Missing Retailers in Huntsville? (Birmingham, Valley: construction, store, Whole Foods)

[proudhuntsvillian]

Parkway Place Mall has a Pottery Barn as well as a host of several other nice chains. Huntsville needs a Trader Joes, a Dave and Buster's, a Whole Foods Market, and please, any department store besides Dillards or Belk's. Bloomingdales, Macy's, Saks, please. As far as Bridge Street goes, shopping is OK at best but there are some good eateries and the Monaco theatre is outstanding.

[sodasales]

There is an Old Time Pottery in Madison.

RE: K-Mart/Sear's; the holding company that owns (owned first) Sears also bought out K-Mart; K-Mart technically doesn't own Sear's. Rumor is the K-Mart format might be scrubbed soon, and these stores rebranded as Sear's.

Dave & Buster's definately, although this is a rather smallish market for the concept.

[BuckMom]

Definitely need a Trader Joe's down here. Once you've been, you have a hard time living without it.

Another store is something that's pretty unique to New England but I'd love to have one here and that The Christmas Tree Shoppe (don't let the name fool you....the only time it has anything to do with Christmas is during Christmas! *s*)

[NicoleC]

Sometimes called a merger, it was technically Kmart that bought Sears -- for a final price tag of $12.3 billion. It wasn't hostile and Sears was actively participating. A new company, Sears Holding Company, Inc., was created to hold them both (along with the the other odds and ends in the deal like OSH, Lands End, etc.)

Yes, I've heard the Kmart brand may be phasing out in favor of the Sears name. Sears certainly has a better reputation as a brand. But I think eventually all the stores, under whatever name, will be a sort of Kmart store with appliances and tools, and maybe groceries, photo studio, pharmacy and optical.

For anyone that cares to read up on what now is ancient retail history:
Kmart to acquire Sears in $11 billion deal - Stocks & economy - MSNBC.com
Financial details of the Kmart-Sears deal - Nov. 17, 2004
Sears, Kmart Check Out $11B Merger - Forbes.com
USATODAY.com - Shareholders approve Sears-Kmart deal

[harry chickpea]

"it was technically Kmart that bought Sears"

And now the company is STILL in financial dire straits. If there was ever a company where I would want to buy shorts, this is the one. (Not those kind of shorts, silly)

[Southlander]

Kmart...Sears...BOTH crappy stores! Sears' Kenmore and Craftsmen brands have carried Sears for years and years. Everything else Sears offers is poor quality. And it's hard to think of a store with poorer customer service than Sears. Unless, of course, it's Kmart, renowned for dirty stores, poorly stocked shelves, and NO customer service.
Customers have been telling them this for years, but they choose not to listen.

[NicoleC]

I agree with both of you about both stores.

Used to be if you have a broken Craftsman tool for any reason, you just took it into Sears and they gave you a new one, no questions. No more. Well, Sears doesn't make Craftsman anyway, they job it out. The only thing special about it was the warranty.

And the Kenmore brand has always just re-branded other appliance models with slight changes; seems like they have always done a good job picking the right models, but ultimately it isn't like it's anything you can't get somewhere else with a Maytag label.

It's sad to see a venerable old business like Sears go down, but they did it to themselves but sacrificing service and quality to be cheaper. Last time I checked no one bought Craftsman tools because they were cheaper than the screwdrivers at Wal-Mart.

Kmart... who cares? I can't recall the last time I even thought about going in a Kmart.

[Huntsville_secede]

Speaking of new retailers to Huntsville / Decatur. Decatur officials on Monday will announce a "billion dollar mixed use development," rumored to be anchored by the wildly popular Bass Pro Shops. Details of the project were not released, but city leaders on Friday responded to reports that a major shopping development was planned for the area of Alabama 20 and Interstate 65.

al.com: Everything Alabama

[33458]

Originally Posted by NicoleC

I have to agree the Macy's in Birmingham is fairly sad compared to what a good Macy's is. A Macy's here would probably be run under the same regional management and be identical, although it *might* just be the Birmingham buyer that is so... frumpy.

A Nordstrom would be nice, but I'm not sure there is enough of the rich-old-lady demographic in Huntsville that is Nordstrom's bread and butter. Nordstrom would have to re-market themselves a little for Huntsville. I could see them fitting into that mall in SE Huntsville off Memorial -- it's kind of upscale but not trendy like Bridge Street.

Macy's = May Company = Federated = Bullock's = Broadway = Bloomingdales, all owned by Federated Department Stores, Inc -- I think only the Macy's and Bloomingdales brands are still around as stores.

Dillard's is just Dillard's, they are independent.

Land's End, not Eddie Bauer, is owned by Sears. Eddie Bauer used to be owned by Spiegel but it is now independent since Spiegel filed for bankruptcy. BUT... Sears is now owned by Kmart. And boy, does it show. Sears used to be a pretty high quality, if a not fashionable, store. Quality and service has gone way down since the buyout.

It's like watching a shell game... who owns the company now?

I would like to see Whole Foods come to Huntsville and put some pressure on Fresh Market, but I suspect with the booming popularity of Publix in Huntsville, Whole Foods wouldn't come.

We had Burdines in S.FL as well, which was just Bloomingdales (literally) with a tropical persuasion. Macy's...the sale promotions are great, but the store - shopping is frustrating and working there, which I did ever-so-briefly many years ago (both as a clerk and in the Visual department for Xmas - window dressing, decor, etc.) was even worse...terribly understaffed with unreal expectations. To this day, I do not get short tempered with the employees there because I remember more than once being the only associate with an open register on the third floor, which housed ALL housewares and crystal, children's' department and bedding/luggage. Horrible management. Grumpy customers looking for somewhere to cash out. Grumpy clerk fielding all the complaints. Oh, how I hated that job. Have never left a position so quickly, dust in the air behind me.

Sears...ugh. When the Big Book went away, so did any interest.

Penney's was heading for a fall about 10 years ago - don't know what happened, suddenly they got the Sears disease...but took the right medicine and seem to be returning to something worth keeping.

Spiegel is part of Newport News now, which used to be Avon Fashions...

We had a Publix on every corner back in that other state and still Whole Foods came and thrived. I'm hoping to see it here, too. While the prices are sometimes ridiculous, they have things you otherwise won't find anywhere else - and the deli/steam table offerings were delectable.

Is there an Anthropologie here?

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by 33458

We had Burdines in S.FL as well, which was just Bloomingdales (literally) with a tropical persuasion. Macy's...the sale promotions are great, but the store - shopping is frustrating and working there, which I did ever-so-briefly many years ago (both as a clerk and in the Visual department for Xmas - window dressing, decor, etc.) was even worse...terribly understaffed with unreal expectations. To this day, I do not get short tempered with the employees there because I remember more than once being the only associate with an open register on the third floor, which housed ALL housewares and crystal, children's' department and bedding/luggage. Horrible management. Grumpy customers looking for somewhere to cash out. Grumpy clerk fielding all the complaints. Oh, how I hated that job. Have never left a position so quickly, dust in the air behind me.

Sears...ugh. When the Big Book went away, so did any interest.

Penney's was heading for a fall about 10 years ago - don't know what happened, suddenly they got the Sears disease...but took the right medicine and seem to be returning to something worth keeping.

Spiegel is part of Newport News now, which used to be Avon Fashions...

We had a Publix on every corner back in that other state and still Whole Foods came and thrived. I'm hoping to see it here, too. While the prices are sometimes ridiculous, they have things you otherwise won't find anywhere else - and the deli/steam table offerings were delectable.

Is there an Anthropologie here?

Yes one just recently opened at the BridgeStreet Town Centre (upscale lifestyle center)