December 14, 2005
Coming Soon: Max's Opera Cafe
The Houlihan's restaurant has closed next to The Orchard Food Court. I remember eating there one or two times. For some reason, all I can remember is that they only served whole milk. What the heck was up with that? In any case, construction baracades are now up promoting Max's Opera Cafe of Skokie. This appears to be a chain out of California. According to the locations on their website, looks like Old Orchard might be one of their first non-West Coast locations.
The description from the website is as follows:
Towering deli sandwiches, gigantic salads and entree specialties plus decadent fresh-baked breads and award-winning desserts have been signature items of family-owned Max's Restaurants since 1978 with the opening of Max's Son in Daly City. Dennis Berkowitz, owner of Max's, named the restaurant in honor of his father. Max's sang a new tune in 1982 with the opening of Max's Opera Cafe in San Francisco, where the customer is entertained by servers singing opera and show tunes. Max's Diner, opening in 1985, took us back to the '50's and '60's "counter culture". Twenty-five years later, Max's uncompromising standards protecting the customer's right to a great meal have remained and fans continue to keep Max's Restaurants cooking round-the-clock.Looks like it could be fun dining experience with all that singing! Slated to open in "Spring 2006".
Posted by Tannerman at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2005
So long Saks, hello Steve and Barry's
Back in May, we reported here at the Old Orchard Observer about Saks Fifth Avenue gearing up to close at Old Orchard. The store finally did close at the end of July.
Before Saks did say good-bye, there were various levels of Store Closing sales. Amy and I dropped by many of these to check in on the progress of clearing out the large Saks space. The Old Orchard location had 3 levels (main, upper, and basement). Here are some photos we took during those final days.
Inside the store, many of the fixtures were for sale, though it seemed like quite a few were earmarked for other Saks locations.
Eventually, all mention of Saks would be removed from the mall. This electronic sign mounted on the Professional Building was quickly changed after the Saks closing to remove the name of the store (and they probably fixed the burned out lightbulbs as well).
Signage was removed from the main Saks building as well, resulting in a very empty, barren spot. Much like everything at that end of Old Orchard.
You may remember that back in June, word was leaked that Westfield was considering adding a lifestyle center element to Old Orchard. According to the plans made public, this would involve the demolition of both the Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue anchor buildings. I haven't heard anything new since that news came out, but we did wonder if Westfield would leave the Saks building vacant or try to find a new tenant. That question was answered in October when the Chicago Tribune reported on a tenant to fill the space:
$10-or-Less Clothing RetailerSource: Chicago TribuneSteve and Barry's University Sportswear was founded in 1985, and while it seems like a good short-term fit for Old Orchard, my money is that they have a short-term lease with Westfield so that the lifestyle center plans would not be harmed.
A new style for Old Orchard
October 7, 2005
By Becky YerakGone are the days when shopping malls relied solely on department stores as anchor tenants.
At Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, a $10-or-less clothing retailer is moving into a vacated Saks store, an example of how even upscale malls in well-heeled areas are rethinking the notion of who should occupy the biggest spaces.
Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, which sells inexpensive men's, women's and children's clothes including jeans, jackets and licensed college goods, will occupy all three floors of the 105,000-square-foot space vacated by Saks in July. It is expected to open next month.
The privately held Port Washington, N.Y., firm typically operates stores ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 square feet in less prestigious malls.
"This is our first Class A mall," Steve & Barry's spokesman Rick Gomes said.
"They came to us because we're a company who can put something in quickly," he said of the retailer's relationship with mall owner Westfield Group.
At Old Orchard, Steve & Barry's joins such traditional mall stalwarts as Marshall Field's, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom. Spaces for those retailers range from just under 200,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet.
As retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. open hundreds of free-standing stores a year, malls are trying new ways to remain relevant to consumers, particularly younger ones, and are looking beyond tried-and-true conventional department stores as key tenants.
"We thought Steve & Barry's would be a great addition and bring a different clientele," said Thomas Sikoral, Westfield Old Orchard general manager.
In May, Steve & Barry's was named in an International Council of Shopping Centers survey as one of retailing's five hottest merchants--along with Apple Computer Inc., Coach Inc., Williams Sonoma Inc. and White House Black Market, a subsidiary of Chico's FAS. Inc.
In a May interview, Steve & Barry's co-founder and co-Chief Executive Barry Prevor, said he is interested in any mall anchor spots that might open up as a result of industry consolidation, which recently has touched such retailers as Sears, Macy's and Marshall Field's.
Mall developers, he noted, have become more open-minded about what constitutes an anchor tenant in light of mergers that are making department stores more homogeneous.
"If a mall has four department store anchor spots, and one goes vacant, then years ago mall management would have thought, `Get another department store.' Now, they say, `We have three department stores selling the same brands at the same prices. What would be the point of bringing in an identical department store?'" Prevor told the Tribune.
"So they look for alternative uses. This has been one of the great drivers behind our growth," he said.
Steve & Barry's has 87 stores in 27 states and plans to open another 40 stores by year-end.
In June 2004, it opened one in Westfield Chicago Ridge mall in Chicago Ridge, followed in October 2004 by a location in North Riverside Park Mall in North Riverside.
The retailer has plans to open more stores across the area, including outlets at Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora, Randhurst Mall in Mt. Prospect, Westfield Louis Joliet in Joliet, University Mall in Carbondale and in Springhill Mall in West Dundee.
Amy and I checked out the new store shortly after they opened. While the merchandise was somewhat appealing (mainly for price), the store itself looked like the new tenants had done nothing to remodel the space. Thus indicating that this is probably not a long-term solution for Old Orchard. But we'll see.
The addition of Steve & Barry's will help The Promenade section of Old Orchard not seem so dead, but I'm not quite sure that it fits the image that the mall is trying to portray. Then again, Westfield has already done a pretty good job making the mall more crappy, so anything goes these days.
Posted by Tannerman at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
Closed: The Bombay Company
Over in The Park, we've got another vacancy. The Bombay Company closed a few months back. It seems like it was struggling quite a bit there. Over time you saw rebranding from "The Bombay Company" to simply just "Bombay".
To keep things on track, they seemed to be moving beyond just furniture to move into stuff like candles, fragrances, etc. In other words, going after the same market you'd find at say Pottery Barn. Apparently in Old Orchard's case, that wasn't working for this location.
Temporary displays have moved into the windows of the Bombay location, promoting something called Eclectic Junction and Pull-A-Switch. Actually, we've seen these two window displays elsewhere at the mall, used to fill-in for vacant stores.
Seems like they sell interesting jewelry and really odd wall switch plates for your home. Hey, whatever works! Just an FYI, malls will often lease out vacant window space to existing tenants or outside folks looking for promotion... plus, it keeps the mall from looking barren and often provides additional revenue.
Posted by Tannerman at 12:44 PM
Gloria Jeans out; Ethel's in
Over the years, one of our favorite places to visit while at Old Orchard was Gloria Jeans, located on Pear Lane. Now, I don't drink coffee, but my wife does, and compared to the other coffee offerings at the mall (mainly Starbucks), Gloria Jeans was the better option. I did get my fair share of steamed milk items, however.
Unfortunately, like many other retailers, Gloria Jeans pulled out of Old Orchard after their 10 year lease was up, resulting in the store closing a few months ago. We were saddened by this. Soon construction walls went up around the space with no mention of what was on the drawing board.
However, it appears a replacement is now in sight. We're getting an Ethel's Chocolate Lounge at Old Orchard! What's this all about? I'll let the Wall Street Journal explain this new concept owned by Mars, Inc.:A place for cocoa nuts: Mars opens chocolate cafe
By the end of the summer, Mars expects to have 6 locations open in the Chicago area, including the one at Old Orchard (slated for an August opening).
Friday, July 15, 2005
By Amy Chozick, The Wall Street Journal
At Ethel's Chocolate Lounge... couples and families relax on plush pastel-colored furniture, eating champagne chocolates and sipping mocha drinks. Behind a glass pane, espresso, pina colada and honey-flavored truffles sell for about $42 a pound. A sign reads "Chocolate is the New Black."
More precisely, Mars Inc., the closely held candy giant behind Ethel's (named after the late matriarch of Mars), is betting that chocolate is the new coffee. Decorated with pink-and-brown striped wallpaper and whimsical lighting, the new chain is Mars's attempt to make lingering over a plate of premium chocolates in a cafe space as mainstream as drinking a morning latte at Starbucks. For a company best known for making mass-market products like Twix and Snickers bars, this means transforming a lowly commodity into a high-price luxury.
...The $14.5 billion U.S. chocolate industry could use a shot of espresso. Dominated by decades-old products like Hershey bars and M&M's, the industry has posted annual sales increases of less than 3 percent from 2002 to 2004, reports the National Confectioners Association, an industry trade group. Meanwhile, sales at upscale coffee and cocoa stores (a category that includes Godiva as well as sit-down spots like Starbucks) rose 20.6 percent in the same period.
...The chocolate lounge dates back to 17th-century London, about a century after cocoa was brought to Europe from Latin America. Designed or the elite, European chocolate houses offered comfortable seating where the upper crust could socialize while drinking hot chocolate. Today, chocolate is still consumed in Europe more regularly than it is in the U.S., where consumers and manufactures have a more populist approach to it.
Old Orchard already has an upscale chocolate store (Godiva), but it's not really built for lounging. It should be interesting to see how this battle for overpriced chocolate plays out. If they have a good hot chocolate, I may check them out come this fall!
Posted by Tannerman at 12:04 PM
June 29, 2005
Sara Lee closes all 11 Inner Self stores
I bet you didn't know that Sara Lee owned a retail store concept designed to take on Victoria's Secret. It's true, and was called Inner Self, "a special intimate apparel/loungewear retail environment and experience that pampers, relaxes and soothes." Not that it matters, as Sara Lee has closed all 11 of these concept stores. They want to focus on the other brands they own (such as Playtex, Wonderbra, Hanes, and Champion -- nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!)
Frankly, they had to be a little crazy to think they could battle Victoria's Secret in this space. Sure, they tried to modify their target audience, going after a niche in the women 25-55 category, average dress size of 12. At the time, Sara Lee attempted to "provide an alternative to the often-unattainable, sexy ideal promoted by Victoria's Secret, and declining service at department stores."
Nevertheless, the chain is dead, and now there is a vacancy in the Fountain Court section of Old Orchard. We never saw people actually in that store, which only seemed to be around for a little longer than a year. In fact, when it first opened, it had to close for a few days due to a water leak. Telling signs of what was to come.
Posted by Tannerman at 05:43 PM