BY_PKLOSKY-RBC_0717_2009%5B1%5D.jpg)
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/plumdistrict.com-production/perks/1323/image/original.JPG)
Alexandria VA
(http://www.washingtonian.com/page_dbimages/7847/neighborhoodhead.jpg)
(http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/1x8320911/shopping_restaurants_and_sites_line_king_street_in_s61-752693.jpg)
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.citysbest.com/media/2011/03/3289857711cf4413a6e3-1301413344.jpg)
Good freakin' God! Is that...people?! Walking the streets in the suburbs?!? I just blew your minds didn't I. ;D
Big box stores, suburbs that are way away from "the core", etc. They're ALL capable of it. Like I said, planning around actual humans & not the automobile works wonders. Some places get it, some don't.
It also helps when the developers don't control the government that is creating/enforcing the code.
HOPEFULLY, with a new administration we will start to see a few things change. I shudder to think about the disaster that we just avoided.
Here is an Office Depot along State Street in Chicago.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Chicago-Feb-2008/DSC0058/474991478_gSz4T-M.jpg)
Here are some more urban examples from various cities across the US.
Nordstrom - Indianapolis
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/570694972_WknKq-M.jpg)
Macy's - Cincinnati
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/559900918_uuG4c-M.jpg)
Target - Stamford, CT
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-7897-p1120182.JPG)
Circuit City - White Plains, NY
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-7893-p1120147.JPG)
Macy's - Pittsburgh
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/592817892_GsVYc-M.jpg)
Macy's - Downtown Miami
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1104790472_goQPb-M.jpg)
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1104790213_ZgRa8-M.jpg)
Walgreen's - Downtown Miami
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1104790358_M9DNt-M.jpg)
Here's a rendering of a possible urban Walmart:
(http://beyonddc.com/log/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/hst500.jpg)
QuoteThis is by far the best of the proposals. Located on the fringes of downtown, it is appropriately dense and mixed-use. The building will be five floors, with small format retail lining the H Street sidewalk, Wal-Mart behind, parking underground, and 315 apartments on the upper floors.
http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=2327 (http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=2327)
Love to see one of these in DT Jax.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/570694972_WknKq-M.jpg)
Indy's Downtown Nordstroms is closing.
QuoteNordstrom plans to close its store at Circle Centre mall, dealing a substantial setback for downtown Indianapolis.
The swanky department store chain helped launch a revival of the city's core when it opened in 1995 as an original anchor of the $320 million mall project.
But many of Nordstrom's most-sought-after customers now shop at the chain's newer store at The Fashion Mall at Keystone, and the crowds of convention visitors who shop at Circle Centre aren't picking up enough of the slack.
QuoteThe potential loss of Nordstrom is an outcome the mall's owners and city leaders have feared for years.
The risk of Nordstrom opening a second store in the market was concern enough for the mall's developers that they extracted an unusual concession requiring Nordstrom wait at least five years before opening another Indianapolis location.
There's no question Nordstrom's departure is a blow to downtown.
Circle Centre and its anchors supported the city’s core, bolstered the convention business, provided jobs, and inspired other investments downtown, former Mayor Bill Hudnut told IBJ for a story in 2010.
“It might be the equivalent of losing the Pacers if we lose Nordstrom,†Hudnut said at the time. “To my thinking, the mall is one of the linchpins of the whole downtown, and Nordstrom is the mall’s linchpin.â€
http://www.ibj.com/nordstrom-closing-circle-centre-store/PARAMS/article/27384
Could we be talking about (gasp!) shopping downtown? Like in the 1960's before mega-malls when you would ride a (convenient) bus downtown to Hemming Plaza, hop off and walk within a block or two into May Cohen, Penneys, Woolworth, Iveys, Furchgotts, Sears, Rosenblums, The Luggage Shop, La Rosa shoes (sp?), Lerners, etc, etc?
Quote from: thelakelander on June 12, 2011, 08:22:11 PM
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/570694972_WknKq-M.jpg)
Indy's Downtown Nordstroms is closing.
QuoteNordstrom plans to close its store at Circle Centre mall, dealing a substantial setback for downtown Indianapolis.
The swanky department store chain helped launch a revival of the city's core when it opened in 1995 as an original anchor of the $320 million mall project.
But many of Nordstrom's most-sought-after customers now shop at the chain's newer store at The Fashion Mall at Keystone, and the crowds of convention visitors who shop at Circle Centre aren't picking up enough of the slack.
QuoteThe potential loss of Nordstrom is an outcome the mall's owners and city leaders have feared for years.
The risk of Nordstrom opening a second store in the market was concern enough for the mall's developers that they extracted an unusual concession requiring Nordstrom wait at least five years before opening another Indianapolis location.
There's no question Nordstrom's departure is a blow to downtown.
Circle Centre and its anchors supported the city’s core, bolstered the convention business, provided jobs, and inspired other investments downtown, former Mayor Bill Hudnut told IBJ for a story in 2010.
“It might be the equivalent of losing the Pacers if we lose Nordstrom,†Hudnut said at the time. “To my thinking, the mall is one of the linchpins of the whole downtown, and Nordstrom is the mall’s linchpin.â€
http://www.ibj.com/nordstrom-closing-circle-centre-store/PARAMS/article/27384
That's why when we develop the Downtown (Jacksonville), we do need to be independent from other retailers, large supporting organizations, or any institutions that want to make their home in downtown by strictly relying on the Saint Johns River to create the vibes.
-Josh
Re; Indy Nordstrom's
It puzzles me how a retailer will cannibalize itself by opening a newer store in the suburbs that ultimately kills the one that is in the urban core. I know that the suburbs are still the sought after locales, but I still feel for having a strong downtown in any city...
Quote from: Jaxson on June 13, 2011, 02:57:26 PM
Re; Indy Nordstrom's
It puzzles me how a retailer will cannibalize itself by opening a newer store in the suburbs that ultimately kills the one that is in the urban core. I know that the suburbs are still the sought after locales, but I still feel for having a strong downtown in any city...
Before the downturn, this retailer probably went crazy with expectations of booming business in both stores, old and new. A downturn likely turned more retail shoppers downtown into window shoppers and lookieloos. Then everyone flocked to the new store just because it was new. That's my theory.
(Makes me wonder what would happen if new stuff like this opened downtown, with the appropriate parking and transit? hmm...)
Looks like this mall is moving on pretty well:
QuoteSimon's preference is to land a replacement anchor such as Macy's that appeals to a broader mix of customers than Nordstrom, industry sources said. Another possibility would be to break up Nordstrom's 210,000 square feet to accommodate a few mid-size tenants.
Within a quarter mile of me there is a CB2 (~20,000 SF Crate and Barrel), an Office Depot, a Target, Dillards, 4 Publixes (well two are like .75 miles away), Kroger (closing and becoming the new hub for Sam Flax...a well known local art store), and Barnes & Noble. There is also an urban format Walmart with underground parking about a mile and a half away (still have to drive there, but within the complex are many big box stores besides Walmart). Another "urban" smaller footprint WalMart is going in about a half mile from downtown in a TOD attached to a train station. Rumors still abound that a Saks or similar upscale department store will anchor phase IV of 12th and Midtown (I think it's pie in the sky).
my dad and i were in DC this pass week attending to some business and were in and out of Virginia and Maryland.... was in Alexandria, VA with family and their shopping district was awesome! loved seeing an urban outfitters fedex and the likes using colonial homes and buildings that fit the neighborhoods to their advantage!
I noticed an urban Walmart in downtown Long Beach, CA earlier this week:
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Long-Beach-2011/i-PFKMGVv/0/L/P1490482-L.jpg)
Quote from: thelakelander on August 14, 2011, 02:21:34 PM
I noticed an urban Walmart in downtown Long Beach, CA earlier this week:
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/Long-Beach-2011/i-PFKMGVv/0/L/P1490482-L.jpg)
Lakelander - I envy you. You have my dream job.