Another string of positive media stories on Cleveland (Columbus, Westlake: refrigerator, employment)

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by andrew61

Somehow I don't see department stores disappearing from the urban landscape in cities such as NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Did I say disappear?

I promise you, all those cities will experience declining retail. Take it to the bank.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by october2007

Are Nordstrom and Saks still in downtown Portland? In Seattle there are still lots of shops downtown - Nordstrom, Gap, Anthropologie, Old Navy, Macys, Barneys, Tiffany and also a relatively new Target. I think Macy's has internal problems but I agree that online shopping has hurt stores and in order for downtown stores to prosper you need lots of people living there or coming there to shop.

Saks is long gone but Nordstrom's is still there.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by j_ws

Downtown population growth is very recent and therefore retail returning to the urban core trails behind this sort of renaissance. I think in the next few years we'll see a dramatic shift as a pretty hefty amount of new residential units come on line.

I'd like to see an urban target. Columbus and Cincinnati got them, but it appears they're closer to their respective college campuses so I'm not sure how likely it would be that Cleveland would get one downtown instead of University Circle should we end up getting one eventually.

Portland has a downtown Target. It's not next to the college campus but in the downtown area.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Aside from the Heinen's, Constantino's and WSM, there are a couple of Dave's Supermarkets, a Gallucci's Italian market, several superette's and drug stores, a few Asian grocers, the whole area of Tremont and the Steelyard Commons (it even has a Target!!) not but a short hop away from downtown. All are easily accessible within minutes by BRT/bus, train or Uber, if you don't have a car.

General department store retail has been dying for almost 20 years now. Macy's, etc. isn't even holding on in the suburbs around the country. That style of retail is being outmoded by more efficient, no-frills brick-and-mortar establishments with a strong online presence and, of course, dedicated eCommerce. Nobody is willing to pay 50-100% more at a shiny retailer for the same product they can have delivered to their door in a couple of days. Shopping also simply isn't the event it used to be in the days prior to the Internet.

[WRnative]

I don't know why everybody always dismisses The Avenue in Tower City. It has a Brooks Brothers,
Foot Locker, Children's Place, Victoria's Secret, etc.

Tower City Center :: Cleveland, OH 44113

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance lists other downtown retailers, including a Geiger's and a few other clothing stores. There now is a downtown furniture store.

Shop | Downtown Cleveland Alliance

Again, remember that only 15,000 persons live downtown currently.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by WRnative

I don't know why everybody always dismisses The Avenue in Tower City. It has a Brooks Brothers,
Foot Locker, Children's Place, Victoria's Secret, etc.

Tower City Center :: Cleveland, OH 44113

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance lists other downtown retailers, including a Geiger's and a few other clothing stores. There now is a downtown furniture store.

Shop | Downtown Cleveland Alliance

Again, remember that only 15,000 persons live downtown currently.

Well..saw these on Yelp as well as others similar regarding TC:

1.0 star rating 1/26/2016
Tower City, I remember you from my childhood, what has happened to you?
Like most of us, tower city has aged, gained weight, and had some rough relationships that it would rather forget.
It has gone downhill immensely over the past few years, which is really a shame.
Wanna hot shopping destination? Get outta Cleveland


1.0 star rating 1/8/2017
Tower City needs to be put out of its misery. A dilapidated, hollow shell where police officers in full body armor carrying assault rifles outnumber actual customers. Chain retail shops understaffed by employees who would rather be anywhere else, and who could blame them?

Please tear this place down and give something, anything else a chance. The eyesore to end all eyesores. Whoever had a hand in managing this place should be embarrassed and be forced to change careers

2.0 star rating 1/30/2017
Tower City is one of those bucket list places I've been wanting to check out for years and just finally got around to visiting for the first time... where to begin...

It is unique and beautiful as evidenced in the attached photos, but still seems to appear sort of run down at the same time. My first impression was that this probably USED TO BE a really nice space. Some of the stores are ok, some are really bad - almost flea market like. The mall kind of has this dirty smell to it, not as bad as the parking garage, but still smells strange.

The one thing that really stuck with me was the feeling of not being safe. I felt this way nearly the entire time I was there. LOTS of unsavory looking characters that may have wandered in from the square and seem to be up to no good. I wouldn't return just for this reason alone.

It would also be nice if they actually told you where to park on their website... seems like an obvious major oversight. Sadly, many of the items I have mentioned were mentioned in other peoples reviews seven years ago.

Not a fan.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Saks is long gone but Nordstrom's is still there.

Ok, thanks...Saks always seemed a bit out of place there. I think Macy's is kind of awful and I'm not surprised it's having so much trouble. Nordstrom is smarter about managing buying/inventory and although I rarely buy anything there it's superior in environment and customer service.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by october2007

Well..saw these on Yelp as well as others similar regarding TC:

1.0 star rating 1/26/2016
Tower City, I remember you from my childhood, what has happened to you?
Like most of us, tower city has aged, gained weight, and had some rough relationships that it would rather forget.
It has gone downhill immensely over the past few years, which is really a shame.
Wanna hot shopping destination? Get outta Cleveland


1.0 star rating 1/8/2017
Tower City needs to be put out of its misery. A dilapidated, hollow shell where police officers in full body armor carrying assault rifles outnumber actual customers. Chain retail shops understaffed by employees who would rather be anywhere else, and who could blame them?

Please tear this place down and give something, anything else a chance. The eyesore to end all eyesores. Whoever had a hand in managing this place should be embarrassed and be forced to change careers

2.0 star rating 1/30/2017
Tower City is one of those bucket list places I've been wanting to check out for years and just finally got around to visiting for the first time... where to begin...

It is unique and beautiful as evidenced in the attached photos, but still seems to appear sort of run down at the same time. My first impression was that this probably USED TO BE a really nice space. Some of the stores are ok, some are really bad - almost flea market like. The mall kind of has this dirty smell to it, not as bad as the parking garage, but still smells strange.

The one thing that really stuck with me was the feeling of not being safe. I felt this way nearly the entire time I was there. LOTS of unsavory looking characters that may have wandered in from the square and seem to be up to no good. I wouldn't return just for this reason alone.

It would also be nice if they actually told you where to park on their website... seems like an obvious major oversight. Sadly, many of the items I have mentioned were mentioned in other peoples reviews seven years ago.

Not a fan.

Tower City definitely was much more robust when it opened, but its developers unrealistically thought that commuters would shop there, and never anticipated the development of the likes of Legacy Village and Croker Park. Higbee's magnificent flagship ship store attached to Tower City (now the Horseshoe Casino) didn't close until 2002, which definitely zapped much of the energy out of the remaining retail activity in Tower City.

Still, any place with a Ritz Carlton, a Brook Brothers and a Morton's is not trash. Cleveland visitors who don't have any memories of Tower City's glory retail days, have a much more favorable impression of Tower City.

Tower City falters after big name beginning (vintage photos) | cleveland.com

Re: a visitor from Westminster, Canada, in February:

<<The City Center was a big help to our visit to Cleveland. We ate many meals and drank many coffees from the vendor, shopped in the discount store, and checked out some of the clothing stores. What a fabulous building to be in. We felt safe and enjoyed how clean it was, and what choices there were to be indoors on a snowy day. And- people were so very nice to us. Very impressive. >>

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...land_Ohio.html

IMO, with this post, you've officially joined the ranks of ignorant Cleveland bashers, and we already have enough of them. Also, this topic of discussion is completely off topic in this thread.

Give it a rest, or start a new thread about what you don't like about Cleveland. A good idea, as I wouldn't be surprised if all of posts on this topic are eventually deleted as they are so off topic.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Portland has a downtown Target. It's not next to the college campus but in the downtown area.

As Teacherdad has posted, Cleveland has a Target in Steelyard Commons, a short Uber ride from downtown.

Steelyard Commons | Cleveland, Ohio

According to Google Transit at the RTA home page, you can to Steelyard Commons from Tower City in 24 minutes this Saturday morning using RTA.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Tower City definitely was much more robust when it opened, but its developers unrealistically thought that commuters would shop there, and never anticipated the development of the likes of Legacy Village and Croker Park. Higbee's magnificent flagship ship store attached to Tower City (now the Horseshoe Casino) didn't close until 2002, which definitely zapped much of the energy out of the remaining retail activity in Tower City.

Still, any place with a Ritz Carlton, a Brook Brothers and a Morton's is not trash. Cleveland visitors who don't have any memories of Tower City's glory retail days, have a much more favorable impression of Tower City.

Tower City falters after big name beginning (vintage photos) | cleveland.com

Re: a visitor from Westminster, Canada, in February:

<<The City Center was a big help to our visit to Cleveland. We ate many meals and drank many coffees from the vendor, shopped in the discount store, and checked out some of the clothing stores. What a fabulous building to be in. We felt safe and enjoyed how clean it was, and what choices there were to be indoors on a snowy day. And- people were so very nice to us. Very impressive. >>

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...land_Ohio.html

IMO, with this post, you've officially joined the ranks of ignorant Cleveland bashers, and we already have enough of them. Also, this topic of discussion is completely off topic in this thread.

Give it a rest, or start a new thread about what you don't like about Cleveland. A good idea, as I wouldn't be surprised if all of posts on this topic are eventually deleted as they are so off topic.

I posted the Yelp reviews because you wondered why TC is often dismissed and I thought that might enlighten you a bit as to how others may perceive/experience the place. But it seems you're one of those who can't stand to hear an honest opinion/impression from anyone if it differs from yours or if by someone who doesn't love everything about Cleveland. You automatically consider it Cleveland bashing if something negative is pointed out. Opinions vary on most things. You can't understand or experience first impressions because you've been here so long but they are often valid. Tower City is a magnificent space but I too could see that it wasn't what it used to be even though I never saw it in its glory days. And there is a weird smell.

You're right this topic has gotten offtrack and has turned into talk about other things, retail most recently (You did mention Tower City shops) but that often happens as subtopics are introduced and responded too. I am not bashing Cleveland and I've had good things to say about it too. I think many things about CLE are open to debate and I appreciate hearing all perspectives.