Raleigh-area Mall / Life-Style Center / RTP Redevelopments

Tryna find where to write to them, because yes I’m very crazy…

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https://www.google.com/search?q=gucci+corporate+office+contact

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There are 2 other Starbucks in NH. But I think it was the pandemic. That area of NH really saw a decline in foot traffic with the theater closed during the pandemic. Chic-fil-a reduced hours, fox and hound closed. Not sure about the others. There seems to be more activity on the east N Hills side now. I imagine once the old JC penny area gets redeveloped, the original NH side will pick up again.

I doubt it. In my 11 years living in this city, I have never ever come across anyone in Raleigh mention needing a Gucci store (aside from you).

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The fact that Charlotte has one seems to fuel this. It’s like there’s a bit of a little brother inadequacy syndrome here, a US version of Calgary vs. Edmonton if you may. Looking at Google Maps, their store placement does seem a bit odd (Charleston somehow has one for reasons I cant figure out).

I’m surprised they haven’t opened an outlet location here, then again the outlets in this area are either trash (Smithfield) or are slowly dying (Mebane).

Charleston’s is in “The Shops at Charleston Place”, with a lot of high-end stores. I’m in Tampa this weekend and Gucci is in International Plaza, with lots of other high-end stores. Pretty much the only “hope” for Gucci is for a mall, likely Crabtree, to be re-developed into something expensive and luxury, or maybe a more luxury section of North Hills. I don’t think it fits anyway currently in the city.

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Is the issue here that Raleigh lacks the money or that Raleigh lacks the motivation? One underlying theme seems to be that there’s money in this area, just good luck getting people to part with it.

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I liked Red Monkey when they first opened but didn’t like the menu change a few years ago. Sad but not surprised they are gone. Also, Williams-Sonoma has a sign in their window that they are moving to the Fenton.

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Why do I get the feeling that they are going to regret this move and that The Fenton is going to fall flat on it’s face? The whole debacle with Wegmans has not been a good sign for the success of that development.

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I feel the same way. I live less than 3 miles from Crabtree and have always enjoyed shopping at that store. It’s going to take a lot of better retail to get me to drive over to the Fenton, when I live close to North Hills and Crabtree.

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Fenton got screwed in many ways by Wegman’s. Wegman’s was the tail wagging the dog as far as Fenton’s site plan was concerned. They took the most visible spot, right next to Cary Town Blvd and then jumped ship. Now there is nothing special that you can see from the highway or Cary Town Blvd to draw you in. You have to know it’s there. It just looks like a fortress from the outside.

Contrast with the experience of driving by NH, Crabtree, Cameron Village, etc. In all cases, even though they’re pretty auto oriented, you can tell it’s something special. Fenton, not much to visibly distinguish it from a mediocre power center like Parkside or Brier Creek until you get to the interior.

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On the bright side, Wegmans are ugly buildings. They remind me of neo-colonial design that had a hot minute in the spotlight during America’s Bicentennial in the mid 70s.

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I think Fenton will do well because the retailers fit the people of Cary well. It just seems so isolated to me. I really hate that Cary Towne Center won’t be another large destination District.
They could‘ve essentially ended up with a nice core from Fenton to Downtown Cary much like how Alpharetta outside of Atlanta has developed between Avalon and Downtown Alpharetta. Cary will epically regret their decision to let Epic build a campus on their most valuable plot of land.

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Ikea screwed Cary on one side of the boulevard, and Wegmans screwed them on the other side.

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After a while you have to wonder if this is all bad timing (with Ikea pivoting from brick and mortar retail to eCommerce and Wegmans having a traumatic course correction due to COVID) or if Cary is doing things to get screwed over. Might Cary be sabotaging itself?

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I feel the same. I’ve taken to the idea that I will support a store that is within 3-5 miles of my house vs driving to a store that has similar products. Fenton is out of reach for me for this. Comparing Fenton vs Crabtree, it appears that Crabtree does have 34,194 more within 5 miles. HH income is higher too. In saying that, I’ll have to admit that Fenton does have decent demographics as well. It will just be place I don’t plan on going to.

Fenton Brochure: https://koniversterngroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Fenton_Leasing_SUMMER_2021.pdf

4509 Creedmoor Rd Brochure: https://www.cbre.com/resources/fileassets/US-SMPL-43740/7bf5c8b5/9a938828-22c8-43cd-bb96-cf30fb236ab8.pdf

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In separate news, I guess the Hyatt Place off Navaho Drive/ The Exchange was shut down. They are looking to create 128 studio and one bedroom apartments. https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2022/04/15/raleigh-hotel-to-be-converted-into-apartments.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_45&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

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There is more money per capita in the Triangle then Charlotte. Techies, Eds, and Meds do not wear Gucci’s. Bankers, pseudo celebs, and wanna be high rollers of which Charlotte has no shortage of do. It’s as simple as that.

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I have felt bad for Cary on this. They’ve tried to do something with the mall area for the longest time.

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maybe we’ll get some more market rate “affordable” housing out of it?

It’s called opinions which he has the right to do, this isn’t Twitter where you can no longer have an opinion. I would like the idea of a Gucci store in Raleigh. Why the hell not? The metro is over 2 mill, we can support one. End of topic

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