Re: Plaza move-ins (ongoing)
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:01 pm
Is it outlet pricing?
For reference, the sale was announced in Jan 2016KCPowercat wrote:Highwoods doesn't own the plaza anymore.
Nike was always going to be yawn
No. It's a very strange set up. Limited selection on the soft goods and then the majority of the store are outlet style shoe racks.brewcrew1000 wrote:Is it outlet pricing?
That's basically what it is. I'm not joking when I say the Nike Outlet at the Legends is a better version than this store. Crazy that it was allowed to go in, but not surprising considering the current trajectory of the Plaza.kcjak wrote:I remember reading in a couple of places that Nike had initially intended for the store to be an outlet, but were told no. Sounds like they did the bare minimum to keep it from being an actual outlet.
The day they start letting in outlets - even the likes ofBanana Republic, J Crew, Off 5th or Crate and Barrel, I'm giving up.
For what it's worth, the shoe style racks are the same ones I've seen at their stores in Brooklyn and Chicago. I think that's just the standard, outlet or high quality.MidtownCat wrote:No. It's a very strange set up. Limited selection on the soft goods and then the majority of the store are outlet style shoe racks.brewcrew1000 wrote:Is it outlet pricing?
Here's another vote for creating a pedestrian only mall on Nichols Road. Eliminating auto traffic from Nichols has been a no-brainer for decades - I have to wonder WTF the collective owners of the Plaza have been thinking every time I traverse this street. The only drawback is that it is that restaurants tend to locate on the peripheral streets in the Plaza so there would be only a few opportunities for outside seating on a new pedestrian walkway. But then again, changing Nichols into a pedestrian walkway might actually change how businesses distribute themselves on the Plaza. At the same time, do away with the surface parking between Central and Broadway behind the Classic Cup and make it into a true Plaza for gatherings etc... That might take some work because it would be surrounded by the rear end of the adjacent buildings (and hence not all that aesthetic) but the Plaza could use a true square. After that, I would love to see a higher end component on the plaza than what is there presently but unfortunately such businesses seem to want to be in south Leawood for the time being (I noticed Redford's store - Sundance just went to south Leawood - would have been good for the plaza). Not too fond of a revert back to neighborhood-ish shopping area.earthling wrote:I'll be sending the thread below to new Plaza owners next week, have several contacts to send to. Post your suggestions and vote here if you want significant changes or not, can change vote too...
http://kcrag.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=20330
Any lurkers out there who have never signed up to post, here's a place to post your thoughts on future of the Plaza and participate with this experiment for change (or if not supporting change).
Might post your thoughts on the other thread. Will be sending to Plaza owners this week.Highlander wrote:Here's another vote for creating a pedestrian only mall on Nichols Road. Eliminating auto traffic from Nichols has been a no-brainer for decades - I have to wonder WTF the collective owners of the Plaza have been thinking every time I traverse this street. The only drawback is that it is that restaurants tend to locate on the peripheral streets in the Plaza so there would be only a few opportunities for outside seating on a new pedestrian walkway. But then again, changing Nichols into a pedestrian walkway might actually change how businesses distribute themselves on the Plaza. At the same time, do away with the surface parking between Central and Broadway behind the Classic Cup and make it into a true Plaza for gatherings etc... That might take some work because it would be surrounded by the rear end of the adjacent buildings (and hence not all that aesthetic) but the Plaza could use a true square. After that, I would love to see a higher end component on the plaza than what is there presently but unfortunately such businesses seem to want to be in south Leawood for the time being (I noticed Redford's store - Sundance just went to south Leawood - would have been good for the plaza). Not too fond of a revert back to neighborhood-ish shopping area.earthling wrote:I'll be sending the thread below to new Plaza owners next week, have several contacts to send to. Post your suggestions and vote here if you want significant changes or not, can change vote too...
http://kcrag.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=20330
Any lurkers out there who have never signed up to post, here's a place to post your thoughts on future of the Plaza and participate with this experiment for change (or if not supporting change).
As you say, the potential of a pedestrian street might be somewhat limited by the single private owner but the concept works well all around the world and particularly in Europe and selected North American cities. The current mix of shops is not ideal for realizing potential. A few restaurants and other food places that could extend their seating out onto the expanded walkway would work very well. The bigger problem of having a single owner is that they do not have any vested interest in people lingering - they want people to eat, buy, and leave. I see such malls as centers of activity - buskers, outdoor seating, people watching etc.. I've spent a lot of time in Europe and miss that aspect about the US and particularly the Midwest.pash wrote:I'm all for pedestrian streets and whatnot, but what would the point be of shutting down Nichols Road? It's already a quiet, low-traffic street with some of the widest, best appointed sidewalks in the city. Yes, it could easily be done, but what do we really gain by keeping out the few cars that meander through every now and then?
For there to be any real advantage to closing it to car traffic, you'd need to bring in lots of programming to fill the empty space. And if you were to close it permanently, you'd have to turn it into a big linear park or something to make it feel like anything other than an expansive dead zone. But it's barely even a public street, since it runs through a single-owner district, and you can be sure the Plaza's owners are not going to want food trucks or pop-up shops or farmer-marketeers edging in on their turf, at least not if they're not getting a cut of the action.
At the same time I think it'd be hard to justify putting much public money into transforming a street that would effectively benefit a single private land-owner—certainly I would rather make that investment elsewhere—so I think it would be preferable simply to vacate the street to Taubman. And if that's what we're talking about, I have a feeling they'd probably have rather different ideas for how to use the space than most of you seem to be envisioning.
But what exactly do those of you who like the idea envision happening there if the road were closed?
Yeah, it blows. But it's basically just a sad reminder of the watered down version of what the Plaza has become. It is better than a boarded up storefront though - the new bar of success.JLowe2018 wrote:A comment on the Nike store discussion some posts back...
I talked to one of the employees on the opening day who said to me the rollout of the store was terrible. He showed me a pair of what he called "dad mowing the yard shoes" from last year's fashion season being sold for $70. He said you could find those same shoes at the Outlet store in Legends for $20 or $30.
He said they rolled out the store with all of the old, last year outlet stuff at full, brand new, high end retail price.
On a positive note though, he did say Nike's working on a special Kansas City brand/line of clothes to be sold exclusively at the store, however Nike didn't have it ready in time for the store's opening.
So I guess because of the NikeKC brand not being ready in time, they just chose to go ahead and open the store anyway and fill it up with a bunch of old stuff. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I agree - why make it an either or decision. Do them all - let the plaza do it with private money. European cities have multiple pedestrianized streets. With all the drawbacks you point out regarding Nichols Road, particularly the point about it not being truly public space, there is currently a compelling reason to actually be on that particular street. That's not quite so true for 8th and 4th. While I agree that both 8th and 4th have potential, that's all they have presently, potential. Nichols has the shops in place albeit maybe not the ideal mix for a pedestrian street. 4th has the infrastructure around it but there's nothing presently on the street so anything that will happen there will have to happen well out into the future. 8th is farther along although maybe not as much potential - but for a least a couple of blocks east of Broadway, the street has some activity. Of course, 13th street in the P&L district would be another candidate and I think they do close it down from time to time already.pash wrote:Y
Which street in KC do I want to see pedestrianized? I've written a number of posts (and started a thread) about turning Fourth Street in the River Market into a pedestrian shopping street. I think that is by far the most realistic place it could happen soon, and one of the best suited for a first effort. (I won't repeat myself at length here: here's my most recent post on the subject, in a thread earthling started about pedestrianizing a stretch of Eighth Street.)
Not that it should be an either-or proposition. I just don't see much about Nichols Road that suggests pedestrianizing it would make it a better street. If you make big investments in turning it into a linear park or something, or fill it with lots of active programming, then sure. But otherwise?