Observations & Conversations

Before the arrival of The Town Center at Easton, Columbusites really had only two alternatives for fun.  The Brewery District lacks sex appeal, with a couple of frat-house-type nightclubs and a few breweries.  The breweries are housed in flat brick buildings that have virtually no exterior attention-getters.  The Continent, with a few nightclubs, a Loew’s Cinema and lots of vacant storefronts, is like an old New Orleans hooker that can’t afford to close shop. Neither of the two would attract families.  They are designed for the young and single. 

 

I visited most of the malls and I don’t even need to describe them because they look just like the mall near you.  However, there were some interesting stores.  Seems as though Columbus is the testing ground for a lot of new concepts.  I visited a cool haircutting place called ‘Mop.’  It was the most minimalist shop I’ve ever seen.  Hopefully, the owner will talk to us for a future issue.  I saw an Eddie Bauer store that had two levels with a coffee bar in the upper rear of the store.  If Eddie Bauer treated more of their stores with this kind of TLC, their sales would skyrocket.  I also got to see Limited Too’s new prototype.  The signage is fantastic, and the store has lots of energy from the clothes and accessories ­ and from imaginative touches like preteen-ager chat phone lines that kids can listen to at a play pay phone; bubble gum music in the background;  inflated chairs outside the dressing room;  and even faux inflatable frames on the dressing room mirrors.

 

I saw Abercrombie & Fitch’s kids store.  It was beautifully done with clothing lines similar to their adult stores but in sizes for ages 10 and under.  I saw Nine West’s store with its line of clothing.  I asked how well the line was moving, since some of the styles were obviously from last season.  The clerk said they weren’t moving as fast as they had hoped. 

 

I saw a Galyan’s store and was incredibly impressed.  Thank God my son didn’t come on this trip. I’m sure he could spend the whole day there buying fishing and hunting supplies, play clothes, gear for football, basketball, winter (boots, hats, etc.), and summer (sun block, sunglasses, sandals, etc.).  The decor of the store was spectacular and the climbing wall was as much an attraction for the sightseers as it was for the climbers.  Outside, at the rear of the store, were volleyball and basketball courts and soccer fields.  Galyan’s would give any sporting goods store a run for their money.  It’s the kind of store that a sportsman or athlete travels quite a distance to shop. I don’t think labeling Galyan’s a sporting goods store is a fair characterization. It is closer to a lifestyle department store.

 

When I looked at the tenant line-up for Easton, I thought, ‘Oh my God, they actually brought some of the hottest tenants on my consumer poll’s wish list to what is perceived to be a sleeping town.’  The Town Center At Easton is bringing J.Crew, Restoration Hardware, Planet Hollywood, Jeepers!, Smith & Hawken, Virgin’s mega-music store, and so much more new blood to the town.  Easton is going to bring shopping and entertainment into the new century in Columbus.  I also saw the GameWorks layout in Easton and they’ve set it up so the restaurant and bar area are as much a part of the concept as the games sector. Yaromir explained that he worked closely with them on the design so that the food segment shared the stage with the amusements.   Plus, you can be entertained with active sports like bowling, or hear the up-and-comers at the Funnybone Comedy club, or get a laugh with adult humor at the Shadow Box Cabaret. 

 

My husband and I recently had a weekend to bum, so we went to a flea market, the zoo, a play, a jazz club, shopping specialty stores in a resort town, lunch at an outdoor cafe, and we bought the ingredients to make a meal at home from a gourmet French bakery and food store.  Then we went to a movie and checked out GameWorks.  I thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be great if we could do all of this under one roof, without driving from place to place?’  Then I realized that most of what we did could be done at the Town Center At Easton.  And that’s a clear sign that the tenant mix was done right, because that’s what Joe Public wants, too.  There are more details in this issue, but this project will break new ground in the development arena and I’m sure it will be mimicked elsewhere.  If you want to see a good example of the new era in tenant mixes, go to Columbus and check it out.  When you go, stay at The Lofts, a great boutique hotel.  

 

While I was in New Rochelle, New York at New Roc City, I also got to see Sports Plus’ latest concept (detailed in this issue).  It’s a 150,000-sq.ft. anchor that offers ice skating, arcades, food, a sports bar and tons more entertainment components.  If you’re looking for an anchor, call Phil DeAngelo.  Phil not only works with Sports Plus, he is also the president of the International Association of Family Entertain ment Centers, a trade organization for operators of family entertainment centers, and he is director of the New Jersey Amusement Association. In his role as president of IAFEC, he is in touch with 17,000 members, so obviously Phil is a great resource.

 

I saw ESPNZone in Baltimore and it was fantastic.  They understand that people want to move more than their fingers when they are out to play.  Not only can you mount a climbing wall, but also play basketball and swing in a batting cage.  I think a big mistake many arcade operators make is forgetting to put in those active sports pieces.  Yeah, they take up a lot of space and the turn isn’t as quick as a video game, but they earn their keep because it’s more fun to watch someone make a basket than it is to be a backseat driver to a video game.  

 

I went to the newly opened GameWorks in Philadelphia and I was terribly disappointed.  This unit didn’t have a bar or restaurant.  It was just a big room filled with video arcades.  It was nothing special and any one of my friends in the arcade business could have put together the design and equipment.  The GameWorks name was the only thing that set it apart from any other arcade of that size.  This unit only had one party room.  Saying that this GameWorks was a plain Jane wrapper would be a drastic understatement.  The facility had no exterior pizazz and nothing on the inside to write about.  One of the people on the floor said they might open a bar/restaurant on the second level if the game room did well.  The merchandising for the redemption prizes was also weak. 

 

What makes this even more interesting is that GameWorks’ co-anchors with United Artists.  The UA theater has 20 screens and two levels.  There are about five arcade pieces in its lobby and that’s the extent of theming ambiance in the theater.  The project is two levels with a nightclub and restaurant on the second tier.  A laser tag space was vacant and there were a few other dark storefronts.  I visited around 5 p.m. on a Saturday and I felt 100 percent comfortable with the atmosphere.  GameWorks was extremely busy with a 10- to 15-year-old age crowd at the games.  The movie theater was also active.  The ethnicity ratio of the customers for the entire center was about 70 percent non-Caucasian.  Security was highly visible.  Free parking was available in a city lot.  However, I don’t think I would feel at ease  escorting a gaggle of kids at 10 p.m.   Plus, just down the street is a 75,000-sq. ft. Dave & Busters that opened several years ago.  I know this particular Dave & Busters well, since I’ve thrown birthday and company parties there and we also visit to kill time as a family.  There’s no way I would go to GameWorks when I could go to Dave & Busters.  One, I can eat and get a drink at D&B’s.  Two, I have the option of playing pool or casino games  if I get bored playing arcade games on the midway. Three, I can go to a mystery dinner theater if I want fun a little more on the adult side.  Valet parking is available, or for a fee, I can dock at a well-lit, shallow parking deck.  

 

My discomfort with the neighborhood around GameWorks reminds me to tell you to check out our interview in this issue with Robert Wennett, president of Starwood Urban Investments.  Wennett emphasizes the importance of revitalizing whole neighborhoods to get a synergy going between visitors and the local community.  It is interesting to note, in light of Starwood Urban’s investment strategy, that late in 1994 Federal Realty Investment Trust, where Wennett was vp of acquisitions prior to forming Starwood Urban, launched a new “Main Street Retail” program through which the company is targeting the acquisition of select retail buildings in established downtown shopping areas.  To date, Federal Realty (301-998-8100) based in Rockville, Maryland, has an interest in 62 main-street retail properties located in approximately 20 cities.  We’ll have to ask them what they are doing to make their properties, and their visitors, feel comfortable as part of the local neighborhoods.

 

Someone asked me recently, if I had to choose a tenant between Jillian’s, GameWorks, ESPNZone or Dave & Buster’s, who would I choose, putting economics aside, just purely from who was the best operator.  It was a hard call between ESPNZone and Dave & Buster’s.  They asked me why Jillian’s and GameWorks weren’t my first choice because many developers are opting for these two chains over ESPN or D&B’s.  Jillian’s and GameWorks have yet to roll out a consistent product.  They are getting an education paid for by the developer.  D&B’s and Disney did their homework before they rolled  out.  My money is on ESPNZone and Dave & Buster’s to be around for the long haul. (I read most of D&B’s 10K reports and I also think they are growing the company because the location is right, not just because the deal is sweet.) 

 

While we’re on the topic of creating a tenant mix and project that will sustain the test of time, there are some ideas floating that are just the beginning of major brain storms.  A  new model for tenant mixes is in the making. I talked with Yaromir Steiner about Easton’s mix because once you walk the center it becomes clear that the stores are blocked like a director orchestrates an actor’s scene in order to create a certain mood and to fulfill a certain need.  For example, music and books are side by side, tenants specializing in the home are grouped, apparel based on active, children, family and high-end lines are placed as a collection of related stores, and the entertainment tenants are clustered.  So the way the center is laid out, you go from a leisure pace to high energy.  This model will be played out further in phase two, which is in the pre-leasing stage.  Supplying energy will be a 100,000-sq. ft. Galyan’s and a Nordstrom anchoring the fashion district. 

 

Yaromir takes the approach that you create a place where people not only have fun and shop, but also have a place just to browse, to spend leisure time looking and touching. Yaromir believes  that browsers return to projects to become buyers when the last time they visited was a good experience.  Part of making the good experience is creating a place for people to congregate, a real place far from center court.  Easton’s town squares (its gathering places) give people reasons to stand a while and watch the fountain that “pops” a variety of displays, to ice skate, or just to sit on a bench and take in the fresh air.  After spending some time with Yaromir, I’m starting to get a clearer picture of what a town center should be.  However, after I saw the Town Center at Polaris, I knew that the definition was being misused.  Glimcher is a great developer, don’t be misled, but this is a power center in its purest form. 

 

I had been pondering Steiner’s ideas about tenant mix when I talked to Nick Bashkiroff about his Power & Light District. Nick spoke about “programming” projects.  We discussed how most mass communication is programmed.  Look at how radio and television capture a market by good programming.   Developers can use the same kind of programming strategy to create a tenant mix. It’s an idea that warrants consideration.   I was talking to John Wright of Lexington Scenery & Props, and we discussed how the shopping entertainment experience should be “like chapters in a book” – another interesting viewpoint.  John comes from a theatrical background, so he sees bricks and mortar as the box and the stuff  inside as props.  John feels that the shopping experience should evolve and progress over time so that the consumers won’t feel like they’re caught in a time warp. 

 

That time warp thing stuck with me when I visited The Continent.  Here’s a classic case of a project whose heart just stopped beating.  My partner had some memorable fun times there twenty years ago.  He thinks it can be revived.  I’m not so sure.  The real estate is notable, but the stigma, the physical layout of a maze-like labyrinth,  underwhelming architecture and deferred maintenance might have already nailed its fate.  I see no hope for resurrection, even under the skilled hand of the most brilliant developer. It’s interesting to see these mistakes being made in some of the projects being built this minute. 

 

Recently I saw a project that’s going to be a tough nut to crack in a few years.  The layout makes every tenant isolated from his neighbors. Even if there’s a conceptual synergy between the uses, there’s no real interplay for the customer when that person moves from one place to another in the project.  The architecture is dramatic, but it carries lines that are not soothing to the eye.  It’s going to be costly to refresh the project to create a more satisfying look.  Furthermore, changing the layout by creating or knocking down demising walls is going to create even more dead space.  Much like The Continent, it would be better to put it to rest gracefully with dynamite.

 

Many of the projects E.S.P. encounters are experiments, specimens on a lab table to be observed and profited from.  There’s everything right about experimenting, but there is a protocol to be adhered to or the experiment will fail.  First on the protocol list is to build a concept that can evolve, both in its physical plant and in its tenant mix.  Otherwise, the project won’t stand the test of time.  Until next month.

 

Ann O’Neal, publisher