'SoLo' retailers???

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:59 pm

I believe that is the exact same thing they used to say about 16th street and lodo in Denver.

Post by **dangerboy** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:11 pm

Good2Great wrote:The reality of retail in the crossroads is a second branch of the "In & Out" convenience store located at 1050 Main. Need a hard boiled egg or some Olestra packed WOW chips and that's where you can hoof it in the middle of the night.

The Crossroads is far more than just an Olestra anal leakage wasteland. The difference is that so far most of the restaurants and shops are independent, locally-owned businesses. While it would be cool to have an IKEA in KC, Downtown is not the place - except maybe for Crown Center. It would fit in well with the other chains in the Plaza, or at a ubiquitous strip mall like one of those on Barry Road.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:07 am

I'm not sure if IKEA would be interested in KC, but I'd much rather see them here than Bass Pro. With a new store in Minneapolis, I'm sure their scouts will start to think about cities like KC, St. Louis, and Denver. I don't think the issue of compact furniture is that big of an issue considering they have stores in sprawling Houston and Orange County.

All their stores are near MAJOR suburban shopping centers (Woodfield in Chicago, South Coast in Orange County). The only areas we have that would match would be Oak Park, and possibly Independence Center and Zona Rosa area in the future. Maybe Ikea in the River Market? They could ship goods in on barges.

Post by **bahua** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:45 am

The only IKEA store I have seen is at the Woofield Mall, outside Chicago. Its big box look, and voluminous parking lot leads me to believe that IKEA builds stores more on the carfarm-Walmart model than an efficient urban one.

If they come to the area, my guess is that it'll be to Johnson County.

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:03 am

i think one of the biggest issues in the downtown area is the PERCEPTION that there is no retail or services available. Between Brush Creek and the Missouri River is every concievable type of business that anyone would ever need. I must admit tho, sometimes I am stumped when someone asks me about a particular business or service. They tend to assume that things are not available or that one has to go far out of the way to get something. The suburbanites quickly forget that they also do not have a grocery store within walking distance, or whatever their gripe of the week is about downtown. As a downtown resident, I never have to go south of brush creek or north of the river for anything that is not related to my employment. ( I travel for my job). If we can get over our inferiority complex, KC would be much better off.