Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
Jez
Block E
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Jez » July 10th, 2015, 2:13 pm

Looks like Gap is finally closing, store half empty and a few bargains to be had, the lady said they're open until the 26th. This is a great space for an H&M:) Or better still, A ZARA!!!

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 10th, 2015, 3:26 pm

Looks like Gap is finally closing, store half empty and a few bargains to be had, the lady said they're open until the 26th. This is a great space for an H&M:) Or better still, A ZARA!!!
Are we talking IDS Crystal Court connections??

Jez
Block E
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Jez » July 10th, 2015, 3:38 pm

Looks like Gap is finally closing, store half empty and a few bargains to be had, the lady said they're open until the 26th. This is a great space for an H&M:) Or better still, A ZARA!!!
Are we talking IDS Crystal Court connections??
Affirmative :D

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 10th, 2015, 3:42 pm

That space could surely pull in a few big names for a bit more cache at the Crystal Court.

TroyGBiv
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby TroyGBiv » July 10th, 2015, 7:30 pm

Definitely the 100% corner.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 10th, 2015, 11:04 pm

Definitely the 100% corner.
That might be true, but for the last year, it has had a vacant store front on one corner, and another corner was working to sell down their inventory. Not what we call a thriving corner that is for sure. We can hope in two years or even a year that we start to see some serious investment in retailers wanting to come back downtown and help to make a strong shopping district again. The North loop shows that stores can thrive here. We just have to support them.

grant1simons2
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby grant1simons2 » July 10th, 2015, 11:33 pm

And what's happening now? A 2 story Walgreens and a Sports Authority with that same store that was selling inventory opening up down the street? Yeah

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 11th, 2015, 10:03 am

And what's happening now? A 2 story Walgreens and a Sports Authority with that same store that was selling inventory opening up down the street? Yeah
I'll agree with you Grant, but it is better than walking by plywood at City Center, and the plus of Walgreens is that there should be 4-5 times the foot traffic going into Gaviidee as there is now. This will hopefully give Walgreens downtown a huge boost in customer traffic. Hopefully this will lead to some additional foot traffic inside Gaviidee as the more central location will draw more office workers to it. Hopefully the old Gap space can be split between 2 well known retailers to bring a greater choice for shopping options. Going on a year now and we still have empty retail at the Nic. Thought there were supposed to be a decent number of retailers interested in downtown. But then again the mall reconstruction is a huge wild card as far as how it will affect foot traffic. But the Nic's store fronts really do not have that issue as they are on 5th or are set back from the mall and should not have any worries about access. People can get to them from Marquette and the LRT station with little problems.

I guess there will be a wait and see attitude by retailers about the mall reconstruction and how well the Walgreens, Sports Authority, and Saks on 5th do in their new locations. If the first year numbers look good for those 3, with the construction going on, I can see more retail filling up and getting booked before the mall is finished and built out just in time for the malls reopening.

PigsEye

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby PigsEye » July 11th, 2015, 2:06 pm

Let's not lose touch with reality. Walgreens is going to close down an existing location, Sak's off fifth also technically moved from another downtown location. Plus Sports Authority pretty much replaced Office Depot. Retail downtown is STILL struggling. It's encouraging to see these vacant spaces filled, however there is no sign yet of good things happening. Centerpoint energy sucked out retail space, plus the 4 floor retail "mall" next door was slashed to 2 floors of retail. Downtown retail is still on life support. Ignoring the fact we are converting retail space to office is not a way to pretend everything is getting better. If these spaces are not filled soon then things are only going to get worse when Gateway and Ritz block tower 1 is built.

Maybe the 2018 super bowl will encourage more retailers to open up shop, and end up staying? Not sure what needs to be changed to fix the problem. I hope things improve, but it's clearly not there just yet.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 11th, 2015, 6:16 pm

Let's not lose touch with reality. Walgreens is going to close down an existing location, Sak's off fifth also technically moved from another downtown location. Plus Sports Authority pretty much replaced Office Depot. Retail downtown is STILL struggling. It's encouraging to see these vacant spaces filled, however there is no sign yet of good things happening. Centerpoint energy sucked out retail space, plus the 4 floor retail "mall" next door was slashed to 2 floors of retail. Downtown retail is still on life support. Ignoring the fact we are converting retail space to office is not a way to pretend everything is getting better. If these spaces are not filled soon then things are only going to get worse when Gateway and Ritz block tower 1 is built.

Maybe the 2018 super bowl will encourage more retailers to open up shop, and end up staying? Not sure what needs to be changed to fix the problem. I hope things improve, but it's clearly not there just yet.
While Walgreen's is closing it's other downtown store, that store is a H*llh*ole, I've been in it once and that was for a Father's day card this year. I would have preferred a store with a better selection and one that did not feel so dirty and claustrophobic for the card, but I wanted to get it in the mail right away. Other wise I steer clear of that Walgreens and wait until I get to one that is closer to where I live where I feel like I'm in a much better environment. Also that Walgreens is really very much out of the retail realm for most office workers, and buried in restaurant row. Having it on 7th and Nicollet will definitely give it much better exposure, skyway connection, and an updated and fresh look. I'm hoping it will pull more office workers to the area compared to the old store. Hoping it will pull more people into Gaviidee in general.

I agree that Gaviidee it nothing like what it should be. I'm hoping that the Walgreens will increase the foot traffic for other retailers to survive with. We are slowly increasing the downtown population so I'm hoping this will definitely prove a plus for the area. Sports Authority I feel will be a much better fit along the mall than Office Max. Most companies/offices already had a office supply delivery service set up so there was no real need for an office store. Again, will Sports Authority be a real match for the mall. I'm not sure. It will bring younger buyers into the mall, but will those younger buyer buy the other products that the other mall retailers will have. Only time will tell. Saks can now concentrate on designing a store and having a growth plan where before it was more of a maintain until the lease is up. Now they hopefully will organize the store into better department layouts and have a better strategy for sales.

I very much agree that we have to quit making the second level office. But again retail generally has better rent pattern/$ per SF, than office space. They can charge more for retail than office space. So I hope in the future when skyway and street level office space is up for renewal that there is enough interest by retailers to convert those to retail again. The fact that there has not been a single retail space opened after a year in Nic, does not bode well for retail. Not sure if the city or the downtown council are doing enough to get retailers to look at downtown? Again the mall reconstruction is a wild card that not too many retailers are willing to set up shop in a construction district and lose the momentum of their grand opening to barricades, detours, and dust and dirt. Most don't want to break even/lose money until the mall is finished. If there were retailers that started to snap up the few remaining retail spots, only then would others jump in now to get a space before they were all leased up and they would not be able to find a space for themselves. It maybe 2017 before we really have a good grasp on how the rebuilt mall will do at luring people to retail again. The one thing we do know is that there will continue to be an increase in the number of people living and working downtown in the next few years. I'm trying to have a positive perspective that the best is yet to come!!

Silophant
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Silophant » July 11th, 2015, 8:20 pm

I agree with most of that, but I wouldn't write off the Nic's skyway retail just yet. Remember that it's currently just a sleepy dead-end, but next summer will become the corridor that all the Xcel employees will have to pass through to get to the rest of the system. If its still dead in fall 2016, I'll agree that it's a failure.
Joey Senkyr
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Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 11th, 2015, 8:45 pm

I agree with most of that, but I wouldn't write off the Nic's skyway retail just yet. Remember that it's currently just a sleepy dead-end, but next summer will become the corridor that all the Xcel employees will have to pass through to get to the rest of the system. If its still dead in fall 2016, I'll agree that it's a failure.
None of Nic's retail is spoken for, street or skyway. I can see the skyway not having interest yet. But the street level is right by one of the busiest LRT stations in the city. Can't say there is no patrons that are near by or they are not seen by hundreds of eyes each day. Some one is looking for Chicago rents that they are not going to get for at least 3-5 more years.

Silophant
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Silophant » July 11th, 2015, 9:51 pm

Yeah, I can't make any excuses for the street level. They need to bite the bullet and lower their asking price for those spots.
Joey Senkyr
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grant1simons2
IDS Center
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby grant1simons2 » July 11th, 2015, 10:08 pm

They've gotten plenty of offers I was told by the agent. But like mayo clinic square they're looking for the perfect tenant.

PigsEye

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby PigsEye » July 11th, 2015, 10:50 pm

They've gotten plenty of offers I was told by the agent. But like mayo clinic square they're looking for the perfect tenant.
Can you expand a bit more as to what you mean and/or what they would be looking for as a perfect tenant? If that is the cause they are being "picky" then does that mean the downtown retail district is in much better shape? With City Center getting that lovely report about huge amounts of skyway traffic right before they landed 2 big anchors I would think they would have also filled up most of the smaller spaces as well.

Also Wedge very well spoken answer I'd give ya 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. I only take 1/2 star away because you suggested retailers might want to start snatching up space before the Nicollet Mall remodel. That is nothing but speculation and hoping for the best. I would like to be more optimistic, but reality seems to be retail still seems to be struggling and barely holding on.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 12th, 2015, 7:24 am

They've gotten plenty of offers I was told by the agent. But like mayo clinic square they're looking for the perfect tenant.
Can you expand a bit more as to what you mean and/or what they would be looking for as a perfect tenant? If that is the cause they are being "picky" then does that mean the downtown retail district is in much better shape? With City Center getting that lovely report about huge amounts of skyway traffic right before they landed 2 big anchors I would think they would have also filled up most of the smaller spaces as well.

Also Wedge very well spoken answer I'd give ya 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. I only take 1/2 star away because you suggested retailers might want to start snatching up space before the Nicollet Mall remodel. That is nothing but speculation and hoping for the best. I would like to be more optimistic, but reality seems to be retail still seems to be struggling and barely holding on.[/quote]

What I was doing was hypothesizing about the market. No retailer is going to sit thru a flat or lose period when they can wait until the project is about done and open just as the project finished. If, and a BIG if, the spaces start to see leases optioned, then other retailers who are sitting back in wait mode, will have to jump into the fray or face the chance that they might lose out on a site on the mall.

So I'm to take it that the Nic is waiting for some higher end clothing or retail stores to sign leases to keep the CACHE' of the building. Might be a smart move, but then again you are looking at loses for at least 2 more years while the Mall is rebuilt, the 4Marq/Lattitude fills up, and Wells Fargo buildings open up. The leasing agents have to get at lease a few leases signed to get more interests in the rest of the retail spaces. There does get to be a point where if a property sits vacant too long that it get the reputation that it is not a good location, even if it is. People wonder why did it take so long, what are the issues that left it empty so long. If the street level sits empty for another 2 years that will give the building a black eye from many of the passers by because they could not, or seem to not get anyone into the building. All is speculation on my part.

min-chi-cbus
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby min-chi-cbus » July 12th, 2015, 8:05 pm

But isn't the North Loop (an extension of greater "downtown") thriving in terms of retail? That's all organic growth, too. I'd call that a success.

mnmike
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby mnmike » July 13th, 2015, 8:28 am

So about Gap...I guess I knew they were struggling and closing a bunch of stores, so I am not surprised...still disappointing to see another leave. That is a lot of retailers that have left this two block area the past couple years. Gap and Banana are still related, no? I wonder if Banana is leaving too? WIll be interesting to see how the nic reconstruction effects the remaining retailers...aside from restaurant patios, I think most of the stores get most of their traffic through the skyway anyway.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » July 13th, 2015, 10:11 am

Banana Republic is under the same corporate umbrella is the Gap, with clothes that are more marketed toward casual dress like office workers, so I see them as staying where they are. The Gap has been around for years now, they have expanded so much in the past, Baby Gap, Kids Gap, Ladies and Men's Gap that they are no longer a focused company. The generation that thrived on the Gap has grown up and have moved on to other newer retailers. The newest generation of shoppers wants their own look and not be know for wearing what mom and dad did. The Gap hit saturation point about 6 years ago and has had issues ever since to keep growing or even holding onto their market share. AB & Fitch have had the same issues as they have been thru a few CEO's in the last 6 years. None have been able to find a new business plan post the great 2008 meltdown. The retailers that are thriving are those that are smaller companies that can focus on what their customers want, not what the general public wants. Those smaller companies have found homes in the NL, whether some will move to the mall someday or inspire others to move downtown remains to be seen. As they say, it's time to hurry up and wait.

twincitizen
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby twincitizen » July 13th, 2015, 10:15 am

Depending on what replaces Gap, this could be a huge win for that corner. Especially if they decide to better address the street entrances or even add a corner entrance. Even better would be two retailers subdividing the space, each with their own street-fronting entrances.

For a "safe" choice, I would love to see Express or similar brand popular with professional types. I've been emailing Express about once/year asking when they're going to open a Minneapolis location.


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