For Columbus, it's nonexistent.  There are boutiques and a CVS but currently there is no visible retail in downtown Columbus.  Saying all that to say, the Columbus Commons complex is set to add retail to the first floor connection High Street to the new park.  With that, a new beginning born from the ashes of City Center.

 

Cincinnati arguably has the best downtown for retail disbursement in the state.  You have a TJ Maxx on 4th

 

Were we supposed to keep reading beyond that ;)

Sorry TJ Maxx can't compete with Jewls & More and Etch A Phone ;).

^Ah, right, I've seen the photos of the Tiffany and Jos A Banks in Cinci.  Thanks for the rundown.  Hopefully all three get some better options soon.

^I'm with ya! :)

To wit: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26665.msg631521.html#new

 

Gilbert's rumored purchase of this dying mall will allow him to re purpose it to compliment the casino development (obviously). I can only hope he does it right and opens up connections to the rest of the downtown or else this will be continued reinvestment in a dying retail model (i.e. you will get ten years or less of good retail and then it all goes back to being crap again). I have faith that he can succeed where the current mall fails as he seems to "get it." If he turns Tower City around it will likely not be a "mall" in the way you or I would define it.

 

That being said, I guess I can continue prognosticating until that rumor is confirmed!  :evil:

I know you all like to rag on Tower City, but I really like it. I never shopped at the luxury stores that populated it early on. I think those high-end stores were there because the owners wanted them to make themselves feel good, not to serve customers. I do shop at the dollar store.

 

When I'm in Tower City Center with visitors from out of town (Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, Toledo, etc), the responses I get are "I thought Tower City was dead but it's very much alive" and "You are so lucky to have this in Cleveland" and "This is a real city." We may have our different opinions about what a real city is or should be, but these are the responses.

 

Now, having said all that, if Tower City had a Target or Kohl's (to keep this on the downtown department store discussion) or if there was a Target or Kohl's located somewhere else downtown, I'd shop at those kinds of stores whenever I shop -- which isn't a lot. Hey, I won't apologize for being a heterosexual, non-metrosexual guy. :)

 

EDIT: why is this a dying mall?? Geez, I keep hearing people say this for years and years. At this rate Tower City should a black hole from which not even light can escape!!  :whip: So how many vacancies does it have?Not many. And how does this occupancy rate compare with past years?

There aren't many vacancies, and the mall always seems to be crowded when im there. Its not like you walk in and your the only one there. And Tower City is designed well, as it does not create pedestrian deadzones.

 

For example, walking along Macys on West 5th or Race is about as bad as walking along the Cincinnati Convention Center. For Clevelanders, thats like walking along the pld Post Office downtown.

The pro-Tower City folks remind me of the pro-skywalk folks in Cincy. Bring the people to the streets, people!

I know you all like to rag on Tower City, but I really like it. I never shopped at the luxury stores that populated it early on. I think those high-end stores were there because the owners wanted them to make themselves feel good, not to serve customers. I do shop at the dollar store.

 

Forget the luxury-  I think most of us would be psyched if even midlevel brands came back.

 

To turn the standard anti-mall sentiment on its head, I wonder if Tower City is actually allowing the rest of downtown to evolve in a way that balances different tastes.  In a weird way, it serves as kind of a containment unit for meh food court offerings and discount retail, which may end up leaving the outside streetscape more available for the MRN-type tenants, which could, conceivably, include a cluster of indy clothing retailers some day.  Totally cool that Dredgers Union doesn't appeal to KJP and R&R and others, but it does appeal to those of us unserved by Tower City and Kohls.  Lord knows we have enough underused retail space for everyone :)

The pro-Tower City folks remind me of the pro-skywalk folks in Cincy. Bring the people to the streets, people!

 

I'm happy to have both -- a mall and street-side downtown stores. There are people like me who won't window shop when its 20 degrees and windy outside. Or even on days like today when its pushing 100 degrees. And I don't like to take the time to shop anyway. I'm one of those "get in, get it and get out" type shoppers. I think Tower City is an uplifting place, with tremendous vistas, fascinating nooks and crannies, and a sense of tremendous history. Maybe someday I should offer historical tours of the place to show visitors what was where and why.

Does Cleveland really have 'alot' of places you could put street level retail? I think there may be a two empty spots across from Higbees, maybe some in 515 and then space on Euclid and prospect between. E.9th and E. 18th. Other than that its all either used already or part of an office or theatre or stadium or a parking lot.

I think 515 is full now

For example, walking along Macys on West 5th or Race is about as bad as walking along the Cincinnati Convention Center. For Clevelanders, thats like walking along the pld Post Office downtown.

 

Uh, what?  You call that one block of Macy's a dead zone?  Even though it's across the street from other retailers, restaurants, hotels, and a Walgreens/CVS combo?  The Cincinnati Convention Center is not one block long and thus not comparable.  Conversely, the Macy's "dead-zone" you speak of isn't even close to the "dead-zone" of Tower City on Huron or Prospect.  That's just ridiculous.

For example, walking along Macys on West 5th or Race is about as bad as walking along the Cincinnati Convention Center. For Clevelanders, thats like walking along the pld Post Office downtown.

 

Uh, what?  You call that one block of Macy's a dead zone?  Even though it's across the street from other retailers, restaurants, hotels, and a Walgreens/CVS combo?  The Cincinnati Convention Center is not one block long and thus not comparable.  Conversely, the Macy's "dead-zone" you speak of isn't even close to the "dead-zone" of Tower City on Huron or Prospect.  That's just ridiculous.

 

I agree that entire terminal tower complex has many deadzones, and I have complained about it alot on here. But, Tower City the mall, does not. Thats why I mentioned the post office. Horrible interaction. Same for the Landmark office buildings.

 

Also me saying this does not scream pedestrian friendly makes a lot more sense than calling Tower City dead.

It's a block.  Every city in every country has city blocks of "dead zones."  Tower City, the mall, CERTAINLY has deadzones (just as much as that photo above):

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=tower+city+center&hl=en&ll=41.49601,-81.692212&spn=0.009916,0.022724&safe=off&fb=1&gl=us&hq=tower+city+center&cid=0,0,10296308387087066065&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.4968,-81.694624&panoid=8Uh9rewjZ8a1VSQPCJ1qzg&cbp=12,47.62,,0,0.6

It would be awesome to see something in the way of Nieman Marcus finally being able to act on their plans from so many years ago. But until there are all of the other components, I will keep my sad face.

 

Street level retail stores besides the department stores in Cincy are almost all upper-end clothing and jewelry stores and drugstores (in addition to restaurants and bars and pharmacies).  Saks, Macy's, TJ Maxx, Brooks Brothers, Joseph A. Bank, some independent clothiers (Mike Trotta tailor), Batsakes hat shop, Tiffany, Richter & Phillips jewelers. 

Ooops.  Quoted the wrong post. 

You have a patio for the hardrock cafe right below that second set of awnings, and right around the left corner is the entrance to the ritz carlton, and a large entrance to Tower City. It not the best, but its not bad. The Macys in Cincinnati is like the Higbee building in Cleveland, where you have a large block of the wall. I prefer downtown department store buildings like May Company, since they are in the center of the block, without major side frontage to the street.

Folks, this thread is devolving into a pissing match rather than an intelligent discussion... and this forum doesn't need no pissing matches.

Tower City is not a typical mall; it never has been.  Also, Tower City has ALWAYS been a mall ; smaller, of course, before the TC conversion in 1989,  but a mall since the day it opened in 1930, filled with drug stores and smoke shops and candy stores and restaurants and shoe stores, etc.  The Vans designed it to be a city-within-a-city and not just a train station.  Ours was among the 1st to develop air rights over a railroad station in addition to the enclosed retail mall.  Plus, TC[s truly at the heart of the City – it’s location over the Rapid hub and at the region’s transit & transportation crossroads, will always make it relevant.    Can’t compare it to Detroit’s Ren Cen, or Milwaukee’s Grand Avenue mall, for example.  It was from the beginning, and still is, one of the largest mixed use development in American (and probably the 1st).  And despite the centrality, transit convenience and connectivity of Tower City, it is hardly the whole of downtown Cleveland.

 

Although downtown did have a thriving retail district along Euclid, the stores closed up by 7p – for those of us (unfortunately) old enough to remember, in the mid-70s, Big Chuck & Houlihan rolled a bowling ball down Euclid at around 7p … and didn’t hit anybody!  Nobody lived down there.  I’ll take today’s downtown full of restaurants and residents (and street life past 7, 8, 9 and, often, 10p) as opposed to yesteryear’s lively daytime business + retail then complex that shuttered by early evening, after all the commuters had abandoned the place.  Downtown, of course, has a considerable ways to go, but it has shown tremendous growth recently.  We (fortunately or unfortunately) just happened to have come on, downtown-wise, when big-store retail is disappearing all over, even in the biggest cities (like Philly – 1 down-sized Macy’s, plus a Burlington Coat and a K-Mart.)

 

Downtown retail, in Cleveland and elsewhere, is different because society is different.  We’re a specialized society.  Suburbanization and suburban shopping, esp malls, obviously have changed the urban retail landscape all over, but our smart phone, instant gratification/gotta have it now, short attention-span culture is perhaps an even bigger reason for the change.  Look at the hundreds of cable channels and Tivo/DVR TV at our fingertips  today – how long would today’s youth survive with only the Channel’s 3, 5 and 8 I grew up with without totally freaking out?  (not very long, methinks)… Specialty and niche stores, like Dredger’s Union, where you can walk away with clothes and light items in a shopping bag, are in vogue and I hope more of them will pop up (not to be confused with "pop up" stores) in Cleveland (not to mention the fact, of course, I want to see DU thrive)

That said, I think a moderate/lower end generalist store like TJ  Maxx could survive and even thrive in downtown Cleveland.  Target, too.  I’d welcome either/or or both with welcome arms (and check books).

 

 

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/07/26/the_end_of_retail_watch_chains_going_urban_to_try_to_rekindle_growth.html

 

Chains Going Urban In Effort to Fight the End of Retail

 

By Matthew Yglesias

 

"One of the main advantages to running a bunch of stores is that when you identify best practices you can spread them to scale quickly, learning faster and operating more productively than smaller outlets. If the business space is fragmented this doesn't really work. So this is kind of the equivalent of a country's farmers taking increasingly marginal land into cultivation as the only way to increase output. There very much are growth opportunities in urban America (they're building an urban format mixed use Wal-Mart near my building) but they're not the low-hanging fruit."

Not so sure I would equate a Walmart (in any format) with "growth opportunities"..... JMO

The Neiman Marcus in downtown Minneapolis is closing. That leaves it with a Macy's, Target and Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet. Might also be an Burlington or something similar but none of the articles mentioned any besides the three I listed.

Tower City is not a typical mall; it never has been.  Also, Tower City has ALWAYS been a mall ; smaller, of course, before the TC conversion in 1989,  but a mall since the day it opened in 1930, filled with drug stores and smoke shops and candy stores and restaurants and shoe stores, etc.  The Vans designed it to be a city-within-a-city and not just a train station.  Ours was among the 1st to develop air rights over a railroad station in addition to the enclosed retail mall.  Plus, TC[s truly at the heart of the City – it’s location over the Rapid hub and at the region’s transit & transportation crossroads, will always make it relevant.    Can’t compare it to Detroit’s Ren Cen, or Milwaukee’s Grand Avenue mall, for example.  It was from the beginning, and still is, one of the largest mixed use development in American (and probably the 1st).  And despite the centrality, transit convenience and connectivity of Tower City, it is hardly the whole of downtown Cleveland.

 

Although downtown did have a thriving retail district along Euclid, the stores closed up by 7p – for those of us (unfortunately) old enough to remember, in the mid-70s, Big Chuck & Houlihan rolled a bowling ball down Euclid at around 7p … and didn’t hit anybody! Nobody lived down there.  I’ll take today’s downtown full of restaurants and residents (and street life past 7, 8, 9 and, often, 10p) as opposed to yesteryear’s lively daytime business + retail then complex that shuttered by early evening, after all the commuters had abandoned the place.  Downtown, of course, has a considerable ways to go, but it has shown tremendous growth recently.  We (fortunately or unfortunately) just happened to have come on, downtown-wise, when big-store retail is disappearing all over, even in the biggest cities (like Philly – 1 down-sized Macy’s, plus a Burlington Coat and a K-Mart.)

 

Downtown retail, in Cleveland and elsewhere, is different because society is different.  We’re a specialized society.  Suburbanization and suburban shopping, esp malls, obviously have changed the urban retail landscape all over, but our smart phone, instant gratification/gotta have it now, short attention-span culture is perhaps an even bigger reason for the change.  Look at the hundreds of cable channels and Tivo/DVR TV at our fingertips  today – how long would today’s youth survive with only the Channel’s 3, 5 and 8 I grew up with without totally freaking out?  (not very long, methinks)… Specialty and niche stores, like Dredger’s Union, where you can walk away with clothes and light items in a shopping bag, are in vogue and I hope more of them will pop up (not to be confused with "pop up" stores) in Cleveland (not to mention the fact, of course, I want to see DU thrive)

That said, I think a moderate/lower end generalist store like TJ  Maxx could survive and even thrive in downtown Cleveland.  Target, too.  I’d welcome either/or or both with welcome arms (and check books).

 

 

 

 

Your big chuck information is wrong...wrong..wrong.  That stunt happened on a Sunday AFTERNOON, in mid summer before a indians game. 

 

Retail Stores downtown closed at 7p, Except on Thursdays when stores stayed open until 9pm.

 

In Philly, Wannamakers, downsized before the Macy's take over.