Plaza move-ins (ongoing)

KCgridlock · Post by **KCgridlock** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 10:12 am

The whole country is going mainstream. There are fewer and fewer big city unique chains. I see it in other city's "premier" shopping districts as well. This sucks, but the plaza will always be a draw though.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 4:40 pm

Seriously...the newest stuff was Pottery Barn Kids and Kona Grill and that was like 6 months ago. C'mon Highwoods, give us some new stuff to get excited about.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 4:56 pm

Isn't Pascal's going in on the NW corner of Nichols and Penn? You know, the SE corner of the Seville building where sun and ski used to be....

what used to be in the massive thing? Wonder how much room is left after the theatres?

Also "Frankie's on the Plaza"? Is that taking over on the East side?

Post by **bahua** » Fri Jan 24, 2003 4:56 am

When you say "Midtown Marketlplace," do you mean that huge frigging eyesore at Main and Linwood? If so, I wholeheartedly disagree. The stores that are already there are impeding the success of the city, by making it near impossible to compete with them. Home Depot and Costco are the bane of Midtown, and B, B & B would only throw gasoline on the fire.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 9:11 pm

Well here's the latest move-ins to the plaza I can find.

- Panera Bread going in by Kinko's on 47th street (although a chain, I like these places)

- Best of Kansas City going in on Brush Creek (is this the same store that was by the theatres? I hope not)

- California Pizza Kitchen going into Houlihan's (hate this move)

- Frankie's on the Plaza by KC Masterpiece & Fred P. Otts (built....walked in to go to the bar...looked nice...place was packed)

anything else going in?

ignatius · Post by **ignatius** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:01 pm

InnerSelf, like Victoria's Secret, just opened. Oddly, it is owned by Sarah Lee, the cake company?

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:15 pm

oh yeah, that's right...where is that place?

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:19 pm

what ever happened to Pascal's, going in next to the theatres. I was really looking forward to it.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:22 pm

I think it's delayed indefinetly.....I know there were millions of dollars lost by one construction company on that project and it forced them out of business.

So who knows.

ignatius · Post by **ignatius** » Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:24 pm

KC wrote:oh yeah, that's right...where is that place?

A portion of the old Jack Henry spot I think.

I've been wondering about Pascal's too. Last I read, there were lease disputes during construction, if I remember it correctly.

Post by **bahua** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 8:52 pm

-omitted-

Upon investigation, I found I was wrong in my assertion.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 8:03 am

Bed, Bath, & Beyond is still at it...negotiations are underway to take over the old sun, ski, sport location....

I still think this is a bad idea....although when I lived on the Plaza, it would have been nice to have a store like this close by....I would much prefer it in Ward Parkway mall though.....

what is happening to the Plaza.....does Highwood's think people are going to drive from Omaha to shop at a store that's right next door in their suburban big box center?

Ward Parkway Center wanted it, but Bed Bath & Beyond seems to prefer the Country Club Plaza.

The retailer is said to be negotiating for the former Sun & Ski Sports spot at 500 Nichols Road. While the entrance is on Nichols Road, the majority of the retail space is on the basement level.

Post by **dangerboy** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:21 am

No surprise here, it's a continuation of the chaining trend started when the JC Nichols Co. sold out to Highwoods. As a Midtowner I think it would be great to something like this close by, but definitely not at the plaza. Midtown Marketplace would definitely be more appropriate, or how about The Landing? That mall could really use the boost, and it would still be very close to all the south Plaza and Brookside monied neighborhoods.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:23 am

sounds like the problem is BB&B wouldn't go there.....and it seems the Plaza is more than willing to take ANYBODY in....I really hope highwoods doesn't ruin the Plaza.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:39 am

My letter to Highwoods corporate website...see if it gets any response...I doubt it.

To whom it may concern,

re: Country Club Plaza retailers

The management of the Country Club Plaza has really gotten out of control since Highwoods has taken over management from J.C. Nichols. Many residents of Kansas City and the Plaza area specifically are really starting to take notice and are VERY displeased. Some of the many things that Highwoods has done or attempted to do that have really upset residents are the following:

- Tear down Park Lane apartment building (historic building)
- Force long time plaza tenants out...Houlihan's, a Plaza institution, being a key property
- Replacing tenants with nothing but common shopping center tenants. Key among these being California Pizza Kitchen and now the talk of Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

Now I know all the way down in Raleigh, it may be hard to keep track of what's going on in Kansas City and maybe when your company took control of the Plaza, they didn't know what they were getting into...I mean looking at your website, I see you manage NO OTHER retail operations and definitely nothing with the urban, upper scale feel of the Plaza and the delicate balance it has between retailers, residents, and office buildings.

As a life long Kansas City resident and Plaza area resident, many are asking for there to be much more responsible management of the Plaza district. You've forced out long time tenants that go their start on the Plaza and now appear to be replacing tenants with things that wouldn't even draw suburbanites from their white picket fences. Part of the Plaza's core business is visitors from surrounding smaller cities....might look at the market research and figure that one out. If you start replacing retailers with things they can get in their local big box strip mall (bed, bath, & beyond), why would they make the trip to KC to shop?

Many residents are truly concerned with how the Plaza is being run....maybe if you could give us some positives that Highwoods has done to keep the Plaza a unique area to the midwest, we would listen, but from where we are sitting, we see nothing but an absentee management company who really has no background in mixed use developments.

Thanks for your time.

Post by **dangerboy** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:21 am

While we definitely need for the Plaza to be a big regional draw, we also need it to be balanced with basic services for residents of the area. Otherwise you make it less appealing for people live there if they have go out of the neighborhood for things like dry cleaners, child care, barbers, etc. You also need some of these same services to support visitors staying in the hotels there.

The Plaza is big enough to fulfill multiple roles, but Highwoods is really insenstive to the fine balance that is required. I wish the city would be more involved. They enacted zoning changes to protect Brookside from the same Highwoods destruction, but for the Plaza they gave them a huge TIF check and free reign to edit the Plaza Plan.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 12:01 pm

I agree there is a balance of basic services...BB&B doesn't fit that...hell most of what they carry can be picked up at Williams-Sonoma or one of the many funishing stores like Potterybarn....

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:10 pm

Seriously...I'm not happy, but it's let's just thank our lucky stars it isn't a T.J. Maxx.

It's really an odd spot that probably wouldn't have been acceptable for high profile tenants like Crate and Barrel or Nike.

It would've been cool if they put in a mini-Galyan's. I know that REI has huge stores and smaller ones too.

Urban Outfitters really would've been cool, but they probably wouldn't have two stores in the KC area.

Post by **dangerboy** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 2:46 pm

Where is Urban Outfitters in KC?

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 3:15 pm

KC area: Mass. Street in Lawrence

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