eyehrtfood

Yes. Warren and Butler Counties. Springboro would be like Hudson. I lived in northern Summit Cty in Hudson for a decade and I don't think anyone had pretty much ever heard of or been to Cleveland (city or suburbs...) Only mildly joking. It was like some far off land even though downtown was only a few minutes longer a drive than from my current Chagrin Falls address and Beachwood, etc was only 30 minutes. These were Akron people... Summit Mall was the mall, etc... (I was always "Cleveland"...) With that said I used to live in southern part of Dayton, worked in between Cin/Day in Middletown, and tthat middle part between cities was sort of a 30 minute drive worths of no man's land... CLeveland/Akron/Canton seem to flow much more directly together than Cin/Day (undeveloped nationL park land aside) but know things have changed in 20 years since I lived there. W

And if you did the same for Columbus... You get the same 2MM in their metro... Don't say that, Columbus is the shinning star of Ohio, somehow you have to spin those population numbers into a positive. Either way, it would be nice to see a store in Cleveland because the market is there, but I highly doubt Cleveland/NE Ohio will be getting one now or at least for a very long time. Not sure if you're being facetious with the "shining star of Ohio" moniker for Columbus or not. Hey, I get that things are going well there - when once-thriving, grittier, big brother Cleveland is redefining/finding itself... But everyone I know in Columbus loves to kick Cleveland/throw it under the bus as a has-been vs their beloved Columbus - where the grass cuts itself and money grows on trees - and I get a bit resentful about that, I must admit.. Either way, it was nice to see that the real estate manage for IKEA said this today: "We haven't committed to anything (in Cleveland), but we feel it's a different (retail) market from Columbus given its size."" - which clearly notes that Cleveland/NEO - with nearly twice the population (the same article in the Columbus Business First noted Columbus metro population at 1.97MM) - is worthy of a store and likely will be getting one. I know from past reports that they've been looking for at least 15 yearns.. so it's about time, right? (Nearby-enough cities St Louis and Kansas City had new stores announced about 15 months apart in 2012-2013) http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/ikea-scouted-several-sites-before-finding-just-the.html

And if you did the same for Columbus... You get the same 2MM in their metro...

Edale: yes Dayton is near Cincy IKEA (as this former resident knows). Census wise and media market wise... they are separate... (Though only Cleveland/Akron are combined by Census though Canton runs directly into them ....) Both markets are of similar size, yes

The problem is that you can look at 20-30 of the fop upscale or trendy retailers --- and the list looks much the same for them (all or most major metros but CLE have a store in them...) I know, because I keep a list like this... Container Store, Louis Vuitton (freestanding), Burberry, etc...

The IKEA U.S. scorecard... Top 35 markets: Rank Metro Area 2010 Census Population IKEA (Open or announced) 1 New York - 22,085,649 - YES 2 Los Angeles - 17,877,006 - YES 3 Chicago - 9,686,021 - YES 4 Washington, DC - 8,572,971 - YES 5 Boston - 7,559,060 - YES 6 San Francisco - 7,468,390 - YES 7 Dallas - 6,731,317 - YES 8 Philadelphia - 6,533,683 - YES 9 Houston - 6,051,363 - YES 10 Atlanta - 5,618,431 - YES 11 Miami - 5,564,635 - YES 12 Detroit - 5,218,852 - YES 13 Seattle - 4,199,312 - YES 14 Phoenix - 4,192,887 - YES 15 Minneapolis - 3,615,902 - YES 16 Cleveland/Akron/Canton - 3,286,359 - NO 17 San Diego - 3,095,313 - YES 18 Denver - 3,090,874 - YES 19 St. Louis - 2,878,255 - YES 20 Orlando - 2,818,120 - YES 21 Tampa - 2,783,243 - YES 22 Sacramento - 2,461,780 - YES 23 Pittsburgh - 2,447,393 - YES 24 Charlotte - 2,402,623 - YES 25 Portland - 2,226,009 - YES 26 Cincinnati - 2,172,191 - YES 27 San Antonio - 2,142,508 - NO 28 Kansas City - 2,104,853 - YES 29 Indianapolis - 2,080,782 - NO 30 Columbus - 2,071,052 - YES 31 Las Vegas - 1,995,215 - YES 32 Austin - 1,759,039 - YES 33 Milwaukee - 1,751,316 - NO 34 Raleigh-Durham - 1,749,525 - NO 35 Salt Lake City - 1,744,886 - YES

Not the most encouraging news for CLE... Fingers crossed.. But also interesting to see the varied types of sites on which IKEA builds. In Cleveland, if built (at all) in Brooklyn - it would be in a centrally located, but working class, inner-ring suburb, adjacent to no other major retail. In Columbus, the store is being built in a prime, prime location - but on the north side side/less central part of city - near rapidly growing, well-off suburbs, adjacent to a major shopping area and other major retail draws. The equivalent available land in Cleveland would be, say, the Chagrin Highland/Harvard/271 area, where IKEA originally wanted to locate 15 years ago.

Those hours are 1/2 hour longer Mon-Sat than the normal Heinen's CLE-area hours, which are 'til 8:30 pm Monday - Saturday.

Was surprised by the # of closed/closing retailers I saw while at Beachwood Place this weekend.. Bebe, Wet Seal and Delia's stores are closed/closing (the latter two closing all stores nationwide), the Lucky Jeans store is having a closing sale (but Crocker remains open), Mann Jewelers (per management) is closing the end of February, at least two space-fillers (Urban Home & Garden and Mello Yellow) are having 50%+ off sales and appear to be leaving.. - and Aeropostale has an "everything must go" sign up - so appears this store is part of their closing plans... And I didn't even walk fully into the Dillard's wing further to see what else might be going or gone... With that said, this is the way retail goes... and the mall is presenting plans this month for the new Cedar Road side restaurants it will be building (Seasons 52 and Capital Grille) and the rest of the expansion appears to be starting this spring... With so many vacancies current or coming on the west side of Saks wing... (up and down) - which is where the major externals expansion will be going, I'm wondering if these vacancies are intentional and if the the interior spaces on that side of mall will be holding a host of new retailers OR if the merchants building spaces as part of the streetscape expansion wills will be having interior entrances via these now-vacant storefronts.

Will be interesting to see if the large Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill actually gets built. This would seem to a fairly major draw (for a certain demographic that may not conflict with the many other establishments going into the FEB), but I've seen some recent stories about existing restaurant closures due to months of unpaid rent and also huge unpaid state taxes, etc... Cleveland is mentioned as a potential new location (by their corporate office) in an article from earlier this month, but construction doesn't seem imminent and CLE was not noted as a 2015 opening in the story I read.

The announcement of Bruell's "Alley Cat" seafood restaurant. The rendering is better than what was shown to the city: Zack Bruell will open an eighth restaurant, in the Flats East Bank, this June By Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Zack Bruell has thrown his restaurant group's hat into the ring. A Bruell seafood restaurant will join the growing group of dining and nightlife destinations opening in Cleveland's Flats East Bank entertainment venue this year. "We'll be calling it 'Alley Cat,' if all the copyrights check out," Bruell says. http://www.cleveland.com/dining/index.ssf/2015/01/zack_bruell_will_open_an_eight.html#incart_river

And Crocker will also be getting Lucy, another activewear chain (as part of expansion) - though no word yet on the most desired brand in this category-- lululemon....

Legacy's original plan had a department store (Jacobsen's) anchoring it... Then that chain went out of business during planning... and the tenant mix changed a bit. A smaller store like Von Maur (originally announced as a tenant at Crocker Park) - never seemed to be in the plans after the other depth store loss - Legacy has considered a hotel on the edge oaf the property before (too little space, they said), has drawn up plans, I'm told, to put a theater on upper level in back... and has at least twice had leases from the Container Store in the bag... and then didn't. Also, I seem to recall zoning problems with Cedar-facing parking garages, which left them with the surface lots that essentially define the development. Add in the Apple fiasco (the rumor has long been that Legacy called Apple's bluff when they got too demanding when they wanted a larger/different store... and Apple - and a thousand customers a day - left the development... A huge blow...) The Nordstrom Rack, by all accounts, does well - as does the Cheesecake Factory (one of the top 20 out of 200+ in the chain, I've been told by those in the know) - and Crate&Barrel seems to do OK - though I know Beachwood Place has been trying to poach retailers, including Crate - and may succeed with Restoration Hardware. Beyond that, not sure - though the majority of the closures in the center (15 or more, unbelievably) have been related to whole chains going out of business... Legacy's design simply pales in comparison to the crowd-attracting Crocker Park - which is much more conducive to just going to walk around/hang out...

Add several hundred apartments/hotel rooms at Pinecrest and you not only have height but a built-in customer base on site, nightly... The fancy movie theater is going to be my favorite part of this... Will be interesting to see how Legacy evolves with a new leasing agent, the Steiner Company (that owns the more or less benchmark lifestyle center. Easton Town Center), in charge.. - and some key vacancies to fill (Coldwater Creek, Claddagh, Apple Store, etc...) I also heard a rumor Legacy Village is for sale... Rumor...

The very successful Moxie in Beachwood is closing for two weeks in April for a major remodel and to shift to a more casual/shared/lighter-priced menu... http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/moxie-expands-and-retools/Content?oid=4467455 New Mexican restaurant from the ever-growing Burntwood Tavern folks going into a former Applebee's on Route 91 in Solon... Paco's Taco's http://www.chagrinvalleytoday.com/communities/solon/article_c6de503a-9842-11e4-8066-d79d74331611.html

The developers of the Pinecrest lifestyle center at Harvard/271 in Orange Village presented updated plans in the past week. Here's how things are looking with that lease plan - which includes a movie theater, gourmet market (not shown in this image - but would go in upper right corner), an REI-like store, Pinstripes bowling alley/restaurant, Old Town Pour House and 3 Palms Pizzeria, a potential Container Store and West Elm, a hotel and apartments over the Main Street shops - and more... Here is current rendering, with 271 at the bottom and Harvard to the right... [/img]

Totally underwhelming Eton expansion site plan/details just released... Trader Joe's moves to a new 20,000 square foot freestanding building, west of existing center/Mitchell's Fish Market. behind Alson's Jewelers, - more than doubling their space from 9,400 sf currently. New stores will fill the existing Trader Joe's space. Texas de Brazil appears to go to west of Alson's - about 6,500 square feet, with Chagrin frontage. Chipotle, Starbucks, AT&T store (lame) to be built - on west end of property - leaving space for several other small stores and a net +200 parking spaces to be added to complex. Moving Trader Joe's, alone, will free up dozens of spaces in center of complex at any given time... Good for merchants. Bonefish & Carrabba's now gone from plan - so gain for center, for now, appears to be one sit down restaurants, not two. Interesting... Stark paid something like $6MM-$7MM+ for the Blockbuster office building and the apartments that sat on this expansion site, alone. And will spend millions more on demolition and building out the expansion... And this is all that's going on the site? [/img]

Oh I think CLE desperately needs something, anything, modern to liven the skyline. This rendering is fantastic to me...

That Claddagh situation has been brewing for years, based on past info from Legacy management. About time. Capital Grille wanted that space several years ago - now going to Beachwood Place. Will be interesting to see if they have tenant lined up or not. Steiner, the owner of Easton Town Center in Columbus, is now leasing for Legacy. They just signed/opened a Kona Grill down there - and that chain, one that I know has been looking at Cleveland in recent years - would be at the top of the list of potential replacements, based on connections Steiner has. Another would be Cooper's Hawk Winery/Restaurant - also at Easton and also known to be looking at Cleveland. Space is big for an independent - but guess we'll see.

E Rocc: Saks has 3 exterior entrances. Nordstrom has 6. As for overall crime at Beachwood Place, I'm not sure if more is actually happening OR if more arrests are being made and/or its simply easier to find reports online than in the past... With that said, the perception is that there has been a change in the mix of the clientele at the mall in the past decade (some would say the store "NEXT" helped attract new shoppers...)... That's not a bad thing... But, for better or worse, there will be some segment of the population that simply hears of this year's Christmas Eve fight, or will remember the one on Christmas Eve 4-5 years ago, both involving a similar demographic, and simpy say "enough".. That's what GGP needs to fear the most...(And a check of Twitter, responding to this event, says it may already be happening...)

Well, to me, the Hudson Heinen's is the perfect grocery store... I hope what was learned there can aid the downtown store, which will seemingly have a different mix and mission (and clientele) than other CLE area Heinen's locations.

I lived in Hudson when Heinens opened their fantastic, boutique-sized Village Market there. So relatively slow it seemed for first year or so (hard to steal away the many fulk size Giant Eagle/fuel perks devotees) that they actually gave frequent shoppers (who spent so many $ in a specific time period) up to $100 in free groceries at the end of the promo if I recal (at GE you got a turkey, etc...) Crazy way to buy loyalty, but it seems to have worked. Wonder if they will have to try similar tactics downtown? Hope not.

Hard-headed Vince B does the market no service with his selfish/non-customer-facing take on so many market-related issues. He needs to wake up to '14 (that's 2014, not 1914)... Not his grandfather's market anymore.

Whether IKEA is everyone's cup of tea or not, it is a hugely successful giant, worldwide. It is destination/event shopping due to the large assortment, trendy design and reasonable prices. These stores are generally the size of two or three Target stores so there is much to see. Perfect for outfitting that first apartment or home, a kid's room, a spare bedroom, a dorm room, etc.... (We buy bowls, curtains, frames. Lamps, knick knacks., etc...) The Brooklyn location is less about adjacent demographics (the Beachwood location also rumored would have incomes 2-3x this location) and more about the central, easily accessible, visible location to which thousands will flock weekly from east and west on 480, Akron/Canton on 77, Columbus on 71, etc... CLE should have had one long ago (CLE/NEO is the last of the top 25 metros to have one built or announced . ), but good it is getting one now.

Agree, too, not uncommon not to have gas nearby rental return. In Orlando (MCO) there has notoriously been one lone nearby gas station charging $6+/gallon to gouge last minute returners needing gas. A Sheetz finally was opening adjacent to compete with normal prices.