Regency area loses stores amid recession, retail shifts

[civil42806]

gotta  agree with stephen, Regency is going to have to reinvent itself or die

[Ocklawaha]

gotta  agree with stephen, Regency is going to have to reinvent itself or die

I don't disagree with Stephen, my point being as for location Regency couldn't be in a better place in all of Duval County to "reinvent itself". It may have to wait until 20+ years or so when a new Matthews Bridge/Tunnel makes the chance of LRT to the beaches a reality. Not even downtown has such a single point cross roads that almost every vehicle uses, the various bridges, spread it out. Transit wise, Regency is a pretty unique place, which is why I think redevelopment will work there.

OCKLAWAHA

[mtraininjax]

Regency is dying and so will parts of Orange Park for duplicating the same stores over and over and over again. How many places did you need to go to for electronics? For a car? For linens and home decorations? For clothes? Capitalism at its finest gave us so many choices for basically the same things. And now the weak are gone, and this is going to continue for some time to come as we wean ourselves off of stores that are duplicates of what we already have somewhere else.

Big box stores will eventually be sub-divided into office condos or churches. You can always find people willing to invest in a church or start a new business in an office condo.

[JeffreyS]

Orange Park has been hit with some of the National chains overall problems but OP is just suffering the along the current economic tide. I do not see any long term fall off for retail in the area.

[copperfiend]

Your right Jason, the roumors of the death of Regency as a shopping mecca are exagerated. Location - Location - Location! Malls and plaza's may come and go, but the population and location will always drive a remake, indeed it might end up BETTER then St. Johns Town Center. Consider this, to get to Town Center, one either lives in the South Beach / Ponte Vedra area and passes through JTB daily, or makes the effort to drive to Town Center. To get to Regency, all one has to do is move North, South, Northeast, Southwest, East or West, in an area with population enough to rank as one of Florida's larger cities all by itself. It's really tough to miss that location. [/color] [/b]

The SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A. It is also a regional destination.

[mtraininjax]

The SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A

The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....

[Doctor_K]

The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....

Obviously you've never seen the place on a normal day, let alone a weekend.  Place is busy open-to-close. 

And yes, some kind of trolley might be nice to have at the SJTC, however, there's nothing wrong with walking around and getting one's exercise, either.

And there's even a bus route (two, actually) that serve the SJTC, so connectivity is less of a problem than with other parts of town... at least, in the context of our still-substandard 'mass transit.'

[thelakelander]

S&K to close all its stores

S&K Famous Brands Inc. will close all 105 of its S&K Menswear stores in 26 states, including three in Northeast Florida.

“In spite of our best efforts, the current economic climate left us with no choice but to close down the business,” says Jonathan Tibus, chief restructuring officer at S&K Menswear. “We’d like to thank all of our employees for their hard work and all of our loyal customers for their years of patronage.”

The company has begun a going-out-of-business sale that will continue until all merchandise is sold.

S&K’s local stores are at Regency Square and Southside Square in Jacksonville and in the Orange Park Mall.

In March, the Virginia-based company announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/05/18/daily48.html

[JeffreyS]

I think their is an S&K at rivercity town center also.

[reednavy]

Also, with Chrysler going through whatever it is now, Jack Caruso Regency Dodge will close. Yet another blow.

[nicktooch]

pontiac-gmc-buick is gone too so let's get crackin on that SS-Atlantic overpass! u can really see "shovel-ready" money at work at kernan-atlantic!

[heights unknown]

Poor Regency.  Is the Arlington area as a whole deteriorating and "broke down" as well?  Is that why that area is losing stores, businesses, etc., or is it just the whole economic downturn thing?

Heights Unknown

[Ocklawaha]

The SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A

The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....

Those narrow gauge brill cars that were for sale not long ago would make for a "STUNNING" heritage Trolley project. Somewhere in the complex just add in a "Big Lots" size building with classic 1920's charm, it could host a small electric plant - or converters, nice SJTC TROLLEY gift shop and car barn with observation walkways...

Yeah, I've thought of it for a long time, Jax Beach, St. Augustine, Centre Street Fernandina Beach too. Whoever moves first will be the big winner.

OCKLAWAHA

[mtraininjax]

lets build an electric plant with all those 3 dollar bills floating around from President Obama.

Until we get a 3 dollar bill from the fed, use the JTA bus trolleys.

[Ocklawaha]

Your wrong on this one MTrain, "WE" don't build a damn thing out at SJTC...  The Town Center builds and operates it just like:

THE GROVE AT FARMERS MARKET, 
http://www.thegrovela.com/landmarks.html
or
AMERICANA AT BRAND, 
http://www.americanaatbrand.com/

Both located in California.

Meanwhile you and I can figure out how to use up those new $3 dollar bills on a REAL streetcar system before their only worth .02 cents. At that point I'm off for Colombia.

OCKLAWAHA