Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

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homer37
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by homer37 »

New ownership would help that place immensely - a bit of common sense on part of the owners/management would do wonders. They could start with getting rid of the clown carpet and putting some lights in there - and then try to attract better quality or more mainstream stores. Perhaps change the name of it, so that people don't think it's the same crappy place that it has been the last few years. There is a much bigger population base in the area now than when the mall was built, and with a bit of planning, it could work.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by valcour »

GuyInLenexa wrote: I don't see a future for the Great Mall as it stands.  It surprises me that La Quinta built a new hotel on their perimeters.  I understand that a lot of it's business is related to the adjacent hospital.  Medical offices has been the only development on that part of 151st lately.  Perhaps it could be demolished and redeveloped as light industry and/or office space.  I think another major retail area would only end up the same way the mall did.
The City of Olathe will certainly help with tax abatements and public financing of any redevelopment.  The Great Mall site was where Olathe was proposing to put the Wizards stadium if they had won that decision.  The Hotels are there because they know the city is committed to redeveloping that area.  Olathe is sinking $80 million into the Lone Elm interchange to spur development in that area.  Something will happen there in the next five years - either a repackaging and rebuild of the mall or a totally new development.  I just hope it isn't another Legends Lite like Olathe Pointe is.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by Pendergast »

valcour wrote:   I just hope it isn't another Legends Lite like Olathe Pointe is.
I WISH Olathe Pointe WAS like the Legends!  Isn't Olathe Pointe where the Marshalls and Michaels is? I assume you mean the west side of 35, where Bass Pro is.  I live down the street and haven't been to one of the stores yet.  It seems pretty nice though.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by KCPowercat »

I had to go down to the great mall like two weeks ago....it was the busiest I had remembered seeing it since it had opened...lots of families.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by justin8216 »

trailerkid wrote: Dillard's Oulet left a few years ago and was replaced by a bra superstore.
 
But they were too proud to build any mall-- they built the Great Mall. I could have told them it wasn't going to work once trucks showed up with the purple carpeting.

This place is completely over...no hope for it now. If Olathe knows what is good for them they would red-tag the damn thing and bulldoze it. If they're lucky Kay O'Connor might be inside at the bra superstore at the time. Then they could call General Growth, Macerich, or Simon and build an upscale version--Olathe Gardens on the same site .

Star reports that the mall is under contract to be sold.

The above quotes from this threads first post back in 2004 cracked me up. Esp the ones about the purple carpeting and kay o'connor because they are both so true.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by KCPowercat »

there is no doubt the legends is a much better execution of outlet stores than great mall ever hoped to be.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by kcjak »

The Great Mall is a dump.  Sitting on such a prime piece of real estate in one of the fastest growing cities in one of the more affluent counties in the country, they need to bulldoze and start over.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by DaveKCMO »

KCPowercat wrote: there is no doubt the legends is a much better execution of outlet stores than great mall ever hoped to be.
'tis true, but i wouldn't give RED much credit since they're just doing what everyone else is doing right now (granted, on a larger scale). if this was 1997, legends would be a big indoor mall.

why does every thread about malls contain a comparison to legends?  :lol:
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by KCPowercat »

comparing what was supposed to be the best outlet mall (great mall) to what I consider the best execution of outlet stores in the city (legends). 
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by DaveKCMO »

KCPowercat wrote: comparing what was supposed to be the best outlet mall (great mall) to what I consider the best execution of outlet stores in the city (legends). 
i kid! i kid!
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by mgsports »

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Post by mgsports »

Don't need to update it just find some other Places to go with that big Toysrus next store and Outparcels for East,and Northside of it if your facing 7.
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Great Mall of Plains

Post by mgsports »

Had at one time Old Navy and Ross Dress for Less that might becoming back to the area.

Would like it to get like Jack in the Box,MCSPORTS Outdoor Center and so on.

Because they already have that name taken with just replacing the G with a C.
Last edited by mgsports on Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Great Mall of Plains

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

mgsports wrote: Would like it to get like Jack in the Box,MCSPORTS Outdoor Center and so on.
Why don't you open a MGSports Outdoor Center instead?
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by KCMax »

[url=http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/22/22 ... -mall.html]Sales tax district for Great Mall approved by Olathe City Council[/url
A request to add a maximum sales tax of 1.5 percent at the Great Mall of the Great Plains was approved unanimously Tuesday by the Olathe City Council.

The tax will go into effect Jan. 1 and will help pay for a feasibility study of the area?s redevelopment potential. Those study costs will be limited to $500,000 from the tax and another $500,000 in private funding from the developer.

The tax will only apply to sales at the Great Mall and won?t be applied to seven restaurants east of the mall or two nearby hotels.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by missingkc »

This doesn't smell quite right to me, though it's a sweet deal for the city and the developer.  Why are shoppers helping to foot the bill for a study of redevelopment potential?  Why shouldn't that be covered by the owner/developer?  After redevelopment, will the shoppers get a break on the tax rate charged in the redeveloped area?
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by DaveKCMO »

people should be penalized for continuing to shop there.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

A feasability study does seem like very weak sauce - either you have a better idea of what to do with the joint or you don't. 
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by KCMax »

I saw this piece on CBS Sunday morning about dead malls andhow one in suburban Atlanta is thriving now by transforming into basically a Mexican village.
In 2005 he took over a struggling, generic mall and transformed it into Plaza Fiesta, designed specifically to meet the needs of an exploding Hispanic population.

"We follow demographics," Legaspi told Strassmann. "Because it's nothing more than numbers game, I will tell you. You've got to have enough number of consumers to be able to support something like this, or any kind of mall."

Legaspi had turned dead space into successful Hispanic malls in several cities with large immigrant communities. Looking to expand, he discovered the Hispanic population of Atlanta had nearly tripled between 1990 and 2000.

But one thing was missing.

"The extended family concept is very, very key" to the culture of the Hispanic community, Legaspi said. "There was not a place where the families could gather. And shopping doesn't just mean shoes and clothing or eating at a restaurant; it's also a place where they can listen to music, sit down, relax, and spend some time with the family."

Plaza Fiesta has 280 stores, but there's also a doctor's office, and a dentist. There are hairdressers, money-wiring services -- everything you might find in a Mexican village. There's even a bus station to bring customers in; the mall had more than 4 million visitors last year.
So, if some dying malls are going to have a second life, Strassmann asked Lewis, what are the keys?

"Experience," he replied. "Entertainment. If we're going to drag them away from their smartphone and shopping on the Internet, you've got to give them a reason to spend the time to go and make the effort to go there. And the only way they're gonna do that is if there's a fun thing going on."

And an experience you can't get online.
I immediately thought of the Great Mall.
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Re: Dismantling of Great Mall (ongoing)

Post by slimwhitman »

KCMax wrote:I saw this piece on CBS Sunday morning about dead malls andhow one in suburban Atlanta is thriving now by transforming into basically a Mexican village.
In 2005 he took over a struggling, generic mall and transformed it into Plaza Fiesta, designed specifically to meet the needs of an exploding Hispanic population.
I immediately thought of the Great Mall.
I was in the Great Mall last year around Easter and the local Hispanic radio station was having an Easter egg hunt event there. It was PACKED with Hispanic families. That was the most activity I had seen there in over a decade. This concept might be great for this dead mall.
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