Discuss items in the urban core outside of Downtown as described above. Everything in the core including the east side (18th & Vine area), Northeast, Plaza, Westport, Brookside, Valentine, Waldo, 39th street, & the entire midtown area.
KCPowercat wrote:Ann Taylor Loft in place of FAO Swartz? Ladies? I think this move BLOWS.
You have to be kidding me.
The plaza is ... well you know what I'm thinking.
I'll say it again, the mallization of the plaza will only make the KC Live project more able to lure specialty and destination retail and restaurants.
The plaza will succeed with typical mall tenants or the ESPN Zones and Hard Rocks. Let them go with Ann Taylor and Beauty Warehouse or whatever so Downtown can land the destination stuff.
Ann Taylor Loft goes in the place of a pretty exclusive retailer in a great location? With exclusive locations such as Omaha, Columbia, Springfield, Des moines, & Coralville, IA I can see once again how Highwoods is seeking out the "best of the best" for what once was a great unique shopping destination that would draw people from all over the region. Why would somebody drive down from Omaha to shop for the weekend when our "exclusive" shopping district is getting the SAME STORES?
Also, a chain restaurant's new concept going in next to Saks? come on, please upgrade your standards or your ability to market. This is getting sad.
I will give good marks for stores such as Tiffany's and Cole Haan but for every great store, 3 everyday mall stores are put in. I understand Highwoods is a huge conglomo of many shopping centers but most Kansas City residents see these latest tenants as a serious downgrade.
Please, we beg of you, step it up before the Plaza is nothing more than a cheap outdoor outlet mall or sell the management to somebody who can get the job done.
BTW I hear Dress Barn and Deb are looking for a new location and it seems you guys can't fill up the Plaza as it is. (sarcasm, please don't put that on your list of tenants to get)
Thanks for your time. Please understand what you are dealing with here when it comes to the KC metro area...it's not just another strip mall. Therer are many high end retailers that need a home in KC....let's make sure they land in the Plaza where they belong.
Karin.....I don't really blame them for that....it's the way retailing is going....hardly any invidual stores can make it anymore, ESPECIALLY paying Plaza rents....individual store will continue to pop up in places like crossroads, rivermarket, westport, etc.
My beef is the level of chains they are attracting...mostly they are run of the mill chains that are everywhere....
I think we need to move to the point of acceptance. Highwoods sucks...they replaced the first Houlihan's with a Cali Pizza Kitchen...what do we expect?
I'll admit that I was a little shocked they brought in Ann Taylor Loft especially when it's pretty clear Ann Taylor Loft is like a step down from Casual Corner and already has plenty of other metro stores opened/planned. But it's starting to bother me less and less that the Plaza has every store every mall has. Even if they brought in high end stuff like Chanel or Gucci most people can't afford it anyway. At least normal people can shop at Ann Taylor Loft. There's so much new, LOCAL stuff opening downtown that who gives a rip what chains the Plaza has?
its almost as if they have two different personalities trying to market the plaza. One personality get Tiffany's, the other one gets Anne Taylor Loft and Beaty Brands. Have the people marketing the Plaza even been to Kansas City?
Are you sure we're talking about the same God here, because yours sounds kind of like a dick.
we should give a rip about what the Plaza's tenants are because it is our most famous destination for tourists and residents alike.
there is enough "why go to the core when you can stay in JoCo" sentiment as it is. the Plaza and Westport and Downtown and the Market should (and do) offer something different.
the plaza, however, is making itself less unique. the other urban districts have a looooong way to go before they are at the same level with the Plaza in terms of visibility. we shouldn't let KC's "crown jewel" become Zona Rosa II.
chrizow wrote:we should give a rip about what the Plaza's tenants are because it is our most famous destination for tourists and residents alike.
Downtown will become KC's crown jewel in the next 10-15 years.
Plaza is a cool spot, but how far can you go with the reputation of having every single high end chain restaurant and retailer? That doesn't interest me for long...downtown is welcoming to all different kinds of people-- not just those with $$$. I like the Plaza too, but it's to the point where they could put in an Old Navy and I wouldn't care. Plaza is Mission Hills botox women with drunk husbands wearing loafers with no sox-- let 'em get all the Ann Taylor Lofts and Casual Corner Annexes there are.
you CANT go very far with the reputation of having every upscale retail/food chain. that's not what the Plaza was about until fairly recently. it's lost much of its luster, which sucks IMO.
The Plaza is still our most successful and highest profile mixed-use neighborhood. It has a bigger and better 24/7 mix of residential, retail, entertainment, and office than any other area of the metro.
Perception usually lags reality. If Downtown eclipses the Plaza it would take an entire generation for the perception of the general public to change. Realistically, what will actually happen is the emergence of vibrant urban core with Downtown and the Plaza both serving as anchors on either end.
I've never known Joyce Smith to print something inaccurate in the Star, but there's still hope for people still fuming about the FAO to Ann Taylor Attic or Annex or whatever the f---- it is.
It seems the Plaza's web site just updated the "coming soon" page and all that is listed is Tiffany & Co. and Brio Tuscan Grill. We know Apple is coming also, but that can't be "official" until exactly 2 weeks before the doors open. So the Plaza hasn't officially announced Ann Taylor's Bidet , anything could still happen...someone could have a change of heart. I don't know why Highwoods doesn't just bring in Hobby Lobby and Fashion Bug just to get things over with now.
kcteen wrote:something is going into the arrowhead west temp. store location. construction plywood isup around that side of the building from the theater eastward.
Are you talking about the old Sun and Ski? Brio is moving in that building, but it's where Pascal's was supposed to go (northwest corner of Nichols Road and Pennsylvania).
Brio Tuscan Grill...a new Italian restaurant coming in December. Are you saying "yes" that the old Sun and Ski has construction "mall walls" in front of it too? I don't know exactly where that Arrowhead West was.
