Dillard's department store announced this week that it will multiple underperforming stores and said they will limit new store openings in 2009 to 5 as they attempt to attract more affluent shoppers, adding more upscale products and labels. On a recent (accidental and unfortunate) visit to the shopping disaster that is Atlantic Station I visited the Dillard's and it seemed as though I could count the number of shoppers with two hands, clearly the number of associates outnumbered shoppers by at least 3 to 1. Its a wonder they have stayed open as long as they have, for that location is just not right for their store.
Did someone say Closing Sale?
6 comments:
What is so bad about Atlantic Station in your opinion?
Actually, my friend in management there says their sales are ahead of projections. Having the only H&M with men's and children's clothing next door should bring in a lot of traffic.
Of course you want to keep any poor sales stats from the general public, not a surprise management would report good earnings. I have no doubt there will be additional closures at Atlantic Station by years end or shorty there after. Overall the center has a largely fragmented array of retailers and restaurants appealing to far different demographics. Is it any wonder that H&M officials insisted that certain structural and leasing issues be dealt with prior to opening, I mean seriously, that store was suppose to be open some months ago! If the idea is to stay and "play" after shopping or dining, why charge for any parking, , the same customer that spends $10 or so in Old Navy is not going to spend $4 to park. Aside fro ma few unique restaurants, there is little there that can't be had at most any area shopping center or mall. With all the structural issues now being discovered and the countless millions of dollars it will take to fix, its no wonder that special zip code (30363) that Atlantic Station has also has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state! Rather than "Live, work, play", should be "Close, wait, pay".
proshop99,
You are providing some very timely and often accurate information about Atlanta's dynamic retail and restaurant scene and I commend you for your time and effort in that regard. Howevere, some of your "editorial comments" take away a lot of that value, unnecessarily I might add.
It is your blog but I think you want to encourage readers not discourage them with needless negativity.
Remember , sometimes it is not what you say but how you say it.
The alleged failure of Atlantic Station has a lot to do with the fact that it is intended to be a development that caters to users of future commuter and high speed transit rail lines. The real time for Atlantic station to shine will be when the commuter rail line and the high speed transit line are actually in place. The fact that Atlantic Station is a transit oriented development (TOD) is one of the reasons why it was approved for development, in order to mitigate for the metropolitan Atlanta area's poor air quality. TOD is essentially a compact development built around transit stops, especially rail transit. Funds from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program were used to fund the sidewalks and other pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements that took place as part of the Atlantic Station development. To see any real improvement in the housing stock and retail sales at Atlantic Station, contact your Georgia and federal congressional representatives and tell him/her to push for rail lines and other transit alternatives in Atlanta and all of Georgia. The long range master plan for all of the transit lines that are planned for Georgia, lead to Atlantic Station. This is one of the reasons why there are so many wide lanscaped medians on the roadway netword surrounding Atlantic Station, to preserve the right-of-way for the future rail transit.
"there is little there that can't be had at most any area shopping center or mall"
This is one of the strangest criticisms I hear of Atlantic Station.
People that live intown no longer need to travel to "any are shopping center or mall" just to get this very basic retail. If it doesn't have stores that interest you then don't go, but for many intown residents this was greatly needed and appreciated.
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