dwirthwein

Since the Retail News thread is locked right now - I'm posting this info here. Cleveland is - as several posters, including me, have noted - the most under-served (upscale) retail market in the country. No question. It defies logic that an area of our size is lacking so many retailers and restaurants that are in metros big and small... I don't get it... So, for several years, I've been trying to track (merely as a hobby) how behind the curve NEO is in having not pie-in-the-sky retailers that only hit the biggest cities (Cartier, Bulgari, Prada) - but merely trendy or upscale retailers many of the top 40 metros - and nearly all of the top 20-25 metros - have (such as Tiffany, Container Store IKEA, Puma, etc...). Why metros half our size have 5-10-15 key retailers we don't just doesn't make sense. Why 24 of the top 26 metros have an IKEA or 31 of the top 32 metros have a Tiffany - but not NEO - doesn't make sense... The sad truth is shown on the attached PDF... (all retailers/restaurants that are not currently present in NEO) Enjoy...

ChiCleveKid: i felt the same way about LLBean at Old Orchard. Empty!!! I don't know why but keep wondering if REI might make an appearance in NEO soon. They are opening a Cincy store and have 2 in Pittsburgh. There is a just-vacant Filene's Basement at Harvard and 271 that I'm telepathically trying to will them towards. Similar to REI spots in Detroit, Pittaburgh, Cincy. As for Tiffany, rumor is this year....

Yes - LL Bean has some full-line stores at places like Ross Park Mall in PIT and Old Orchard in Chicago... or perhaps the question is - "is that upscale?"... Either way - exclusive retailer not in a city like ours"

Htsguy: CMH/PIT/IND - high end retailers maybe not in every case - "upscale" probably more the right terms... see below Pittsburgh has upscale/unique stores like Louis Vuitton (freestanding, CLE's is in Saks, though nice), Juicy Couture, Burberry, Tiffany & Co, MIchael Kors, Kate Spade, LL Bean, REI, etc, etc.. (most in a mall no better than Great Northern on the other end...). Yes, they lost Saks recently.. Columbus has much of the same above now or coming. Indy - lost downtown Nordstrom - but have much of the same above in their suburban "Fashion Mall"incl Nordstrom - and it's undergoing a significant expansion this year so more new will come. Each of these metros has some 1MM fewer folks than NEO... Not even talking about major markets like PHL or ATL that we can't possibly compete with - and won't try to.

A revamped Tower City aside, between Eton, Legacy, La Place and Beachwood Place - you'd think there were enough similar retailers/prime spaces/vacant spaces to attract other luxury retailers - and that the market size and relative wealth would ensure the job got done. However, Columbus, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, for starters, have significantly more high-end retailers than Cleveland - and yet their metros can't compare in size, or presumably wealth, to NEO... I just don't get it... Most under-served luxury market in the USA, indeed...

I was very disappointed with the answers that came out of this interview... I had hoped something was already in the works for TC in the near term, but the cold reality is setting in. Not surprising he mentions the United hub since he sounded as lukewarm on Cleveland as United CEO Jeff Smisek. I guess we're "going to have to earn" our Tower City every day...

Just saw a Facebook post about a restaurant pop-up at Jonathon Sawyer's Noodlecat on April 20th.. It's a "downtown donuts" pop-up - with Noodlecat/Greenhouse pastry chef "serving up tasty treats on the Noodlecat patio all morning long" - flavors such as "kill chocolate kill", "spicy honey bacon" and "ohio apple pie"... To me, this adds fuel to the fire over potential "hipster donut shop" downtown - as quoted in Crain's last Fall.

"It's like shopping at Anthropologie or something" = I'd consider that a good thing...

Re Verizon - must be different in approach than Sprint. Sprint actually has outsouced most service work to 3rd party "authorized dealers"... and refers customers to those service centers for warranty service. Most company stores do not have service centers and don't deal with warranties. On the east side - your option is pretty much the poorly run authorized dealer on Chagrin Blvd near Eton. I spent a week there one day.

Right across the river from the Toby Keith place in The Banks in Cincy is a Hofbrauhaus - an outlet of the famed German beer hall. In Pittsburgh, a Hofbrauhaus operates in the same development where a Toby Keith's was announced (though has not been built yet due to some franchisee issues, I've read).. A Hofbrauhaus here would be a fun draw in the flats or downtown. Really pretty nice place from my visits.

A CWRU article about Uptown posted elsewhere on UO today was the first I've seen confirmed that Jonathon Sawyer's previously noted Italian concept in Uptown will actually be a pizza place... Nice...

I sure don't mind paying for parking downtown and think the $8 E. 4th St. valet is a great service and relative bargain and have used it frequently. However, since I am an evil east side suburbanite, literally typing this from the Cheesecake Factory at Legacy Village (slighted above) what do I know or matter....???

Aloft - a budget hotel? Westin and Kimpton - mid range hotels? MyTwoSense, you must have a pretty fantastic life because the average consumer would consider a Motel 6 budget and perhaps a Radisson mid-tier. As a business and pleasure traveler, Aloft, Westin and Kimpton would all be great choices for me. I like Ritz-Carltons and Four Seasons as much as the next guy, but seriously....

Am I correct that Hodge's has no Prospect presence - and that this archway (leading to set-back-from-street restaurant) is pretty much it on Euclid? If so, though I wish them well (and though I know folks love that patio) - it would seem pretty much any on-street location downtown would have been better than this one... Am I wrong?

Downtown Indianapolis (a metro area half as big as NEO but a convention powerhouse) has 7100+ rooms, including a new 1000 room 30+ story JW Marriott built in the last year or two... Convention website says 4700 rooms are connected via skywalk.. Say what you will about skywalks - but I'm guessing conventioneers love 'em... -and downtown Indy is lively, because of/in spite of depending on your view.

Chef Sawyer had mentioned a gourmet donut shop as a potential wish-list future idea of his awhile back... Space is small. He's got two places just next door... Just a thought...

Pains me to note, but a cast member of a show at PlayhouseSquare tweeted that a crew member was "jumped" last night... and another show's cast member's recommended, when giving advice to the former on what to do when in Cleveland, was to travel "in groups."... not where to eat, etc.... All this found via Twitter link from PlayhouseSquare that was meant to be positive. Ughh.... This isnt the first time (Chorus Line cast group mugging, etc...). I thought PHS was offering security for cast members, most of whom usually stay at Reserve Square, which is a dicey few blocks away. (No mention of where incident above took place... ) Cleveland is one of the top touring Broadway townz, but I know word is out in theater world it is unsafe. that is a big black eye for an area that's otherwise a big success. Shame. Wonder how this problem in area gets fixed? And will casino and convention center only invite more issues, in more traveled areas....?

I think the local vs. chain argument is that, somehow, the chain is bad because it's indifferent, corporate, impersonal, etc... and the local places is better simply because it's local... I would have welcomed some chain consistency at the locally-owned restaurant where I just dropped $80 on dinner tonight. Food was fairly nothing less than tasty - but the whole experience was just a half beat off - from the layout, to the decor, to the view out the window, to the pace of the food hitting the table, to the wrong food arriving at our table (close, no cigar), to no bread being brought to our table (but to all others) to the server showing up at our table to take our drink order as we were literally still halfway into our seats, to the manager going into a dark office and turning on the bright lights (just to our left) 4-5 times during dinner, etc.... Nothing terribly wrong - but so many little things not quite right. This was my 2nd visit and the first was exactly the same. there is good quirky and bad quirky - and this was simply bad quirky. Local does not = good.

I read a recent article that Piada - the Chipotle-like (but) Italian concept from one of the Bravo founders (with CLE ties) - with a half dozen or so Columbus stores - has been looking for locations in CLE. Anybody been there and/or heard any development talk regarding possible locations?

Potbelly operated a single, independent Chicago outlet for 20 years before it became an evil (gasp) suburban chain - so I'd hardly lump this pretty tasty place into the evil chain world, Seems like the original owner's American dream to me... For my money, I'm thrilled they're coming - as I've enjoyed them for many years pretty much everywhere but in CLE - including being a frequent stopover at Midway airport. Good sandwich, very fair price... and 5 minutes from my office at this new location. However, I do agree that this particular Stark strip center, just freshened, is a pretty lame location - not the spot I'd figure... Across the street there is a Subway, at the strip center next door there is a Jimmy John's and just south of that they are building a DiBella's... - so it's sort of sandwich central, I guess - but many other locations woudl be much more high profile than this. I'd assume we'll see more at Stark properties, south, east and west...

The Aloft website shows the FEB hotel scheduled to open April 2013. I've stayed 4-5 times at an Aloft in the last year (including this past week) and LOVE them. A great mix of upscale, hip vibe with easier on expense account pricing.

Liquor license search today shows that Burntwood Tavern, the popular Chagrin Falls eatery, with a recently-opened Rocky River location, will be taking over the former Max & Erma's space in Solon. That will make two locations barely 10 minutes away. Interesting choice - though the modestly-sized Chagrin Falls spot, with too-small lot, has become so popular that parking has become an issue. BURNTWOOD TAVERN SOLON LLC DBA BURNTWOOD TAVERN SOLON 33675 SOLON RD SOLON OH 44022

I hear you on the "treating the customer with contempt" angle at A&F. As a father of a teen, I've bought any number of things there over the years - and always get the feeling they think everybody's a criminal - either shoplifting or using a stolen credit card. They always talk down the adults, asking for ID with credit card purchases (which Visa/MC rules say they cannot require for a credit card purchase). Say what you will about the "for your protection angle" of asking for IDs with credit cards - but when the vacuous teen behind the counter demanded my ID to use - with PIN on the keyapd - my debit card one day, I'd finally had it - isn't that what my PIN is for? They also 2nd guess my 15 year old - who has a credit card in her name - thinking she has mommy's card and is performing some evil deed by buying... Give me a break. If folks are stealing from you - figure out more transparent ways to police the guilty than simply interrogating everyone

When the United States, as a whole, is ever 20% of the public-transportation-focused society that Europe is, by necessity, perhaps those wanting to plan around public transport in Cleveland have a point. But, just like soccer, public transportation in the USA isn't ingrained in society like it is in Europe - and won't likely be anytime soon, no matter how hard some try. Yes, there are still busy east coast pockets - and now progressive west coast systems - but those of us in St. Louis or CLE or Omaha in the age of the care are simply not going to be converts back to buses and rail until the whole attitude towards rail and buses, etc.. changes in this country. It's not a Cleveland aversion to public transportation - or an evil "suburban developer" issue - it's a total average American indifference to public transportation - or fear of it - fostered over decades. No one's being forced to drive to downtown CLE - that's just what you do, isn't it? With that said, nothing I love more than riding the Underground in London, Metro in Paris - but seriously...

Going east on 480 (around Broadway?) this building sits high, high on the horizon in front of you... Same thing going SW on Gates Mills Blvd. Really stick outs high on the hill in distance - since no prior buiildings of any height have been in that location.