Pedestrian-Friendly Big Box Stores

[finehoe]

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

[wsansewjs]

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

[finehoe]

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

[wsansewjs]

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

[Gators312]

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.  

[danem]

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.

[thelakelander]

Here are some examples of urban oriented big-box stores in Florida's other major metros:

Office Depot - Orlando


Publix - Fort Lauderdale


Publix Greenwise Market - Tampa


Ross - Downtown Miami


Publix - Downtown West Palm Beach


Macy's - Downtown West Palm Beach


Super Target - SODO - Orlando


Target - Midtown Miami


Marshall's - Midtown Miami

[thelakelander]

Speaking of Walmart.  Here is a bad urban Walmart (Downtown White Plains, NY) shot I took back in Summer 2008.



If the market is there and zoning demands it, all of these guys will develop more pedestrian oriented sites.  

[copperfiend]

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.

[peestandingup]

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





Reston VA







Alexandria VA







Good freakin' God! Is that...people?! Walking the streets in the suburbs?!? I just blew your minds didn't I.

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.

[dougskiles]

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.

[Lunican]

Here is an Office Depot along State Street in Chicago.

[thelakelander]

Here are some more urban examples from various cities across the US.

Nordstrom - Indianapolis


Macy's - Cincinnati


Target - Stamford, CT



Circuit City - White Plains, NY



Macy's - Pittsburgh



Macy's - Downtown Miami




Walgreen's - Downtown Miami

[urbanlibertarian]

Here's a rendering of a possible urban Walmart:

This 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


Love to see one of these in DT Jax.

[thelakelander]

Indy's Downtown Nordstroms is closing.

Nordstrom 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.

The 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.”

http://www.ibj.com/nordstrom-closing-circle-centre-store/PARAMS/article/27384