November 29, 200618 yr So who else is pissed at the eminent domain outcome in Norwood besides me? Awful... The Rookwood location was a much better location.
November 29, 200618 yr ^I too am pissed, but Kenwood sure is making the best of their opportunities lately...damn they've gotten some really good news!
November 29, 200618 yr Is Borders not already in the shopping center w/ Dicks, Lazarus Furniture, etc.?
November 29, 200618 yr Is Borders not already in the shopping center w/ Dicks, Lazarus Furniture, etc.? I think that's Barnes and Noble.
November 29, 200618 yr Oh...yes...I don't get to Kenwood that often, I really have no desire. It is interesting how department stores are such an important topic of discussion for urban lovers.
December 1, 200618 yr Oh...yes...I don't get to Kenwood that often, I really have no desire. It is interesting how department stores are such an important topic of discussion for urban lovers. They have the only J. Crew in Cincinnati. That alone is worth the trip :) It's not really a surprise. If you think about it, in their heydays as retail destinations, downtown department stores were some of the most spectacular buildings in a Central Business District. Detroiters are still mourning the loss of their beloved downtown Detroit Hudson's which met its fate with a wrecking ball (actually, they blew it up and showed it on TV LOL). I'm disappointed that Nordstrom won't be downtown. But, I also realize that Nordstrom and other retail alone won't save downtown. Downtown needs people living there for it to thrive, but then again, I don't need to tell this group that :). With more people comes services to serve them. Cincinnati is lucky though to be the only big downtown in Ohio with not one, but two department stores. Although I was disappointed with what Federated did with Lazarus/Macys. At one time it was supposed to carry exclusive labels/merchandise to attract suburban shoppers. Now, it appears that's what they've done with Kenwood...its now their "flagship" store. That said, I've always liked Kenwood, and I'm glad to see see it land some new bigger name stores (C&B, Nordstrom). I remember the days when Kenwood Mall was across the street and the current "Town Center" was nothing more than a strip mall with McAlpins at one end and Pogues/L.S. Ayres at the other end. There was a really good italian restaurant in the shopping center. It's amazing to think about what's its become. Ahhh McAlpins. Those were the days!
December 1, 200618 yr ^I don't own any J. Crew apparel, thank you very much! Nah, I really don't mind the stereotype. For a percentage of Miami, it is very true, probably half of the products that Hollister manufactures make their way to Oxford, lol. You are right about the importance of urban/historic department stores, but I still find it interesting that "we" are concerned about having a certain store within the metro, not shocking, just interesting.
December 1, 200618 yr I remember a restaurant called "Prime & Wine" which wasn't bad (it was across from Kenwood). I think the damn place burned down. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 3, 200618 yr Prime & Wine burned. The spot where it was located at the corner of Montgomery and Kenwood Roads is still vacant. I am not making that up Cincy-Rise. Also, Cincy-Rise, I know a thing or two about the Cincy retail scene considering I have a hand in quite a bit of the retail stuff that gets discussed on this site and have lived through the fickle Cincy retail scene since I was born. High end department stores historically struggle in Cincy in great part because of Cincinnatian's generally conservative spending patterns.
December 3, 200618 yr They say the Prime n Wine fire was suspicious because the place was going to be torn down when they were going to redo the Old Kenwood Mall to turn it into Sycamore Place in the mid 90s. Prime n Wine was located in an area that would block the view of the new "gateway" facade. They did try and reopen Prime in Wine in the late 90's early 2000s in the old Hotel Mexico spot (now Ruby Tuesday) but the overhead of the new place and changing retail scene did not prove successful so it closed after a year or two.
December 4, 200618 yr ^^Also, alot of the high end stores here have been inferior reproductions of what exists in other markets. People will spend (as they do when they go on vacation) but only if there is that specialness tied to a spot otherwise they wont go out of pocket.
February 23, 200718 yr Kenwood plans for Nordstrom though lease still unsigned Retailer could bring higher lease rates at other mall vacancies LISA BIANK FASIG | [email protected] February 23, 2007 BLUE ASH - Parisian is scheduled to shutter its store at Kenwood Towne Centre at the end of this month, clearing the way for Nordstrom, but the popular retailer - which once had Cincinnati city officials tearing up downtown buildings -- has yet to sign a lease. Read more here: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/02/26/newscolumn2.html
April 14, 200718 yr Regarding the previous post, does anyone know if Nordstrom has signed a lease for the proposed store?
April 20, 200718 yr Wilson's chooses Kenwood for lab store April 20, 2007 | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER BLUE ASH - Wilson's Leather, the chain of outdoor leather apparel stores, has selected Kenwood Towne Centre to test one of two prototype stores that are acting as laboratories for new ideas. Click the above hyperlink or click here to view the full article: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/04/16/daily63.html
June 20, 200717 yr Author Nordstrom elevations Building Cincinnati, 6/15/07 These elevations are by FRCH Design Worldwide for General Growth Properties. They were assembled in May 2007 for review by the Sycamore Township Zoning Commission. As of this posting Nordstrom has not officially signed on to the project. Existing site plan with Parisian and parking structure Site plan with new Nordstrom Mall elevation, Kenwood Road Nordstrom elevation, Kenwood Road Mall elevation, Montgomery Road Nordstrom elevation, Montgomery Road Mall elevation from some unspecified spot Nordstrom elevation, east Nordstrom elevation, north http://buildingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2007/06/nordstrom-elevations.html
June 21, 200717 yr That's what Nordstrom does...they like to bail out on things, so they leave their options open by not signing formal agreements.
June 21, 200717 yr I guess GGP has a good rapport with Nordtrom so that's why they demolished the old store and are working on its replacement, but still I would be a little hesitant to start demo/construction without a signed document. Oh well, hope everything goes as planned.
June 21, 200717 yr Why you wouldn't learn from someone else's mistake...I don't know. But Cincy got burned by Nordstrom years ago at Fifth & Race...albeit they were prepping the site regardless, but the prospect of Nordstrom certainly hurried that process along. It seems as though almost the exact same thing can be said for Parisian at Kenwood Towne Centre. Hopefully everything works out alright.
June 21, 200717 yr ^That's what I was thinking. If Nordstom pulled out then at least they would've had a department store shell that they could've marketed to other stores.
July 20, 200717 yr Nordstrom to bring bag full of clout BY LISA BIANK FASIG | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER July 20, 2007 IMAGE: Nordstrom’s $30 million store in the Kenwood Towne Centre will offer about 140,000 square feet of retail space. Another 30,000-plus square feet will be created for mall use. Courtesy of Nordstrom BLUE ASH - The city's first Nordstrom store will begin taking form in a few weeks and when complete will yield more than designer suits, piano music and enough shoes to sink a boat: The roughly $30 million store will result in at least 30,000 square feet of added retail space for Kenwood Towne Centre. Click the above hyperlink or click below to read more: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/07/23/story2.htm
September 19, 200717 yr Drove past today and was surprised to see this: ...though I bet references to this are somewhere upthread!
September 20, 200717 yr Now they just gotta get Nordstrom to sign that lease! http://about.nordstrom.com/ourstores/openings/openings.asp#OH
October 30, 200717 yr I don't really shop for much aside from records and food, so what is the big deal about Nordstrom?
October 30, 200717 yr I don't really shop for much aside from records and food, so what is the big deal about Nordstrom? Nothing really. They are know throughout the nation though for having insanely good customer service.
December 16, 200717 yr Kenwood's comeback Five years ago, it was nearly 50 years old, struggling to keep stores, with little retail around it. Today it's the hot place to shop. How did Kenwood's mall turn things around? BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER December 16, 2007 SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP - A couple of Christmases from now, holiday shoppers hustling to wrap up their present-buying at Kenwood and Montgomery roads will be greeted with a far different scene. Click above hyperlink or below to view the full article: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/BIZ01/712160354]
December 17, 200717 yr wouldn't it be nice if this would happen at tower place, downtown? Tower Place could never in its life accommodate any large substance of retailers. I would love for this to happen Downtown, but in order for that to happen 5th Street would have to become a retail corridor (Michigan Ave-esque) with Tower Place simply being a pit stop of a few more shops along the way (Water Tower Place-esque). The great thing is that since Cincy still doesn't have a bonifide flagship retail center yet (Kenwood is getting very close) that leaves the door open for others. I think the only two other possibilities would be the Millworks site (or major addition to Rookwood) or Downtown. Downtown already has some stores and restaurants that can't be found anywhere else in the region. If it could manage to fill in street-level store front spaces with those other retailers then boom - instant lifestyle center.
January 13, 200817 yr When I was driving down I-71 today, I noticed the tower crane and was wondering what was going on there. Here is a rendering of the Kenwood Town Place complex.
July 18, 200816 yr Digital screens sell ad messages to Kenwood shoppers Big investors, corporate advertisers lure firm to town http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/07/21/story7.html
July 18, 200816 yr Question, has Nordstrom officially signed the lease for this place are is GGP still waiting, but moving ahead with construction anyways?
July 21, 200816 yr Question, has Nordstrom officially signed the lease for this place are is GGP still waiting, but moving ahead with construction anyways? yes, Nordstrom has been committed for quite a bit now. They've had Cincinnati listed as 'opening soon' for months on their website.
July 27, 200816 yr It is amazing considering the sprawl nature of Greater Cincinnati, that's the region mega-retail center is a substantially urban shopping district (compare to Tri-County and every thing north). It also would be quite easily retrofitted for more intense mass transit as well.
August 20, 200816 yr Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Crazy 8 kids’ store opens in Kenwood Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Lisa Biank Fasig Staff Reporter Crazy 8, a trendy children’s clothing store developed by the chain Gymboree, is opening its first Ohio location Wednesday at Kenwood Towne Centre. Read more here: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/08/18/daily31.html
August 21, 200816 yr It is amazing considering the sprawl nature of Greater Cincinnati, that's the region mega-retail center is a substantially urban shopping district (compare to Tri-County and every thing north). It also would be quite easily retrofitted for more intense mass transit as well. As I recall, the Sycamore Township officials were pretty adamantly opposed to the metro moves plan that would have taken rail to Kenwood Towne Center - hopefully they've all moved on since then and have been replaced by move open minded leaders.
August 21, 200816 yr ^Knowing one of the Trustees there, it hasn't happened. They are still as conservative as ever.
August 22, 200816 yr It is hard to believe that Kenwood is the best shopping area in the entire Cincinnati metro but at least it is inside the beltway on the I-71 corridor and not in the exurbs. Places like Deerfield Towne Center are practically vacant yet you hear little news about this failure of this retail outlet. Also is that Nordstroms disconnected from the mall? It appears so from the aerial above.
August 22, 200816 yr ^No, it will be connected through a hallway which will also add room for I think about 9 stores If I can remember correctly.
August 22, 200816 yr What makes it unique is that it does fantastic at sales per square foot (which is mostly what retailers care about), but since it is relatively ensconced in the urban environment it lacks many of the big box stores that usually show up around the malls - Target and so on. This has probably benefited retail in Oakley since some of that is basically displaced Kenwood stuff.
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