Bridge Street shutting down (Huntsville, Decatur: insurance, universities, living) - Huntsville-Madison-Decatur area - Alabama (AL) - Page 28 - City-Data Forum

LCTMadison · 08-08-2013, 04:37 AM

You do realize Belk is one of the the "flagship" stores at the Summit, and the Belk we will be getting at Bridgestreet will be the higher end store like the Summit?

FingerSnappinBob · 08-08-2013, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

You do realize Belk is one of the the "flagship" stores at the Summit, and the Belk we will be getting at Bridgestreet will be the higher end store like the Summit?

I like Belks on the parkway. Prices are reasonable and clothing is high quality. It is a needed addition to bridge street. I have not been to a high end Belk but I am sure it is done right because it is Belk.

ReggaeBusRider · 08-10-2013, 01:22 PM

I am looking forward to seeing what a Belk Superstore is like. Maybe it will revive bridgestreet?

Becky2517 · 08-10-2013, 01:34 PM

Revive Bridgestreet? When did you go there last?

ReggaeBusRider · 08-10-2013, 01:41 PM

I went Friday and it was busy at pf chang, cantina loredo and retail was dead. 4 retailers closed so far this year and more mainstream stuff could revive sales in the retail space IMO. I am hoping Belk will help.

LCTMadison · 08-10-2013, 02:48 PM

Kate Spade, an original tenant, closed a couple of years ago. Brookstone didn't close, they only occupied that space during the holidays.

Richard Cable closed his BS location, he couldn't support that and his original location on Andrew Jackson. Pink Pelican also tried a second store at BS but she could not support both. Her Whitesburg location is very established and is doing well. Those are both locally owned businesses.

Please enlighten us to all the "retail closings" this year because all I have seen is new stores coming in......Buckle and Alumni Hall are both getting ready to open. Bridge Street scored a major coup when the only H&M in the state opened last year. There has been growth with the addition of Bed, Bath Beyond/Toys R Us and the current addition of the new Belk (which, BTW will be the same type store as the Summit). They are building a parking deck for additional parking, so apparently they feel that is needed to endeavor a project of that cost. I was at Bridge Street twice this week and the retail was busy.....it was much busier than Parkway Place. It was insane last weekend, as it usually is on the weekend.

Most sane people would call that "growth".......

Becky2517 · 08-10-2013, 03:02 PM

I tend to agree, LTC, we went to PF Chang's last nite (early), had dinner (busy) - popped in to DSW & while it wasn't packed, there were plenty of people shopping - I'm not sure if a jam packed store is what constitutes 'revival', but school starts soon, people are shopping for school supplies (Target, Walmart) - most restaurants at BS have a wait time to get seated...last weekend was busy as well - I don't get this hell-bent determination to claim BS is not doing well!

BHarrison84 · 08-10-2013, 03:11 PM

You know we have it good in this country when people are complaining about a nice shopping center like BridgeStreet.

LOL

raj kapoor · 08-10-2013, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BHarrison84

You know we have it good in this country when people are complaining about a nice shopping center like BridgeStreet.

LOL

That may be part of the problem. When the original developers were starting this project they did not promise a nice shopping center, they promised a major tourist attraction the likes of which we had not seen in the southeast.

It is good in dealing with such things to promise less and deliver more. I think anyone would agree that it has not turned out as expected or I would say that person just can't bring themselves to be sincere about it. I can base this just on what has been written on Huntsville's thread over the past few years. (I don't mean this thread)

Over time it could improve but it has not turned into the draw that would have helped the area. Most envisioned people coming from other cities for this. The first visit does kill that.
In fact, I conjecture that MSM was a bigger draw when it was new. So the question must be, "what happened"?

raj

BHarrison84 · 08-11-2013, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

That may be part of the problem. When the original developers were starting this project they did not promise a nice shopping center, they promised a major tourist attraction the likes of which we had not seen in the southeast.

It is good in dealing with such things to promise less and deliver more. I think anyone would agree that it has not turned out as expected or I would say that person just can't bring themselves to be sincere about it. I can base this just on what has been written on Huntsville's thread over the past few years. (I don't mean this thread)

Over time it could improve but it has not turned into the draw that would have helped the area. Most envisioned people coming from other cities for this. The first visit does kill that.
In fact, I conjecture that MSM was a bigger draw when it was new. So the question must be, "what happened"?

raj

Why did they think people would come from other cities to BridgeStreet? Even if they had not promise that, it doesn't seem like they could have delivered it. I never heard of a shopping center that was a tourist attraction, except maybe the large mall up in Minnesota that I think houses some roller coasters. I would think the kind of people who travel for shopping are going to go to the big cities like Atlanta for that rather than driving to Huntsville.