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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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This area is does not have the type of demand to support uber high-end stores like Nieman Marcus or expensive boutiques like Gucci, Dolce, Tiffany. I'd say it's a combination of size of metro area and overall wealth of the area. You will find some of those stores in bigger cities like DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta; in very wealthy areas like Northern New Jersey or SoCal; and in more touristy cities like Orlando. It's understandable that Charlotte and Nashville, being the biggest cities in their respective states, would also have some higher-end shopping.
Even with dying malls, other larger and/or wealthier cities still have these stores. Raleigh never had them, even when malls were popular.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,775 posts, read 15,776,851 times
Reputation: 10880
Quote:
Originally Posted by Canes2006Champs
It isn't 1995 or even 2005 anymore. Malls are simply not what they used to be.
FWIW though, I am old enough to remember Lord and Taylor coming to Crabtree in the late 90s. I believe it was the only one in the entire South for awhile. That was a pretty big deal. H&M was another first for the region (or maybe just the Carolinas) not that long ago.
But really, anything one really needs or wants you can just get via ordering on your phone, doesn't matter if you live in Los Angeles or Nashville or some farm in the middle of Nebraska.
Lord & Taylor lasted only 10 years in the Triangle - from 1996 until 2006. It was certainly not the first one in the South. There were several Lord & Taylor stores in South Florida since the 1980s. Of course, there were many in the DC area, too. I would also be surprised if Raleigh got a store before Atlanta. H&M is a fun clothing store from Sweden, but is not considered high-end at all.
I'm sure there is more to this story. Probably one you don't want written out on the interwebs.
I believe it was referenced (with pictures) on a friend's MySpace page back in the day. Apparently Myspace is now completely gone...so thus is all evidence!
But in all seriousness; high-end retail brick & mortar has been on a decline pretty much globally. Be it in suburban shopping mall or on 5th avenue. This was accelerated significantly by the pandemic.
But in all seriousness; high-end retail brick & mortar has been on a decline pretty much globally. Be it in suburban shopping mall or on 5th avenue. This was accelerated significantly by the pandemic.
Not to mention the smash and grab robberies of said high end stores....when you can't even get to half the stuff in a Duane Reade in NYC because it's locked up the likes of Chanel, Prada et al will be thinking long and hard about where they put their goods, regardless of the money in any given area.
Now I do like Nordstrom Rack- I order online and pick it up (and often return) in the store. Is there one of those in the Triangle?
Across the street from Southpoint, in Renaissance Center. They're usually within the same facility as the "real" Nordstrom store, but this is the first time I've seen one in a different development altogether.
The shopping experience here in the Triangle has been dismal the entire 16 years I've lived here but now its even worse. We have never had anything but B and C rated department stores in this area and no stores that would be considered Designer or higher end. That said the actual malls are becoming awful. I had to run into Dillards yesterday to do a return. This meant I had to drive up to North Raleigh (40-45 minutes) to do so as it is the only one in the Triangle now. The whole experience was depressing. I thought as long as I was there I would hop over to Belk and venturing into the mall took the experience from bad to worse. With Crabtree losing some of its major stores to Fenton, the shootings that have occurred in all malls, the decline of merchandise on the shelves/racks, I just don't see how stores will be sustainable.
I have been shopping recently in Charlotte, Nashville, Houston and Southern CA and all three areas have better shopping and malls and don't seem to be suffering the depressed state Raleigh is.
Why does Raleighs shopping selection remain so depressed when the economy here isn't?
If Kane Realty winds up purchasing Crabtree (as has been speculated) it will be redeveloped into a "North Hills" type of mixed use development - no traditional department stores but higher end specialty stores. As others have mentioned, malls are quickly becoming extinct. If I recall correctly, Charlotte recently tore down one of their zombie malls.
As this metro area continues to grow, it will attract more and more higher end retail stores. If you get the itch to buy a Rolls Royce, Raleigh has the only dealership in the state. My wife rarely shops for clothes in physical stores, as most of her shopping is done online.
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