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JohnNada, I have to disagree, at least to a certain extent with your last post. Perhaps I haven't visited them enough but I've never felt unsafe visiting Qdoba at the CTC. The last few times I had visited that Qdoba location, the amount of people inside seemed like a good number.
I would eat at 5 Guys when visiting the mall. I never felt at risk.
Gratzi was really good- I was bummed when it closed. Mostly because as discussed before I find Fazio's to be one of the most overrated Italian places in existence.
I'll be really upset if Tidewater leaves.
Fazio's is not a good Italian restaurant. It is something else altogether. Think family, think Italian, think organized and you will get the idea of what Fazio's is all about. Going there as someone just out of the blue will get you odd looks of, "Why are you here?" I used to love it, but the culture there is very...hmmm...insular.
I visited both Qdoba and Five Guys at the CTC semi-regularly. If I was just going to one of those two, I would park on in the metered parking on the 1st level of the garage, Summers St., the Municipal Auditorium parking, or down the street by city hall. I personally am very comfortable downtown and in the garages (even Slack Plaza), but I can see how people would be uncomfortable going to those businesses. Quiet often "shady" folks would hang out between Tidewater and them. Also, the hallway from the inside of the mall to the restaurants was the equivalent of walking through a tunnel connecting two prisons. Not a good look for the mall at all.
I am not optimistic about any business locating at any empty unit at the mall. However, when somebody with a vision takes charge at that place I could see a bounce back.
One thing I am really struggling with is imagining the "largest" and capital city of the state not having an indoor mall. Meanwhile, other cities have successful shopping centers and fresh retailers that seem to have droves of people. I know that isn't the case everywhere, but I know that malls can be successful with the right ingredients. I still have hope, but its fading.
As for the soon to be two empty units, street parking would generate a lot more business in that spot. Does anyone else think that Brickstreet is hogging a bit to much land that could be better served not as a grass yard? I am all for green space, but they have a fenced in yard that NOBODY uses for anything.
I visited both Qdoba and Five Guys at the CTC semi-regularly. If I was just going to one of those two, I would park on in the metered parking on the 1st level of the garage, Summers St., the Municipal Auditorium parking, or down the street by city hall. I personally am very comfortable downtown and in the garages (even Slack Plaza), but I can see how people would be uncomfortable going to those businesses. Quiet often "shady" folks would hang out between Tidewater and them. Also, the hallway from the inside of the mall to the restaurants was the equivalent of walking through a tunnel connecting two prisons. Not a good look for the mall at all.
I am not optimistic about any business locating at any empty unit at the mall. However, when somebody with a vision takes charge at that place I could see a bounce back.
One thing I am really struggling with is imagining the "largest" and capital city of the state not having an indoor mall. Meanwhile, other cities have successful shopping centers and fresh retailers that seem to have droves of people. I know that isn't the case everywhere, but I know that malls can be successful with the right ingredients. I still have hope, but its fading.
As for the soon to be two empty units, street parking would generate a lot more business in that spot. Does anyone else think that Brickstreet is hogging a bit to much land that could be better served not as a grass yard? I am all for green space, but they have a fenced in yard that NOBODY uses for anything.
Brickstreet is my biggest issue at the mall.
They take a huge section of the campus and do the least with it. They are not a draw to the mall and the mission of the mall. Their employees which were touted in 2007 for causing a 6% rise in food sales within the mall, no longer eat there. All they do is pay a modest lease to park in the garage - absolutely nothing else. For all intents and purposes, Brickstreet is a huge chunk of nothing as far as CTC is concerned.
They need to go. They do not own the land. They do not own the building. I am also led to believe that they pay little to no rent on the building.
Again, the problem you cover very well has nothing to do with the mall, it has everything to do with the bus terminal at Slack Plaza. Transit terminals is 1970's thinking and like old ideas that are poorly thought out, this one needs to go. Charleston is not a public commuter city. If we got rid of the terminal and KCHD next to the CC-CC, the city would improve leaps and bounds.
Wasn’t there a plan to get rid of the bus terminal?
And with all the available office space in Charleston I hate the fact that Brickstreet occupies that section of the mall. I would have rather kept Bob Evans than see their office sitting there.
Wasn’t there a plan to get rid of the bus terminal?
And with all the available office space in Charleston I hate the fact that Brickstreet occupies that section of the mall. I would have rather kept Bob Evans than see their office sitting there.
Agreed. I remember that Bob Evans. They squandered a chance to put some street level retail stores on that corner that would've connected to the mall. Instead, like almost every other decent space downtown it was occupied by some state government agency (or quasi state government agency)- How much more space does the statehouse need?!
How much does Brickstreet and WOWK pay in rent? And how do you replace that revenue with the stores that are leaving? At least for now, it appears that the CTC needs Brickstreet and WOWK.
How much does Brickstreet and WOWK pay in rent? And how do you replace that revenue with the stores that are leaving? At least for now, it appears that the CTC needs Brickstreet and WOWK.
Both are rent free. They pay a modest sum for parking in the CTC garage and the previous mall manager touted a 6% rise in food court sales the first year Brickstreet was in residence. That has since fallen to zero. No one from Brickstreet goes into the mall. Their presence does nothing for the mall.
Can you provide a source for that information? I want to have proof that Brickstreet/WOWK/Macy's were paying zero rent for future debates, here and elsewhere.
Can you provide a source for that information? I want to have proof that Brickstreet/WOWK/Macy's were paying zero rent for future debates, here and elsewhere.
Not hard to find any of it. The 2007 articles covers Brickstreet and WOWK and the recent news on Macy's leaving covers that one, plus Danny Jones discussed it in his unexpected radio expose on the issue a month ago. If it matters to you, look it up. It's all out there.
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