Big Box Retail in DTR

“Our very own” aww, shucks. Thanks y’all. :heart:

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John, to your speculation of how an Apple store in DTR would be a big deal, it’s just been announced that Apple is opening a store in downtown Nashville, right on Broadway. Everyone’s figuring it’s going really shake things up for downtown retail scene. Of course it would be a game changer for Raleigh.

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This is what concerns me the most. I really don’t want big box retail in downtown. Any idea how much square footage is allocated to this?

If big box means Apple Store, then bring it on!

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I welcome most retail downtown. What “big box” retail that you think someone would propose for downtown Raleigh would cause you concern?

Honestly, an urban Target would probably do quite well here. There is always going to be concern that DTR will become more generic, and having local retail is a big part of staying unique. I think DTR does a decent job encouraging small businesses to open. I welcome big box retail AND support policies to help local small businesses.

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If we want more people to live and spend more hours of their days downtown, we need to realize that people don’t exist by independent/boutique retail alone. For example, of all of the current DT stock of stores, it’s Ace Hardware in Seaboard that I go to most. When Publix opens, it will become my most visited shopping destination. Big box stores support how we actually live, and I want to actually live in downtown.

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I’d be interested to see the shake out of a DTR Target with the Hillsborough one in play…
It’d make quite the statement if both were viable.
It’s only a matter of time before the corporate boxes start showing up DTR based on the increases to population. The KEY is maintaining the LOCAL flavor…

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Didn’t IKEA say they were going to a smaller more urban store?

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IKEA did announce this: no more big huge stores with cheap cafeterias and free child care and hours of shopping therapy . . .
In Rome IT (i live 90 min’s from Rome Ga, so I always have to say which Rome) IKEA had a small sq ft store - all housewares/soft goods. Still, that could work in DTR, and is actually the first thing I thought of, though Target makes sense too. It would be very interesting @Steve to see if one there and the one across from the college both did well. Personally, I see them as separate areas, my bet would be yes.

I think @R-Dub is exactly right - big box and chains can be a positive as long as they don’t dominate. Nothing worse then visiting someplace and all the stores are the same ones as every where else. For me, I don’t mind paying top dollar for shirts, pants or shoes - well, it hurts, but I’ll do it. Underwear and socks? They need to be super economical for me, lol. $25 & up for boxers? not on your life. Big box house brands will do just fine.

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I often go to JCPenny at NH to buy socks,shirts and underwear, it would be nice to have a smaller version of JCP in DTR along with Target and a few other big brands, a mix of smaller stores along with the big boys will make shopping in downtown a lot nicer i think.

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Well, they are losing their store in NH, so you never know…

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I guess everyone has a different idea of what a big box is. @John mentioned Apple which I think is not really a big box store and I think is good for a downtown. Anyway my concerns are that really huge stores cater to the one-stop-shop, gonna need a car to shop here sort of thing. Publix, despite being downtown, is very much oriented towards vehicles. I think downtown should be oriented towards pedestrians almost entirely. Instead of a giant Publix, I’d think 4 Weaver St size places scattered around such that everyone has one walking distance, is how it should be put together. In a similar vein, the giant stores tend to create big blank walls facing the sidewalk. Other cities with say, flagship department stores, suffer form this and our Publix will too. The 4 smaller format stores would create more active streetscape. So apply these two thoughts to the Nexus site and those are my concerns.

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For the type of place that downtown Raleigh is becoming, there’s a place for both types of grocery stores, and there’s frankly enough people that will be living adjacent to the Publix that there will be plenty of walkers going to it. It’s also on the RLine and will have access to bikeshare. Not everyone will be in cars. A store like Publix also serves a broader and deeper market than places like Weaver Street are able to do. They’ll also do it more affordably.

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Ok, so no cars and only overpriced Weaver Streets, sounds like Block Island or something, not a city. Get real.

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You’re missing my points there sour puss. I was using Weaver St as an example of scale and as an example of my concerns for the Nexus retail space. And besides, if people would give up their cars (admittedly, this, and other cities make it hard to do that), there would be plenty of extra money in your life to prop up the smaller scale places. A little exercise might make for a better mood too…give it a try.

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Thanks for the clarification, feel free join me on my next marathon.

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About 26,000 sf for “Big Box Retail” & “Big Box Cafe”.

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Yes. Basic necessities can be ‘big box.’ Was reading about how the Wegmaniacs were losing their minds with the recent store opening in the former Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Was wondering about how one navigates with grocery purchases from the store back home if trying to avoid using private transportation. And, I got reminded by a DTR dweller that they use The R Line circulator bus (which my husband and I lovingly refer to as ‘Therline’) between Weaver Street and home.

Anyone complaining about the “Big Box” space is missing a few points:

  1. There are 3 other, smaller, retail spaces in addition to the big box. Those spots are (while not guaranteed) more likely to go to a local/small business, and
  2. the “Big Box” retail and cafe will be a direct catalyst for increasing foot traffic and potential shopping base for those smaller storefronts. A city still needs some big box to reel in more people than it would otherwise, whether we like it or not. I do NOT want to see Raleigh fill up with a bunch of big box chains, but ONE big box retailer/cafe surrounded by a couple smaller storefronts is something we should be celebrating, IMO.
  3. (late edit) There is already a plethora of small format retailers/local businesses on this block and surrounding blocks. They should all see an increase in foot traffic from this project.
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