Open air malls the way of the 21st century
Not sure if this article was already posted, but it basically just sums up the current trend. Upscale retail found in open air centers is coming back and becoming the convenient trend in modern retail.
Utica Square in Tulsa survived the mall explosion of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, only to find itself in the boom of open air centers.....so common before the advent of malls. Isn't it amazing how we continually go in circles and things from the past come back!
With Spring Creek Plaza already completed and open for several years now, and Spring Creek Village nearing completion across the street, this trend will only continue to spread, as convenient open air malls become the trend of the modern age.
By the way, I've been told Spring Creek Plaza's main anchor on the east side will be a Belk's Department Store.....you can find one of these in Utica Square in Tulsa.
Now all we need is an open air market/mall in the Bricktown area....or possibly midtowner. How about south of Lower Bricktown once the highway is moved?
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‘Out’ Becomes Newest ‘In’: Open-air malls proving to be effective sites for upscale operations, unique locally owned operations
Posted: Friday, June 10, 2005
‘Out’ Becomes Newest ‘In’: Open-air malls proving to be effective sites for upscale operations, unique locally owned operations
By Dean Anderson
writers@okcbusiness.com
With competition from every large grocery store and big-box chain with a cooler, brothers Davey and Charlie Cusack were looking for a location a few years ago that would put their meat market back into local neighborhoods.
The brothers decided to try a concept that’s sweeping the nation. Instead of a stand-alone business downtown or even a slot in one of a million strip malls, the two decided to lease space in outdoor malls in Edmond and Norman.
Although the two store locations are still in their infancy, the owners say they couldn’t be happier with the type of customers they’re attracting.
“The landlords have done a fantastic job there and it’s really brought in a lot of high-end business,” Davey Cusack said. “That’s what we’re looking for is the higher-end clientele.”
The Cusack brothers have stores in Spring Creek Plaza in Edmond and Brookhaven Village in Norman. Both outfits are considered upscale, lifestyle developments that are in the same vein, however certainly not as extensive in scope, as Utica Square in midtown Tulsa.
Centers like Brookhaven Village and Spring Creek Plaza fit in with the de-malling of America, a decline in large-scale indoor malls in favor of outdoor areas that sell themselves as destination points rather than simply retail sites grouped together.
For the last several years, the typical indoor mall is being re-tooled with a mix of traditional retail stores, big-box stores, grocery stores, restaurants and the outdoors. The mix is often times eclectic, but almost always higher-end.
Fashion and food courts that once made customers flock to the indoor malls during the 1980s and 1990s are giving way to these new “lifestyle malls.”
Norman city officials currently are reviewing a request by the University of Oklahoma Foundation to try to attract developers to build such a mall along foundation-owned land east of I-35 between Robinson Street and Tecumseh Road in Norman.
The appeal of open-air malls is an obvious one according to Steve O’Neil, Sr. Vice president for Brothers & Co., which manages Utica Square for owners Helmerich & Payne.
“The variety is good, but really it’s just the aura,” O’Neil said. “You park in front of the stores and walk under trees and there’s incredible flowers and statues. It really is an experience unlike the typical outdoor mall which is a lot of parking lots and stores.”
Located at the intersection of 15th and Bryant in Edmond, Spring Creek Plaza is the closest thing Central Oklahoma has to Utica Square, which boasts such tenants as Sak’s and the Polo Grill.
Edmond’s lifestyle mall features stores ranging from the fashion trendy White House Black Market to Davey’s Meat Market.
In Norman, Brookhaven Village on the corner of 36th Ave. NW and Robinson Street fits the moniker of a lifestyle mall, as well.
Visitors can grab a half-caf frap with no cap at Starbucks, browse in Chico’s apparel, be pampered at the Le Visage Day Spa or work up a sweat next door at the upscale Brookhaven Health Club.
Chinese and American cuisine are available, with settings ranging from buffet to traditional sit-down dining.
Shopping Centers Waking from 11-year Slump
Even though the new lifestyle malls are now in vogue, that doesn’t mean the traditional mall is dead, industry experts indicate. In fact, according to a study by the International Council of Shopping Centers, shopping centers experienced a 4.2-percent increase in sales per square foot last year.
The spike was the biggest jump using sales per square foot as a benchmark in the last 11 years.
According to the study, the numbers suggested that shopping centers in the Western United States are doing especially well, with a 7.1-percent increase in sales per square foot in 2004.
Malls in the South region experienced sales per foot increases of 5 percent, the Northeast malls saw a 3 percent hike and those in the Midwest realized 2.1 percent growth.
But that comes after a stretch from 2001 to 2003, where more than 30 shopping centers, most of them indoor malls, stopped functioning as malls, with many replaced by outdoor developments.
The group’s study cited competition from newer centers, loss of anchor stores — such as Dillard’s, JC Penney’s — and changing buyer demographics as reasons for redevelopment.
Tulsa’s Utica Square
Outdoor Gold Standard
Utica Square celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003 and is still going strong. When it was originally built, the mall was thought to be on the outskirts of town and many were cynical as to whether it would succeed.
Now, smack in the heart of midtown off 21st Street between Lewis and Utica, Utica Square has weathered many retail trends and now is an integral part of Tulsa’s culture, O’Neil said.
The mall maintains a manicured, but natural garden look and O’Neil said he regularly sits in on the monthly merchant’s meetings and hears success stories from business owners.
“Anytime you say Utica Square you’re going to get oohs and aahs,” O’Neil said. “(Store owners) that have only been there are complimentary and love it. The things you hear that make you giggly are those people that have had stores in other malls or other strip malls that try to emulate (Utica Square) ... and their comments are pretty staggering.”
Utica Square has had to change over the years. Just three years ago all of the mall’s stores were local stand-alone businesses with the exception of The Olive Garden.
When Starbucks hesitantly entered into negotiations with Utica Square owners – fearing Tulsa was too small of a market to embrace the Starbucks concept – O’Neil saw a possible windfall coming.
“There’s an old saying that a rising tide floats all boats,” he said. “All of a sudden it seemed like we had an opportunity here.”
Starbucks, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and the state’s only Fleming steakhouse arrived at Utica at about the same time and have been followed by other national stores like White House Black Market.
In fact, the White House Black Market Utica Square store was among the company’s Top 5 best openings in sales.
And the Tulsa P.F. Chang’s set the company’s new sales volume record in the restaurant’s first and third months.
Cusack said he wants to be around that kind of success in the metro and is excited about the development of similar, albeit smaller, outdoor developments around here.
“Stop and look at Spring Creek Plaza and Brookhaven Village,” he said. “They’re all unique shops. Some are chains, but again they’re high-end and they have the customer we want that has the disposable income.”
Originally Posted by swake
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