[BPt111]

[Poseidon3290]

seems a little small for a mall...?

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by JMagliola

seems a little small for a mall...?

It going be slightly smaller than Stamford Mall

700,000 Square footage

The SoNo Collection is a proposed mixed-use development that includes:

Full Line Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s stores (300,000+/- SF in total)
80-100 small shop inline retailers (350,000+/- SF)
Large public common area (180,000+/- SF)
Curated selection of food and beverage uses (Up to 6% of GLA)
Over 87,000 square feet of Public Realm including indoor/outdoor sculpture
garden, rooftop SoNo garden, exterior public plazas, enhanced West Avenue
streetscape, potential museum and education space, and three interior courts


https://ggpnorwalk.com/

[BPt111]

"The City anticipates that the project will continue uninterrupted and we look forward to an opening on the scheduled October 2019 target date. We do not believe the language in the Land Disposition Agreement (“LDA”) prohibits the sale of publicly traded GGP stock.”

https://www.thehour.com/news/article...m-85307-tbla-5

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

There are too many malls. GGP, the owners of the Norwalk property don't care about Stamford, Danbury etc as they don't own them. Closest one they have believe is in Waterbury. Which is far from great and not effected by this new location. Between the Amazon effect and CT's lackluster economy, there will be casualties.
Malls need to reinvent themselves beyond retail everywhere.
GGP almost went under about 10 yrs ago. The sons who took over gambled big on some properties in Vegas and had a big cash flow issue. Fitting town for that.

This will probably drive the Stamford mall out of business, as well as the one outside of Bridgeport's northern suburbs, as well as other potential stores in Greenwich, CT that cater to higher-end. I know higher end/luxury is doing much better overall than regular retail, but at the same time, a "mall concept" is risky in this retail environment.

I thought Fairfield County had a huge share of retail, as-is. Granted, it is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, but it can only absorb so much more.

Curious to see how this development pans out and hoping it is a success.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

This will probably drive the Stamford mall out of business, as well as the one outside of Bridgeport's northern suburbs, as well as other potential stores in Greenwich, CT that cater to higher-end. I know higher end/luxury is doing much better overall than regular retail, but at the same time, a "mall concept" is risky in this retail environment.

I thought Fairfield County had a huge share of retail, as-is. Granted, it is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, but it can only absorb so much more.

Curious to see how this development pans out and hoping it is a success.

This mall will serve different clientele than the malls in Stamford and Trumbull. Those serve the middle class while this is designed to serve the more affluent shopper that now goes to Westchester or Manhattan to shop. It is unlikely to have a significant impact on the other malls.

You are right that it is extremely unusual to be building a mall with the current condition of retail these days. Brick and mortar stores are closing left and right but this segment of retail is still doing decent. Plus Nordstrom knows it’s Westchester Store gets a lot of Fairfield County shopper and they are confident the market is there. They will also likely get some shoppers from New Haven County that travel up to their Westfarms Mall Store. Will see. Jay

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

This will probably drive the Stamford mall out of business, as well as the one outside of Bridgeport's northern suburbs, as well as other potential stores in Greenwich, CT that cater to higher-end. I know higher end/luxury is doing much better overall than regular retail, but at the same time, a "mall concept" is risky in this retail environment.

I believe you are referring to the Trumbull mall. The Trumbull Mall (Westfield Mall) is geared toward the middle class. The only really high end store is Lord & Taylor so I think the Trumbull Mall will be fine. My sister-in-law (that lived in Stamford) used to drive to the Trumbull Mall because it had more moderately priced stores. I know quite a few people that do that.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

This mall will serve different clientele than the malls in Stamford and Trumbull. Those serve the middle class while this is designed to serve the more affluent shopper that now goes to Westchester or Manhattan to shop. It is unlikely to have a significant impact on the other malls.

You are right that it is extremely unusual to be building a mall with the current condition of retail these days. Brick and mortar stores are closing left and right but this segment of retail is still doing decent. Plus Nordstrom knows it’s Westchester Store gets a lot of Fairfield County shopper and they are confident the market is there. They will also likely get some shoppers from New Haven County that travel up to their Westfarms Mall Store. Will see. Jay

Doesn’t the affluent shopper go to one of the many upscale downtowns in the area like Westport or Greenwich? Malls are so passé.

I still can’t fathom the need for this mall, with malls in decline. And can see it hurting downtowns.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Doesn’t the affluent shopper go to one of the many upscale downtowns in the area like Westport or Greenwich? Malls are so passé.

I still can’t fathom the need for this mall, with malls in decline. And can see it hurting downtowns.

They do but not entirely. Like I said, Nordstroms knows where its customers are located and I am sure they would not be going to Norwalk without knowing for certain there is a strong market for a store there. For years they wanted to build a store in the New Haven area because a lot of their Westfarms Mall customers were coming from towns like Madison, Guilford, Woodbridge and Orange. The problem was that there is no upscale shopping center/mall in the area that they could build a store in and they do not tend to build free-standing stores just anywhere. For a while they were very interested in a mixed use center that was proposed for the old Pratt & Whitney site in North Haven. That project lost its funding in the financial crisis and was canceled when the state decided not to locate a station there on the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line. The site now is where Amazon is building their massive new warehouse. Jay

[allanny13]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

This will probably drive the Stamford mall out of business, as well as the one outside of Bridgeport's northern suburbs, as well as other potential stores in Greenwich, CT that cater to higher-end. I know higher end/luxury is doing much better overall than regular retail, but at the same time, a "mall concept" is risky in this retail environment.

I thought Fairfield County had a huge share of retail, as-is. Granted, it is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, but it can only absorb so much more.

Curious to see how this development pans out and hoping it is a success.

Doubt it- those malls are completely different customers. Greenwich did a study a few years ago that revealed a majority of the high-end shoppers live in Greenwich itself or Westchester NY. I can see it hitting Westport more due to proximity and because Westport downtown is made up mostly of mall-type stores that have a similar demographic.