weren't quite a few of the stores in Tower City outlet stores? I remember waiting to go shopping at the Abercrombie outlet there on school field trips to the film festival because everything there was so cheap. I think Banana Republic too.

The outlet plan isn't dead...From May of this year

 

"Convention attendees with a stake in downtown Cleveland hope growth-hungry stores and restaurants will look at the center city, where projects including a casino are reviving retailer interest in Tower City and renewing talk about a high-end outlet district along Euclid Avenue.

 

'While the recession dealt a bit of a belly blow . . . there's a beginning of a movement of consumer spending turning around,' said Mitchell Schneider, president of First Interstate Properties and the developer of shopping centers that include Steelyard Commons in Cleveland and Legacy Village in Lyndhurst...

 

Leaders from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and PlayhouseSquare planned a trek to Las Vegas to see whether outlet retailers might be interested in several arcades and other little-used spaces on lower Euclid Avenue.

 

'We're really going to test the waters,' said Joe Marinucci, chief executive of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, a nonprofit group that represents property owners."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/05/with_new_construction_projects.html

 

If the Casino brings as many people as projected to downtown Cleveland on a regular basis, oh the outlet malls downtown WILL happen. No doubt in my mind about that. We're really only in a race against time to do it before the suburbs do it. If we can get it going before they can, this will happen and it will be big.

 

I don't understand why they are using Vegas as a cited source considering they have some one of the worst outlet malls and with the strip right there, there is a different customer. 

 

MTS I think it was referring to the convention they have in Vegas that you go to to sign tenants.  I remember how Stark did this for the Pesch project and got letters of intent from all those chains.

 

Oh here:

A convoy of Northeast Ohio real estate companies traveled to Las Vegas on Sunday for the shopping-center industry's largest annual gathering. Retailers, lenders and brokers expect to focus on redevelopment, a trend they say could reshape properties across the country.

 

Convention attendees with a stake in downtown Cleveland hope growth-hungry stores and restaurants will look at the center city, where projects including a casino are reviving retailer interest in Tower City and renewing talk about a high-end outlet district along Euclid Avenue.

weren't quite a few of the stores in Tower City outlet stores? I remember waiting to go shopping at the Abercrombie outlet there on school field trips to the film festival because everything there was so cheap. I think Banana Republic too.

 

No.

^umm ya they were, my youthful brain does not forget things like this tbh

^umm ya they were, my youthful brain does not forget things like this tbh

 

Then exactly what "outlet" stores were in TC?

^umm ya they were, my youthful brain does not forget things like this tbh

 

Then exactly what "outlet" stores were in TC?

 

As mentioned, the Abercrombie there was an outlet store in its last two years or so of existence. I am not too sure about anything else though.

^umm ya they were, my youthful brain does not forget things like this tbh

 

Then exactly what "outlet" stores were in TC?

 

As mentioned, the Abercrombie there was an outlet store in its last two years or so of existence. I am not too sure about anything else though.

I'm not an Abercrombie shopper, but I dont ever recall seeing the words "outlet".

Warning: Rant

 

I can't tell you how disappointed I am with the Cleveland Clothing company on the corner of East 4th. After showing up three separate days to find out they were closed, I finally went today. What a disappointment. The only sizes in every T-shirt I looked at only had sizes in S or XL. When I asked the sales girl when they would be getting other sixes then the two mentioned, she shrugged her shoulders and said I could go check at the store on Waterloo or online.

 

A week after they opened and they are already out out of normal sizes with no idea when new ones are coming in? What the h*ll. I'm already done with the place and I had over ten T-shirts to buy for friends. I guess it's back to the Made in the 216 at Room Service.

i like their waterloo store and haven't been to e4th.  im hoping its some kind of growing pains.  Probably opening on black friday without shaking out the system wasn't a good choice.

Warning: Rant

 

I can't tell you how disappointed I am with the Cleveland Clothing company on the corner of East 4th. After showing up three separate days to find out they were closed, I finally went today. What a disappointment. The only sizes in every T-shirt I looked at only had sizes in S or XL. When I asked the sales girl when they would be getting other sixes then the two mentioned, she shrugged her shoulders and said I could go check at the store on Waterloo or online.

 

A week after they opened and they are already out out of normal sizes with no idea when new ones are coming in? What the h*ll. I'm already done with the place and I had over ten T-shirts to buy for friends. I guess it's back to the Made in the 216 at Room Service.

 

Did you ask for a manager?  The way to stop this kind of behavior is to nip it in the bud ASAP.  If you didn't say anything.......

The owner was standing right there and he just walked away when I asked her. The reason I know he was the owner is he opened the door one of the days when they were closed and said to me he was hoping to have "his" store open by Saturday (last week).

 

I can certainly understand bugs in a store opening but there is no excuse for running out of all the normal sized merchandise without some kind of plan. If it was my store, common sense would tell me to:

 

a) Run over to Waterloo and/or wherever they ship their internet merchandise IF they have access stock

 

b) Have an explanation for customers on when they would be getting the regular sized merchandise in stock. Every other store will usually take your name & number or your e-mail address and contact you when said merchandise arrives. This is COMMON RETAIL SENSE. I'm not in retail .

@stpats44113

 

Gain weight and then you wont have trouble finding your size in their shirts! ;)

Dammit C.O.! I've already been stuffing my face pre holidays. These are for friends who either:

 

Live here

Used to live here and miss home or

Are a fan of Cleveland. I have four shirt requests just from my friends in NYC alone.

i like their waterloo store and haven't been to e4th.  im hoping its some kind of growing pains.  Probably opening on black friday without shaking out the system wasn't a good choice.

 

My wife and I were there on the day of Winterfest and they had plenty of all sizes and styles in stock.  We bought a few gifts, as did our out-of-town friends.  There was a very large crowd, so they may have run through more of their stock that day than they expected, but it was well stocked when I was there.

The owner was standing right there and he just walked away when I asked her. The reason I know he was the owner is he opened the door one of the days when they were closed and said to me he was hoping to have "his" store open by Saturday (last week).

 

I can certainly understand bugs in a store opening but there is no excuse for running out of all the normal sized merchandise without some kind of plan. If it was my store, common sense would tell me to:

 

a) Run over to Waterloo and/or wherever they ship their internet merchandise IF they have access stock

 

b) Have an explanation for customers on when they would be getting the regular sized merchandise in stock. Every other store will usually take your name & number or your e-mail address and contact you when said merchandise arrives. This is COMMON RETAIL SENSE. I'm not in retail .

 

Agreed to a degree as things work both ways, but without having any convo with the manager/owner you're speculating.  As always, issues like this should be transparent to the customer.  But when it's a mom and pop/ local chain, I think this is an opportunity to make direct contact with the owner and give feedback.  Turn the positive into a negative - on both sides of the counter.  If you were to try this and things didn't improve or got worse, then say f--- you and spend your $$$$ elsewhere.

 

I'm one for never spending money in or at a Brand where I've had issues.  So I understand you pain.  I haven't set foot in American Airlines, Saks or Ralph Lauren in at least 10 years.  If Saks was the last department store, on earth, with a Prada in store boutique and I could only get there via American Airlines I'd, I'd wear something out of trash before setting foot in store or getting on an AA plane.

 

I'm one for never spending money in or at a Brand where I've had issues.  So I understand you pain.  I haven't set foot in American Airlines, Saks or Ralph Lauren in at least 10 years.  If Saks was the last department store, on earth, with a Prada in store boutique and I could only get there via American Airlines I'd, I'd wear something out of trash before setting foot in store or getting on an AA plane.

 

Hahaha I love this

MTS,

 

I'm a little hot headed so I may change my mind. The fact that he (the owner) was standing there and said nothing  was a little disconcerning to say the least.

 

"If Saks was the last department store, on earth, with a Prada in store boutique and I could only get there via American Airlines I'd, I'd wear something out of trash before setting foot in store or getting on an AA plane".

 

I too am a fan of this quote.

 

 

Interesting full page ad on back of Chagrin Valley Times newspaper today. It was an ad for Berger & Silver jewelers at Eton that said, "Let Florida Wait. We're not going anywhere" - and then says "Still Cleveland's Jeweler Since 1914." The entire ad has a Tiffany blue background... - almost a nod to the rumors noted a few pages above about Tiffany & Co potentailly wanting their space - and seemingly a confirmation they are not closing... Hmmm...

MTS,

 

I'm a little hot headed so I may change my mind. The fact that he (the owner) was standing there and said nothing  was a little disconcerning to say the least.

 

"If Saks was the last department store, on earth, with a Prada in store boutique and I could only get there via American Airlines I'd, I'd wear something out of trash before setting foot in store or getting on an AA plane".

 

I too am a fan of this quote.

 

 

I guess I got spoiled.  I was there the morning of Winterfest, so we were basically the only people in the store and had our pick of whatever we wanted!  I have noticed they have been keeping odd hours because of stock issues - if you follow their facebook page you'll know what's up!

Lafont, I moved your Sears posting to:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,25826.0.html

Two videos about Dredger's Union, with some references to the future of downtown retail. The second one is part of GoMedia's great "On the Map" series.

 

the Dredgers Union

 

OTM - Dredgers Union

 

 

I had my first experience at C.L.E. Clothing recently and it was not good at all. I couldn't find any sizes, the staff was incredibly unhelpful, they didn't assist me at all and they were rude when I bought the shirt. They need to wise up because I will never shop there again.

when i went, i got in and out with no problems.  how were they rude?

Checking their phones when customers were struggling to find stuff, not greeting, not saying anything when i made my purchase, dicking around on their iMacs, etc. Totally different experience compared to Dredgers Union.

@LovesIt,

 

I had the SAME exact experience! The second time I went in, I just starting asking them a bunch of questions because they weren't going to make the effort to ask me.

Exactly the same CLE Clothing experience here...  We 3 were the only people in store on a Saturday night, 7-ish - took a look around the sparsely stocked shelves in too-big for assortment space for probably 3-4  minutes... very obviously looking through some stacks for certain sizes, etc... and barely got a nod from the 2 or 3 employees standing the whole time at the front desk, let alone any direct assistance or any immediate presence of sales people in the area we were looking. Now, after too many years in retail, I'm a pretty "help myself" kind of guy - don't, frankly, like much interaction from sales people (who are just doing their job, of course...) until/if I'm ready. But being essentially ignored is totally different. Between the lack of service and lean selection of t-shirt styles and sizes (don't they MAKE these - shouldn't it be simple to manufacture and re-stock?) it will be a long cold winter for these folks if it keeps up this way.

 

Dredger's Union - same night - bent over backwards to help... We bought $100+ in their store...

Seems like a nice enough guy. Quick response too.

 

 

"Thank you for the heads up. These issues are very disconcerting and we are fully aware of them and fixing them. We don't like to make excuses, but December was definitely a crash course for us. Construction that was supposed to be completed in October, didn't actually get completed until the day before Thanksgiving, which is the day we received all of our approvals to move in at 5:30pm. We still did not have internet and wouldn't have it for 1.5 weeks after that. We had to run all transactions via the iPhone app Square® which was a life saver or we would have missed all that business. When we finally got our network up and running but our credit card processing merchant and POS (that the bank set up) were actually not compatible, and so again we could not process credit cards, but opened up anyway because the phone was ringing off the hook and people knocking on the door. We had to close to catch up on inventory counts and accounting and we would figure people would understand. We underestimated the demand and sold out of sizes and so did American Apparel our blank t-shirt provider, which pushed back delivery dates on re-stocking orders. We corrected most inventory troubles by ordering from our online store in our store and shipping to the customer for free.

 

 

I don't want to go too much into our troubles from December, it was a crash-course and definitely a learning experience....only positives can come out of it.

 

 

So I thank you again for the heads up and concern and hope to see you in the store in 2012.

 

 

Mike Co-Owner,

CLE Clothing Co."

I appreciate his prompt response but what he's outlined as problems has nothing to do with apathetic employees, who should have been up front about the issues and challenges and encouraging people to return again once ducks were in a row. I still contend that apatethic employees is the #1 reason Olive & The Grape closed at TC.

Hey, I got a similar response.  I havent even been in the store, but the amount of bad experiences promted me to send them an email as well.  BTW, the whole premise of my email was the apathetic/rude and un-helpful employees, so I would have hoped that his response took this into account. 

 

"Thank you for the heads up. These issues are very disconcerting and we are fully aware of them and fixing them. We don't like to make excuses and don't want to go too much into our troubles from December, it was a crash-course and definitely a learning experience....only positives can come out of it.

 

 

So I thank you again for the heads up and concern and hope to see you in the store in 2012.

 

 

Mike Co-Owner,

CLE Clothing Co."

 

I appreciate his prompt response but what he's outlined as problems has nothing to do with apathetic employees, who should have been up front about the issues and challenges and encouraging people to return again once ducks were in a row. I still contend that apatethic employees is the #1 reason Olive & The Grape closed at TC.

 

Agreed, those issues noted, have nothing to do with the employees and should be transparent to the consumer, period!  Also we dont know if TBideon asked/addressed the employee customer service issue in his initial correspondence.  You have to see both in order to evaluate Mikes response.  I'm just trying to look at both sides.

 

Hopefully this has been learning experience and he realizes for a small business word of mouth (and the internet/social media) can be a double edged sword.

I did... See above.

^^Fair enough.

 

Subject: "Some negative customer feedback"

 

"Not from me, as I've never been to your store, but a number of posters on urbanohio.com are talking about some very poor experiences with your staff, and I figure you guys would want to nip this in the butt early on.

 

You can find the complaints here, or just go to urbanohio.com and look for Cleveland Retail.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,9505.1620/topicseen.html

 

Good luck guys! Hope things work out."

I did... See above.

looks like we were posting at the same time.

^^Fair enough.

 

Subject: "Some negative customer feedback"

 

"Not from me, as I've never been to your store, but a number of posters on urbanohio.com are talking about some very poor experiences with your staff, and I figure you guys would want to nip this in the butt early on.

 

You can find the complaints here, or just go to urbanohio.com and look for Cleveland Retail.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,9505.1620/topicseen.html

 

Good luck guys! Hope things work out."

Fair enough.  The ball is in their court to correct the situation.

nip this in the butt. LOL!

Isnt the expression, nip it in the bud?

As long as there's nipping, im happy :)

And as long as there's a butt...

Macy's to close store at Parmatown Mall

4:31 pm, January 4, 2012

 

Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) soon will be pulling out of Parmatown Mall, leaving the suburban shopping center with a massive hole to fill.

 

The store at Parmatown is among five Macy's stores across the country that the Cincinnati-based retailer said it will be closing early this spring. It is the only store in Ohio.

 

Final clearance sales at the stores that are closing will begin this Sunday, Jan. 8, and will run for about 10 weeks. Macy's said the closings are “part of the company's normal-course process to selectively prune underperforming locations while also opening new ones to fill gaps in local markets and take advantage of new opportunities at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's.”

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120104/FREE/120109950

Wow.

Frankly, I was a little surprised it was still open at PT considering what it has become there.     

^What happened to Parmatown Mall?  I haven't been there for over 10 years.  I remember it used to be a newer looking mall with one of the first American Eagles or something.

^What happened to Parmatown Mall?  I haven't been there for over 10 years.  I remember it used to be a newer looking mall with one of the first American Eagles or something.

 

You answered your own question. You haven't been there for over 10 years. Obviously you weren't the only one! That's what happened to Parmatown Mall, and many others.

What happened to Parmatown? I'd say Great Northern, Southpark, Crocker Park, and the redevelopment in Rocky River (Westfield?).

 

Besides, Marshalls and Target are less than 2 blocks away. It's nowhere near an interstate offramp; it's a full afternoon destination.

 

There was a story this fall about the possibility of redeveloping Parmatown like Crocker Park. I don't see the point. Redevelop the whole block as light industrial.

But also the area has just really gone downhill as well as the mall. 

...oh well.  Good riddance, one less tacky store in greater Cleveland!

Thanks Willboy and Original for the info.  I haven't been to Parmatown because I've lived out of state for the past 10 years, so it is sad to hear about that area going downhill.  Sounds like what happened to Rolling Acres Mall in Akron when I lived there.  It was booming when I was in high school, then took a dive.

Thanks Willboy and Original for the info.  I haven't been to Parmatown because I've lived out of state for the past 10 years, so it is sad to hear about that area going downhill.  Sounds like what happened to Rolling Acres Mall in Akron when I lived there.  It was booming when I was in high school, then took a dive.

 

At least you have a good reason for not going to Parmatown for the past 10 years. MTS doesn't! ;)

Guys enough with the "area" going down hill. Thats really not the case. My parents have lived a stones throw from Parmatown for about 40 years, and I am over there all the time. The area is fine. Parmatown is no different than what happened to Westgate. Its a neighborhood mall that has outlived its purpose, and needs to be upgraded. Parma Hts/Parma is no more to blame than Fairview/Rocky River was for the demise of Westgate Mall. It simply needs some investmant.

^Exactly, the neighborhoods around Parmatown are just fine. I assume a Westgate style development will only draw tenants out of nearby shopping plazas much as Target was enticed to move in Westgate. Let's face it, the neighborhood is built out, there is no new large scale residential development in the area. There are plenty of medium and large box vacancies in the area.

 

 

When I was home over both Thanksgiving and Christmas, for some reason I kept hearing comments about how Parma was getting rough and ghetto.  Some from people I didnt know, some I did know, some that lived there and some that didnt.  I mean everybody agreed and nobody defended it... 

 

My sister used to live there and when I met up with her after midnight shopping over Thanksgiving she was saying how bad it had become and how rough the crowd was.  I was curious and started to look at stats, and certainly it is going through the same thing that many of the inner suburbs with cheap housing have been going through.  I was also reading where many of the apartment buildings had become magnets for trouble. 

 

I do recall there were nicer neighborhoods there, and I would imagine those are still nice.     

 

Sure the Mall went downhill with the barage of newer places over the years, but it sounds like much of the original demographic that stores like Macy's would have catered to are less abundant in the area than they once were.