Crown Center: urban disaster, shining star, or in-between

[KCPowercat]

Crown Center? What? Crown Center is little more than the Hallmark Corporate offices glorified cafeteria.

Crown Center has more non-outlet stores than the "legends" does

[kcdcchef]

Crown Center? What? Crown Center is little more than the Hallmark Corporate offices glorified cafeteria.

moron. crown center has more unique stores then the outlet mall at village west. halls alone is better then any outlet mall name at vw, so save it. and it has also done something that the outlet mall at vw has not, as of yet, stand the test of time. 30 years later and a 0% occupancy in the retail side. 0, justin, 0. 34 years to be exact, and their retail numbers are still about 75% of what vw are, at what, half the size?????

save your nonsense, justin, please.

Crown Center has more non-outlet stores than the "legends" does

thank you. tell him again, just in case he missed it.

[kcmetro]

I think the problem with Crown Center is that it does a good job of hiding what's there. When you drive past, there's nothing to suggest that there's much retail inside...so unless you know it's there, you'll probably miss it.

[lock+load]

30 years later and a 0% occupancy in the retail side. 0, justin, 0.

I've seen empty stores at Crown Center.

[kcdcchef]

I've seen empty stores at Crown Center.

sure you do, when a store closes and another opens in its spot. every time a store closes there they have another lined up. nice try.

[chrizow]

other than the "urban" context of crown center (i use quotes b/c an indoor mall is the opposite of urban), there isn't that much good to say about crown center.  there are some great restaurants in the vicinity such as morton's, the american, etc. and that's wonderful, but the food court and the shopping there is terrible.  there are a few ubiquitous mall stores (victoria's secret, bath and body works) and a bunch of tourist garbage or stuff lawyers buy their secretaries over the lunch hour (an "australian store," a "cat lover's store," etc).  hall's is certainly a distinguished, reputable store but from what i understand it hemorrhages money and hallmark subsidizes it just b/c it's "prestigious" and neat.

i feel like going to crown center is like taking a time machine to 1988. 

[kcdcchef]

  hall's is certainly a distinguished, reputable store but from what i understand it hemorrhages money and hallmark subsidizes it just b/c it's "prestigious" and neat.

yeah, sure, i suppose they subsidize the one on the plaza as well, right chriz?

  and a bunch of tourist garbage or stuff lawyers buy their secretaries over the lunch hour (an "australian store," a "cat lover's store," etc).  

if these same stores opened up in an abandoned old tire store on mcgee or grand, you would champion them as quaint, urban, trendy, and cool. but since they are in a big bad mall setting, a successful one in the middle of a city mind you, you chastize them. if these stores are as you say, a place for lawyers to buy shit for their secretaries, a) it will be only a matter of time before you shop there then, and b) why are their retail sales so high still? i mean, if it was what you say it is, they would be barely scraping by. not hardly. the place has been and will continue to be a financial windfall.

and i can tell you from working for the company for most of the last 15 years, halls is hardly subsidized. they make enough at christmas alone to float by the next 10 months each year.

[PumpkinStalker]

Hall's is definitely a place you can step back into time with customer service.  Every sales person at the place treats you special.  They're not just another nameless goon trying to get commission, they are engaged with your shopping.  I have no doubt they hemmorhage money, especially since their biggest customer base is from us Hallmarkers that go get our 20% off on lunch breaks.  And everything that doesn't sell at the plaza location ends up at CC for 50% off.  Then add my 20% and I have a new wardrobe.  They stay up to date with all the bigger dept stores, having TRUNK SALES....(who else in KC does that?) artist signings, etc.  They always have the latest fashions from pricey designers.  Really, if money is no object they have more unique items than any big box dept store in the metro.  

Crown Center also stays alive because of field trips.  Schools come to the Coterie, Kaleidescope, etc, buy Sheridan's.  Hallmarkers go there for lunch.  The food court is decent.  Chinese is good, Einstein is good, d'Bronx is *good*, etc.  They acknowledge they will need to change their identity with P&L opening.  One thing they've already started is converting the movie theaters to a different format (forgot what that is).  They do defintely need to update the look of the place, ditch the pink and green neon tubing everywhere, get rid of the golden oak fixtures, trash cans, etc.  

[KCMax]

I like Crown Center, and I actually think their food court is pretty darn good, but I do agree with Chrizow that you do get a retro 1988 vibe from the place. Maybe because I went there as a kid? But it doesn't seem much different at all from when I went there as a kid. I think they could still use some modernizing. When I go other than the Holidays, it seems pretty empty.

Pumpkinstalker is right, the service at Hall's is truly unique in today's retail world.

[kcdcchef]

  but I do agree with Chrizow 

shocker.

[chrizow]

i didn't say crown center wasn't successful, i just said it's not really the best thing to compare to Legends (which as you know i despise). 

http://www.crowncenter.com/Shopping/Ind ... ngFlashMap&~=

^ if that list of shops blows your hair back, bully for you.  it is what it is, and i am pleased it's there, but i think it's an anachronism and not a shining star in the area.  if i had a Sim City-esque control over development in this city, i would raze the crown center shopping complex and all the skywalks and grow the office market with street-facing retail to make that stretch of Grand a bit more urban.  i work in Crown Center and while it is convenient for some things, it does not make for a very vibrant neighborhood.

[PumpkinStalker]

and i can tell you from working for the company for most of the last 15 years, halls is hardly subsidized. they make enough at christmas alone to float by the next 10 months each year.

This is TRUE TRUE TRUE....now that I think about it.  I'm a sales rep for Gold Crown stores, and my stores do about 40% of their total yearly business at Christmas.  It pays most of the bills for the whole year.

[KCMax]

http://www.crowncenter.com/Shopping/Ind ... ngFlashMap&~=

^ if that list of shops blows your hair back, bully for you.  i

I like "Coming Soon"! That's a good store. And Crown Center has two of 'em!

[cknab1]

Crown Center is in the middle of replacing the flooring.  They are replacing the wood edges with marble and all the carpet in the middle of the hall.  It wouldn’t have been my first choice of carpet, but that is just my opinion.  The main part of the old cinema is going to be a comedy club and they are going to try and keep two of the smaller theaters for fine art movies.
And the money they make from conventions might surprise you.  That business has really been great the last few years.  Crown center used to show a loss but starting about five or six years ago, they have been raking in the money.  And if you live and work in Crown center as I do, it’s really amazing what a small town feel the place has to it.

[ComandanteCero]

For its location and context, Crown Center could and should be much more interesting and vibrant.  It could easily be a regional destination of sorts, and it isn't.

[KCLover]

yeah, sure, i suppose they subsidize the one on the plaza as well, right chriz?

if these same stores opened up in an abandoned old tire store on mcgee or grand, you would champion them as quaint, urban, trendy, and cool. but since they are in a big bad mall setting, a successful one in the middle of a city mind you, you chastize them.

You are the definition of hyprocrocy, it's just halarious.

If the shit that has opened up in village west were on the MO side you'd be the first cheerleader there. If Schiltterbahn was out by the stadium complex you would have a different tone. I can only roll my eyes at anything you say.

[kcdcchef]

For its location and context, Crown Center could and should be much more interesting and vibrant.  It could easily be a regional destination of sorts, and it isn't.

yeah, the 30-40k that show up for concerts all come from the hood, right? or the tens of thousands that come in for festivals, they are all kcmo, right? hyatt and westin publish their occupancy statistics, and they have plenty to back up how many of their room nights come from crown center happenings, and they are plenty. so, that would make it a regional destination.

You are the definition of hyprocrocy, it's just halarious.

If the shit that has opened up in village west were on the MO side you'd be the first cheerleader there. If Schiltterbahn was out by the stadium complex you would have a different tone. I can only roll my eyes at anything you say.

hardly. i support the urban core, always have, and always will. i only support the stadiums because they are considered by most outside this board as amazing facilities, and to tear them down based on geography is dumb.


if what i say bothers you so, or you find it to lack relavance so much, IGNORE ME!! really would not bother me. i think if you look hard enough, one of your fellow wyco cheerleaders justin, has a reccomended ignore list. pretty sure i am on it.

and i would support the crap that has opened up in the outlet mall at vw if it opened up in the urban core ( yes, even the kck side ) but it did not. it leeched off of kcmo. you really think there would be a outlet/strip mall at village west without an urban core? or a joco??

nope, there would not be.

[KCLover]

hardly. i support the urban core, always have, and always will. i only support the stadiums because they are considered by most outside this board as amazing facilities, and to tear them down based on geography is dumb.


if what i say bothers you so, or you find it to lack relavance so much, IGNORE ME!! really would not bother me. i think if you look hard enough, one of your fellow wyco cheerleaders justin, has a reccomended ignore list. pretty sure i am on it.

and i would support the crap that has opened up in the outlet mall at vw if it opened up in the urban core ( yes, even the kck side ) but it did not. it leeched off of kcmo. you really think there would be a outlet/strip mall at village west without an urban core? or a joco??

nope, there would not be.

Im not strictly a WYCO cheerleader i Cheer on anything that happens in KC no matter where it is. I realize that anything in the metro area is good for the metro in a variety of reasons whether its in Wyco, Joco, Downtown, on troost, or 159th and nall. Therefore, I don't understand how someone can say something is good or bad based on its location in this context or that is against Kansas so bad that it burns them when something is built there.

This whole leeching thing is old too. I guess KC is the only city in the US where it has "leeching" suburbs huh. I guess theres greener grass somewhere in Sim City.

[schugg]

Where else in this city do you go for a nice outdoor ice skate?

when I was 12 and thirteen years old me and my pals would walk to crown center to ice skate and pick up on the suburban JO CO little white girls...they loved us. we had three or four different groups getting dropped off to meet us there. we were such players and had a blast!

"88"  "89"  "90"

[KCMax]

hardly. i support the urban core, always have, and always will. i only support the stadiums because they are considered by most outside this board as amazing facilities, and to tear them down based on geography is dumb.

So you'll support Schlitterbarn and Village West when it is considered by most outside this board as amazing facilities?