Retail Apocalypse
Hennepin Library To Move To SouthdaleJune 25, 2019
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners voted on June 18th to negotiate a lease agreement to
move Southdale Library
to the nearby Southdale Center. The existing library building will be
demolished and sold to brown-brick condominium developers.
Meanwhile, Rojo Mexican Grill
closed its Southdale location on June 3rd. Restaurateur Michael McDermott said, “
There’s been a lot of changes at Southdale, a lot of people leaving.” Commenting on the library move, he said, “
I just don’t think that’s going to draw a lot of people, at least not our customers.”
Hennepin County will be
locked into Southdale rent at $562,600 for each of the first five years, with increases for the following 15 years.
There
had
been an artist rendition of the formerly Herberger's space with a
library
above a restaurant. That has disappeared, because what could go
wrong? Restaurant fires result in direct property damage of
$165 million annually.
Music Association: Millie Cyrus - Wrecking BallRetail Apocalypse
Saving The Shopping MallJune 15, 2019
Dinosaurs are gone. There is no good reason to bring them back to life.
Retail is always dying and evolving.
The
general store killed specialty stores, which were then hit by
the Sears mail-order catalog and mass merchandising. Department
stores overtook general stores but were overtaken by mall conglomerations,
which were undercut by discount stores like Target and Walmart,
which were almost overwhelmed by Amazon.
There are still general
stores (in places), and specialty stores, mail-order catalogs,
department stores, shopping malls, discount stores, and e-commerce.
When the
Mall of America
opened in 1992, it was a risk. Nobody knew whether it would succeed or
fail. When it succeeded, it changed how the Twin Cities viewed the
Dales (Southdale, Rosedale, Ridgedale, & the late Brookdale). The
Dales were no longer the pinnacle of shopping experiences in Minnesota.
Nearby
Southdale
(1.2 million retail sq ft) will always be in the shadow of the Mall of
America (2.5 million retail sq ft). The Mall of America has 555 stores,
an indoor amusement park, and an aquarium. What does Southdale have?
Library plans?!?
Developers want the land under the Hennepin
County Library near Southdale, which is why it's slated to rent space
at Southdale. Southdale would get a tenant with rent money. Hennepin
County would get to sell prime land for more brown-brick condominiums.
What are top shopping malls doing to survive?
The most valuable shopping mall* at $5.74 billion is
Ala Moana Center
in Honolulu, Hawaii. It has an extreme advantage over mainland malls in
that there is no land available to build another mall. Its retail
area is 2.4 million sq ft with sales of $1,450 per sq ft.
Bloomingdale's took over for Sears (closed). Target took over for
Nordstrom (moved). Marshalls will replace Foodland. So the Ala Moana
anchors are Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and
Target. Discount retailers like Target and Marshalls in the mix signals
all is not perfect in paradise. To cater to the Instagram crowd, they
have cheesy Aloha Photo Stations.
The largest single-floor sprawled shopping mall is
Sawgrass Mills
in Sunrise, Florida, valued at $4.1 billion. With 2.3 million sq ft of
retail space, it is the 11th largest shopping mall in the U.S. Its
anchors are Super Target, Burlington, BrandsMart, TrendMax, Bed Bath
Beyond, Dick's, Marshalls, and Century21, plus Neiman Marcus Last Call
and Saks Off 5th Avenue. It was
closed due to flooding in June of 2017. The Sawgrass Mills survival plan is to keep their heads above water.
The third most valuable shopping mall* is
Oakbrook Center in suburban Oakbrook, Illinois, valued at $3.5 billion. Two of its five anchor stores are vacant.
The fourth most valuable shopping mall* is
Woodbury Common Premium Outlets
in Central Valley, New York, valued at $3.2 billion. Its sales per
square foot of $1,624 is one the highest in the country. As an
outlet mall, its anchors are Saks Off 5th Avenue, Calvin Klein, Nike
Factory, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Under Armour, and Gap Factory.
Traffic jams are their main problem. Their plans to survive are to
build two hotels, a new parking deck, and a helipad. They will survive.
The fifth most valuable shopping mall* at $3.06 billion is
Fashion Show
in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its anchors are Dillard's, Macy's, Macy's Mens,
Forever 21, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks 5th Ave, and Dick's Sporting
Goods.
The sixth most valuable shopping mall* at $2.92 billion is
Tysons Corner Center
in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC. Government employees
and contractors spend $980 per square foot at Tysons. Its anchor stores
-- Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, and Nordstrom --
will be enhanced by plans of adding a
7-Eleven!
Compared to Fashion Show with $975 of sales per sq ft, the
Forum Shops at Caesars
has $1,616 of sales per sq ft, due to its direct connection to Caesar's
Palace. The seventh most valuable shopping mall* at $2.79 billion,
allows gamblers to get something in return.
King of Prussia Mall
is the largest shopping mall in the U.S. at 2.6 million sq ft and the
eighth most valuable* at $2.77 billion. The Pennsylvania mall is
anchored by Bloomingdale's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Lord & Taylor,
Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Primark, with one vacant
anchor store last occupied by JCPenney.
All of those shopping malls are Real-Estate Investment Trust (REIT) owned, as indicated by the asterisk (*).
Now imagine a
family-owned mall
with 105 stores (100% full), including Neiman Marcus and Saks
Fifth Avenue as anchors, $3,010 of sales per sq ft, and a waiting list
of stores wanting in. That's
Bal Harbour Shops
just north of Miami Beach, Florida. You can't afford to go there. How
do I know? You are reading about shopping malls with problems. That's
not their problem. They don't care.
None of these shopping malls will be putting in a library.
Music Association: Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive* REIT owned shopping malls
Retail Apocalypse
Moving Into A Shopping MallJune 14, 2019
A letter complaining about Trump's 25% tariff taxes on goods from China was sent yesterday to President Trump. Two key sentences of the letter explain:
“Broadly
applied tariffs are not an effective tool to change China's unfair
trade practices. Tariffs are taxes paid directly by U.S. companies,
including those listed below -- not China.”The one-page letter was signed by 14 pages of stores, companies, port authorities, and trade associations, including:
Active Brands Costco Gap JCPenney Lee's Panasonic Ralph Lauren Target | American Eagle Designer Brands Hallmark Jo-Ann Stores Levi Strauss PetSmart Rawlings Tomy International | Bissell Eddie Bauer Ikea Kohl's Macy's Pier 1 Imports Regal Games Urban Outfitters | Columbia Sportswear Foot Locker J Crew LA Gear Pacific Sunwear Primark Tachikara Walmart |
At the end of 2018, shopping malls had a vacancy rate of 9%. Store closings
increased
in the first quarter of 2019. Over 6,000 store closures have been
announced in 2019, topping all of 2018. The economic bumblings of our
president couldn't have happened at a worse time for retail. There
are about 1,100 malls in America, with
about 800 vacant anchor spaces.
Ships Without Anchors
Southdale Mall,
the first enclosed shopping mall, opened in Edina, Minnesota in
1956. It has three vacant anchor spaces. The Herberger's department
store closed in 2018 as part of the Bon-Ton Stores bankruptcy. And
JCPenney and Gordmans also closed anchor stores at Southdale.
Southdale
plans to replace JCPenney with a LifeTime Fitness, which is funny
because the mall may no longer last a lifetime. And sure, it's foot
traffic, but those feet keep moving.
They also plan to demolish the Herberger's building and build a half-size replacement of the Herberger's building for the Hennepin County Library near Southdale.
The
Hennepin County Library near Southdale
is the fourth most visited library in the county with 303,316 visits in
2016 and 329,550 visits in 2017. The Le Corbusier inspired building
opened July 25, 1973 and has been a jewel in the Hennepin County
Library system ever since. Condominium developers are salivating over
the land under the library. The plan is to tear the library down, move
it to the
mall, and pay retail rent. What could go wrong?!?
Music Association: Semisonic - Closing Time2019
2017
Southdale Hennepin Library
Hey,
Gorgeous*
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Music Association: James Blunt -
You're Beautiful* The title of this
post is a nod to the sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations
in the news the past few weeks.
Our
culture is evolving... slowly. Congress needs to apply transparency to
its
hush money (
pdf). Agreements should be made against non-disclosure
agreements.
Do to others as you would have others do to you or
your loved ones.
Southdale Hennepin Library
Overview
Thursday,
November 23, 2017I overlook
my book
wondering what others are reading
with a
snap the spine cracks
and my nose drops between the pages
Sunlight
turns
the white room green
a tall chair lowers
for
shorter legs
Flat screens reflect dimly
brighter
with a cloud overhead
a page hovers in an open book
a box
of snow on pillars of white.
The
Southdale Hennepin Library had 303,316 visits in 2016.
It's
located at 7001 York Avenue South in Edina and is open from
9am to 9pm M-Th, 9am-5pm F-Sa, and Sundays from noon-5pm.
The
library will be torn down in 2019 with a small corner library rebuilt
in 2020 with housing, businesses, and a parking garage.
Three
possible
plans were offered by the Edina Housing &
Redevelopment Authority
and Hennepin County. On November 15th, the Hennepin County Designer
Selection Committee picked
MSR (Meyer, Scherer &
Rockcastle) as the architectural firm for the
new development (
more
information).
Music Association: OvertureSouthdale Hennepin Library
In a Mirror, Darkly
Tuesday,
November 21, 2017Once upon a
time in a place called Uttar Predesh
a man named Shah Jahan
built a majestic building to honor his third wife,
Mumtaz
Mahal, who died after 30 hours of parturition.
To
the north, across the Yamuna River, was another Taj Mahal
in
black and upside down
only seen in the black marble reflecting
pool, no longer there.
Music Associations: Rolling
Stones - Paint It Black
& David Cassidy 1950-2017 -
I'll Meet You Halfway Southdale Hennepin Library
Library
in the Sun
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Music Associations: The Beatles
- Here Comes The Sun & Sheryl Crow - Soakin' Up The SunBox
of Snow
November 17, 2017Build a box of snow
on
pillars of white
like Hobbes sees Calvin
fleeting
imagination
Music Association: Aerosmith -
Draw The LineLibristory (Library-History)
Video
Library Back in the 1970sSequential
Prime Day 11-13-17
Back in the 1970s,
video was added to the new Southdale Hennepin Area Library.
In
cooperation with the NFL, the library provided recordings of Minnesota
Vikings games, repeating Sunday football on Wednesdays at 4pm and 7pm.
The
200 seat meeting room was used for movie nights. Exterior speakers and
white exterior walls enabled drive-in styled movies (seasonally).
A
26 foot media desk included 14 stations for listening and viewing
films, film strips, video cassettes, sound cassettes, cartridges,
tapes, records, and television.
Melanie
Currier and others watch video in 1973 at the Southdale Hennepin Area
Library (photo by John Croft)A
six channel copper loop
enabled headset wearers to listen to programs while browsing the
library, including listening to programs about President Nixon, who had
more television exposure than the three previous presidents
(Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson) combined.
Computer
terminals were added in 1974.
And
in March 1975, Will Steger repelled off the west side of the
Southdale Hennepin Area Library, as part of a demonstration of mountain
climbing techniques.
The library has been
renovated several times since it opened in 1973 and still has the
latest media equipment.
Music Associations: Young
Rascals - Groovin' and Earth, Wind, & Fire - Let's Groove
TonightArchitectural Digest
Floating
Box ArchitectureNovember
6, 2017
How
do you get
a floating box
from art, defective guns, and the Chicago fire?
It's
all about steel.
Before
steel, architecture was all about holding stones up, with arches,
columns, and domes of stone and cement.
Steel had
a long history but it was wrought iron: a
material fine for patio furniture and trellises but not good as a
building material. It wasn't great for guns either. Wrought iron steel
was riddled with imperfections.
Guns couldn't be mass produced because the steel was too unreliable. In
1856, Henry Bessemer patented the process of making
Bessemer
steel, a
stronger, more malleable, less laborious metal. Gun production and
reliability increased.
U.S. steel mills could roll
out girders
of steel, which built the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River
between St. Louis, Missouri and East
St. Louis, Illinois in 1874. The bridge was the first all steel
construction
bridge, and it inspired some builders looking to rebuild Chicago after
the 1871 fire.
Minneapolis architect Leroy
Buffington
patented the concept of a steel framed tall building in 1888,
proposing a 28-story “
stratosphere-scraper.”
The
architectural news ridiculed the idea, but it got the attention of
William Le Baron Jenney. Jenney built the
Home
Insurance Building at
Adams and LaSalle in Chicago, as the first steel framed
skyscraper. The concept of a steel framed building
concerned city officials, causing them to halt construction while they
conducted a safety inspection.
Steel
framing solved weight and load problems. The Home Insurance Building
was a third of the weight of a comparable stone
building. Buildings could float. Architecture could get
artistic.
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret,
known as
Le
Corbusier, was the sort of artist who was
told to not be an artist,
so he became an architect. Taking advantage of the advancements in
steel framing, Le Corbusier wanted buildings to rest on stilts,
appearing to float. Adding to the external airiness, the inside of the
building would be free from supporting columns -- an open floor plan.
And ribbon windows added to the lightness of the structures.
Villa
Savoye became the most famous of Le Corbusier's works and an
icon of modern architecture.
Introducing James Stageberg
“
Stageberg's the name, and
architecture's the game,” James Stageberg would
introduce himself... all the time.
James
Stageberg (1925-2010) was an architect, University of Minnesota
professor, lead architect, and architect-partner with Tom Hodne from
1968 to 1982 in Minneapolis' Dinkytown. He would doodle architectural
sketches on the bus to work.
James
Stageberg designed the Southdale Hennepin Area Library as an homage to
Le Corbusier and Villa Savoye, taken to a whole other level.
For
architect fees of $152,234, Minnesota and the south Hennepin County
area received a jewel on the librarian landscape. The snow white walls
rose up on white stilts from the former gravel pit turned parking lot.
Rows of rose-colored windows mirrored commercial Southdale on the
outside, while the tinted glass protected the 120,000 volumes on the
inside. Up on the roof top, a second tier roof protected
centrally-located skylights, washing light over the hexagonal-ottomans
in the second level reading area, with extra light pouring
down
the stairway to the first floor.
The pixellating,
Seurat-like red-blue-navy carpet had an
electric purple
effect on the eyes.
A huge
leather-baseball-mitt chair was the best seat in the house.
Interior
designer Paula Vesely decked the library with $234,682 furnishings
& equipment, including $30,000 of audio-visual equipment money
that
provided “
the
most sophisticated range of audio-visual facilities and resources of
any public library in the country.”
The
brochure from the July 25, 1973 opening emphasizes “
Southdale-Hennepin is not a
research library.” (
pdf)
Music Association: David Bowie -
Modern Love“A
Page Hovers in an Open Book”November
3, 2017
A page hovers in an open book
a
window to another world
a rose-tinted mirror reflecting back
waiting
to be uncurled
Pages nearby are read and unread
propped
on arms or legs
in motion and never moving
easy and
also easel
Books are easy to put down
like
a loyal dog they will wait
at rest but never resting
a
library waiting for your return.
Music Association: Bob
Seger - Turn The Page“A
Page Hovers in an Open Book” is © Copyright by the
author of
Hopes and Dreams, like all the rest of this stuff.DisposableNovember
1, 2017
Music Association: Genesis -
Throwing It All Away