Comments on Tomorrow's News Today - Atlanta: Can Davenport, Iowa Trump New York, New York in Du...

I can't help but to think that Von Maur's ...

2012-01-06T09:54:32.951-05:00

I can't help but to think that Von Maur's Perimeter location would cannibalize sales from North Point. I'm no expert on retail though.

At one point you had their North Point store on your deathwatch list. I would consider adding them back. The Perimeter store is much more likely to be a success.

Hey J.T., You make some good points and perhaps ...

2012-01-06T01:03:08.043-05:00

Hey J.T.,

You make some good points and perhaps that would make sense for the market but alas... it will never happen.

Thanks for reading and for the comments.

Belk and Von Maur need to do a swap. Belk should ...

2012-01-06T01:00:02.513-05:00

Belk and Von Maur need to do a swap. Belk should move their flagship into this old Davison's store while Von Maur should take over the old Parisian at Phipps. That would be a better fit for both stores and would put them in prime positions for their respective markets.

I grew up in Davenport (I even went to High School...

2012-01-05T17:34:54.569-05:00

I grew up in Davenport (I even went to High School with some of the Von Maur's). I'm surprised how well the stores have done, but as for the discussion that two stores are too close, remember that in the Quad Cities (a market of under 400,000) they have had two stores closer together for over 30 years (at one point they had 3). The same was true in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids until recently. And they are in a number of smaller markets: Waterloo, Peoria, Ft Wayne.... So they probably don't need the density that a store like Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. And I still think of them as "Petersens" - when I grew up they were known as Petersen Harned von Maur

not suprising in the least. A Perimeter shopper w...

2012-01-05T15:23:39.268-05:00

not suprising in the least. A Perimeter shopper wouldnt normally make that drive to North Point for Von Maur. It seems to me Von Maur is being aggressive in its expansion in the South because they see a niche that needs to be filled. Once upon a time Parisian filled that niche. Unfortunately SAKS ruined their reputation by no longer focusing on quality and service, which Parisian was known for through the mid 80s.

Von Maur is not as expensive nor as trendy as Bloo...

2012-01-05T13:48:19.225-05:00

Von Maur is not as expensive nor as trendy as Bloomingdales, and in Atlanta 2 Bloomingdales were unfortunately too much for people here. Thankfully Von Maur is better than Belk, but it's no different then having a Nordstrom at Phipps and a Nordstrom at Perimeter. I don't see why a Perimeter Mall location would be a bad thing just because they have a store at North Point... they have been wanting to expand further here anyways. I could see one opening in Atlantic Station next to Dillard's...

I think this is an odd move. I'm frankly not ...

2012-01-05T13:45:11.229-05:00

I think this is an odd move. I'm frankly not surprised that Bloomingdale's at Perimeter is closing, but Von Maur taking it's place? I was reading an article on the AJC about this and it said something to the affect that Bloomingdale's caters to a very specific customer type - one who is very rarefied and that Perimeter was not a luxury mall and didn't really draw the specific customer type Bloomingdale's was looking for.

Von Maur, to me, is very very similar to Bloomingdale's. Like you said they have the good, better, best strategy and Bloomingdale's did too. You could find good, more reasonably priced brands as well as the best, super expensive brands. I just don't think replacing a struggling store with the exact same type of store that hasn't really been tested in the Atlanta area is a good idea, but I suppose as far as the mall is concerned it's better than having a 3 story anchor sit empty for a while.