| In the thrall of the mall at Bayview Village
One of my favourite books about shopping is called The Call of the Mall by retail anthropologist Paco Underhill, who analyzes the customer experience of malls worldwide. His conclusion (in more eloquent terms): both are pretty awful.
Underhills picture of crammed parking lots, uninspiring window displays and grease-filled food courts is typical of all the malls Ive ever experienced.
Until recently, that is.
On a chilly spring night, I embarked on a half-hour subway journey to the Bayview Village shopping centre.
Without a doubt, Bayview Village is the swankiest mall Ive ever shopped.
In terms of design, atmosphere and general cleanliness, this mall beats all. Where most malls seem dark and closed in, and are overt in their attempt to be ultra contemporary, Bayview Village is light, airy and welcoming — like a village, come to think of it.
Work crews are turing the Aladdin into Planet Hollywood Las Vegas.
The construction on the exterior of the Aladdin is reaching a fever pitch, with the bulk of the ground-level exterior in major renovation mode. But look skyward for the big clue as to what is happening behind all the scaffolding, as a new name in giant letters has been hoisted atop the building: Planet Hollywood. The former Aladdin will officially become Planet Hollywood in mid-April, with its major shopping destination, Desert Passage, becoming Miracle Mile in May. Much of the interior work on the hotel is already headed toward completion with a new lobby, a revamped casino and major changes to the rest of the public spaces designed to get rid of all traces of the Arabian Nights theme that dominated the old property. In its place is a sleek, modern and very upscale design that looks absolutely nothing like the over-the-top spectacle that is the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.
Designer playhouses coming to Stanford
Architects, designers and builders are letting their inner children run wild as they work to design life-sized children's playhouses and garden structures to be auctioned off in June. Beginning May 5, the finished products will be displayed at Stanford Shopping Center as part of its biennial Dreams Happen Playhouse Gala and Auction. The structures will be auctioned off June 2 to benefit Rebuilding Together Peninsula. "Dreams Happen is an important event for us and we're inspired by the incredible participation year after year of Stanford Shopping Center and our volunteers," Seana O'Shaughnessy, executive director at Rebuilding Together Peninsula, said. "The proceeds raised fund our efforts for up to two years and allow us to significantly impact the lives of low-income families on the Peninsula." The design teams have named their structures with tantalizing names like Waggy the Dog, Go'pher Gold Mine and Tahoe Trading Post, according to a statement from Rebuilding Together Peninsula.
Groundbreaking for The Village at Fairview turns the vision of ...
Residents and city officials from the Town of Fairview, as well as many others involved in the project, convened to celebrate the long awaited ground breaking of The Village at Fairview.
"We were told the little Town of Fairview would not be able to get it done but $50 million in incentives was contributed by the town," said Gar Herring, president of MGHerring Group.
Also in attendance was John Q. Hammons who formally announced that Embassy Suites would be the flag flown over the 280-suite, 10-story hotel adjoined to the 80,000-gross-square-foot convention center. It had been speculated that an Embassy Suites was the most likely possibility but never confirmed.
The Embassy Suites Hotel Fairview will be Hammons' eighth Texas development. The hotel will be owned by Hammons and the convention center will be owned by the town of Fairview.
RETAIL NEWS ROUNDUP: Week of April 2 - April 7
CoStar News is expanding its retail real estate coverage under the direction of Senior Editor Sasha Pardy to bring you a weekly feature covering the gamut of retailer expansion plans, new store openings and closings, shopping center trends, and current deals in the works. Among the news items reported this week, we report on Men's Wearhouse's acquisition of After Hours; Growth at Gander Mountain and several others; New formats and investor criticism at Home Depot; Circuit City's cost cutting, and the closing of Bombay stores. But before jumping into the real estate, as RNR was going to press came word that department store kingpin Federated Department Stores (NYSE:FD) plans to change its corporate name to Macy's after its flagship retailer and adopt the ticker symbol "M" as part of an identity simplification plan.
Union Square: San Francisco's Retail and Cultural Pulse
Extensive shopping, scrumptious dining, authentic cable cars and delightful street performers. These are just a few characteristics of Union Square. Hotel accommodations in and around Union Square make touring downtown San Francisco easy and convenient. Are you planning a visit for business, pleasure or both? Because of the central location, you'll benefit greatly from finding a Union Square hotel near Moscone Convention Center. This will grant you access to everything downtown San Francisco offers. Shopping, Shopping, Shopping Union Square is most famous for it extensive collection of retail stores. The third largest shopping area in the United States, you'll find some of the finest premium department stores, specialty shops and high-end boutiques in the country in Union Square, including the newly opened Westfield Centre, home to San Franciscos Bloomingdales.
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