With the first major chain to enter the mall, I know Charlottesville residents have mixed feelings about Urban Outfitters. Local retailers generally seemed initially pleased with its presence, local media is scared to bash it for fear of losing advertising dollars and most of us are just confused.
Sure, having an Urban Outfitters brings increased foot traffic, but once the chains start a’ comin’ they don’t stop a’ comin’. Having Urban Outfitters on the mall essentially validates the downtown mall and we can rest assured that other major retailers will start popping up downtown. Some will say this is good for the local economy, others will say this destroys the local feel of the downtown mall. Eventually with more big name retailers, rents will rise and this will squeeze local retailers who can’t compete with major chains. That’s just a theory.
Personally, I don’t like it. I think it looks out of place and touristy, but oh well. Things have to change.
The Real Question: Did they hire professional hipster shoppers to stand around and look interested in the merchandise?
Related posts:
- Urban Outfitters Rumor Confirmed for Charlottesville
- Urban Outfitters Coming to Charlottesville in the Hardware Store Building
- Anthropologie Also Coming to Charlottesville
meh
I am still mourning the loss of The Hardware Store and the pickle bar.
WHY?
This reminds me of what happened in two formerly charming parts of Manhattan:
1. South St Seaport. Oh I know it never was much, just what it was… but once Banana Republic and Pottery Barn signed up for space — well heck, it’s like Fort Worth with a coupla old ships.
2. SOHO. (CAPS MINE). Now this is a thoroughgoing abomination… the complete plain vanilla gentrification of a real neighborhood that, at least during my days in New York (70’s) had real soul?
Don’t let this happen Here. You want to go to Land’s End? Hey — they’re inside Sears at Fashion Square?
And if you (heart) New York… GO THERE
(Going in two weeks… fricking Belmont is going down).
I guess I have mixed feelings. I don’t mind chains, but I think we should get better chains than UO (that said, I’ve never been to UO, so maybe I have no idea what I’m yappin’ ’bout).
sucks that the hardware store is gone, but since it was already gone it’s good to have a cool store take it’s place…chain or not. have you seen the fart books?
Better than looking at fat tourists with toolbox condiment boxes.
i for one am curious if the following trends will catch on here:
boot-flops (hybrid between boot and flip flop)
stockings with fringe on the backs like chaps
Those are both. Just. Awful. Can’t wait to see dumbass trend-whores wearing that shit.
Boots. Are. Hideous. New game? Find the most awful thing they sell?
also highly intriguing:
high-waisted God Bless America daisy dukes shorts
You would look *fabulous* in those.
why thank you
btw, i believe the boot flops would look fantastic on you
NO. The boot flops are unnatural.
Wow… those stockings would appeal to someone with a My Little Pony fetish. The boot-flops are just wrong.
Yeah. They’re so hip. So edgy. So street.
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/urban-outfitters-pulls-support-tee-0
Oh, otterduuuuuung. This is a man’s shoe. Yes, for men. I don’t want to tell anyone how to live their life, but dang.
Guess you weren’t a fan of Miami Vice way back when…
I vote meh! But really? Are there people who miss the Hardware store?! Ewww!
yes
yup. biggest menu EVAAAR
This is silly. Has everyone forgotten that we already have a CVS down there? How about Five Guys? And don’t forget that there used to be Foot Locker there only a few short years ago and Wallgreens not long before that.
how true.
A&N and Woolworth’s actually, but point taken. Add to that list: the Omni, Wachovia, B of A, Melting Pot . . . there must be some I’m missing. Been going on for years and hasn’t killed it yet. Empty storefronts do far more harm than the presence of a few “chains.”
Never was a Walgreens. You’re thinking of that British five and dime we had. And Baskin Robbins.
The five and dime had a vile lunch counter that was adored by local hipsters.
Hipsters also like Pabst Blue Ribbon.
And living in Belmont and talking about living in Belmont
i like it because it’s cheap. and not bud or miller.
(sigh) bon chance
I’m pretty sure there was a Wallgreens. Or maybe a Woolworth, that might be it.. I can’t remember exactly, but I know it was on the corner near the middle of the mall or close to it. Until maybe 10 years ago you could still see the giant painted name (Woolworth?) all the way down the brick wall along the alley to which it abutted. My memory is just perfect, isn’t it?
Ring Ring Ring Ring
Wes Mantooth:”Hello, this is Death Row… how can I help you?”
Governor:” Don’t execute that man.The real killer has been found and we have issued a full pardon and are giving him $100million as compensation. Release him immediately”
Wes Mantooth:”Yes Sir!”
PAUSE
Warden:”Who was on the phone Wes?”
Wes Mantooth: “Errrrr…ummmmm..I errrrr…it was ummm… it was one of those fucking auto-warranty calls again”
Warden:”Oh right. Let’s get this murdering bastard snuffed so we can get down the pub for the footie match”
Wes Mantooth:Fuck Yeah!
yeah, you could ask my grandma, who lived to 102, but is now no longer: Woolworth’s it was
That Woolworth’s had soul. Not to mention ten-years-old packages of old lady undies.
hehe: “you bastards!”
has anyone noticed all of the vacant storefronts on the mall? this is a vital sign and much needed. prefer it to the massive shuttering taking place in less prosperous areas of the country. plus they have some nifty chotchkes
i believe the vacant storefronts near Derriere de Soie are due to another building/developing dispute. there are plans to develop them, but if memory serves, the BAR has rejected a proposal, the developer missed a deadline … something of that nature. so that particular area is unable to be inhabited by commercial tenants or otherwise until the developer and BAR get on the same page.
there are other “for lease” signs on the vacant spaces that are able to be inhabited by tenants and not held up in disputes.
the owner wants to build a 9-story box with underground parking, taking up every possible inch of his property. he’s rejected because of that, & because he wants to knock down the walls between those three buildings on the mall, which the BAR won’t let him do.
I heard someone is trying to do the exact same thing where 216 is now with the parking garage exiting onto South Street.
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=141404064435450&ShowArticle_ID=11802704093124304
The mall really needs another gift shop like the Mole Hole. Really. And could we drop the references to NYC?
Coming from someone who picked the name of a Greek mythological character who was punished to have his liver eaten by an eagle every day only to have it gown back and eaten again the next? No way man, you signed up for this shit. We will talk about NYC all the TIME!
GROW back
Got a light?
Five Guys is a chain, but hey . . .
Look closely at the Mall and you’ll see that it isn’t a viable retail destination right now. There has to be some kind of middle ground between an abject surrender to the Forces of Vanilla and the wasteland of (mostly) non-viable businesses it is now. Drinking and picking up people of the opposite sexes isn’t enough to make it work long term.
Well as they used to say in the silly old days of this medium, IMHO, Five Guys is failing for a very simple reason. Who in the Hell wants a well-done burger?!! I bet they have lawyers who told them that they have to overcook the meat?
Yay.
(See you at Riverside Lunch.)
i thought it was ok. i had never been in one before and checked it out. i was expecting all the clothes to be shiny or something. not sure if i’ll ever get anything there, but it wasn’t as bad as i expected. the main thing is that it will bring some people down to the mall looking to spend money who might not otherwise have come.
It’s narrow and dark — a beautiful space but too small for Urban’s cluttered look, and the only salespeople who smiled/talked to me were the assigned greeter at the front door and the girl working in the dressing room. The employees on the floor looked the part (the tattoos, the big boots, the wild hair), but seemed like they were more interested in keeping their heads down and folding clothes than actively engaging with customers. Maybe that’ll get better with time.
I’m mixed, too. I hate chains. But if we have to have a chain, then Urban Outfitters isn’t so bad.
I miss the Hardware Store. On the other hand, did you ever read the Health Department (http://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/VDH/TJefferson/TJefferson_Website.nsf) reports on the Hardware Store? Nasty! They have some serious difficulty with refrigeration and sanitation. Seemed like they were always about to get the padlock on the front door.
I worry that we’ll go the way of Harvard Square, which was once an interesting place, with quirky local businesses that gave it a unique bohemian charm. In the 1990s, it was completely overrun by Banana Republic, Gap, and others, and was effectively transformed into a Fashion Square Mall, only colder, and with more students.
I haven’t been there since then. Maybe it’s changed back.
M Street in Georgetown has an UO, a BR, and still manages to support local restos and boutiques and is fun to walk along and shop.
Hmmm. You’re right, M street is cool.
OK, I feel better.
Shen Washington DC has several million people living withing 50 miles. Charlottesville has Two Hundred Thousand. See the difference? If you people want M street then go live there…. I for one do not.
I’m too cheap to shop there anyway. It’s just another store-front as far as I’m concerned.
What the mall needs is a good leather/bdsm store
But we hate chain stores!
My grandma used to take me on the bus from her home on Locust Avenue to Woolworth’s for lunch at that ole lunch counter. I loved that place.
Woolworths is a British five and dime, you n00bs. More or less.
except that it started in NYC
colfer.. the nice game.. remember.
Woolworths is still a big big deal in the UK. So I figured I wouldn’t list every old store on Main Street, but instead call it the five and dime where hipsters loved the vile lunch counter. In order to be annoying. Thor, n00b is not a bad word. You’re thinking of something else.
Yeah colfer… they are such a big deal they recently went into liquidation. Sorry old chum.
That’s what I’m talking about young birdie. It was a big deal all right.
Don’t forget to vote “Suburban Outfitters” at the top of this page. The bookstore on the Water Street level is especially eruditious.
Thor: don’t you mean they hired hipsters to stand around and look DIS-interested?
ya it definitely looked like there were more employees than customers there. i mean how many people does it take to look hip while folding and refolding the same screen-printed v-neck on poorly assembled plywood slabs?
There’s a bunch of anorexic bitches (no offense Shethinagins) working at that place. The problem with hiring beautiful princesses is that they think they’re the shit and therefore treating customers like shit. The only nice one is the one stuck alone in the basement men’s section (always empty, it seems).
I can’t wait to start buying their clothes though…once they’re in Goodwill. Thanks rich people!
a bunch of anorexic bitches
Size-ist.
Thanks rich people!
Classist.
/memo from the devil’s advocate.