dusty87

Eh, looks like A&F is on the way out according to this recent article. I love A&F, but I might love H&M a little more. Except for another 180 stores to close through the next couple of years: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-30/at-abercrombie-and-fitch-sex-no-longer-sells

I'm sorely disappointed that Forever 21 expansion is finished and there still is no men's section as rumored

My wishlist for Columbiana: *H&M *Urban Outfitters *Guess *Armani Exchange *Macy's taking over Sears spot *Someday, a Nordstrom in Dillard's spot.

Actually, the Belk I saw on Saturday was pretty unimpressive compared to Crabtree and South Park. Big banners screaming midrange brands and the store felt cluttered. They could have done better here. H&M's big store is at Atlantic Station.\

In Atlanta today and while I loved Lenox, I wasn't too impressed by Phipps at all. Nordstrom and Saks are nice, but Belk is indeed disgusting there, some of the stores were just not all that at all and to make matters worse, the Legoland setup looks horrendously tacky! The mall is ruined. On the flip side, I didn't encounter any of the perceived snobbery that Lenox supposedly has.

The key with Von Maur is in store atmosphere. All Von Maur stores have a live in-store pianist playing classical music. The open layout of a Von Maur I went to up in Louisville kind of reminded me of a Nordstrom. It's still a couple notches down from Nordstrom but definitely a notch above Belk/Dillards/Macy's.

Von Maur boring? Hardly. Lord & Taylor would nice but remember the May Company lead to them on a national expansion there in the 90s with L&T stores in Dallas, Kansas City, and I know Denver had two locations. It ultimately backfired because to was just too NYC, too out of place for some cities, and ended up cheapening the iconic upscale brand. That is why L&T was forced to retreat they way they did. Parisian had the same problem in that it was in too many odd markets which lead to Saks unloading the franchise.

Is the A&F outlet store down in Hilton Head is still open? Then again A&F's website doesn't seem to list their outlet store locations. I was sad that Columbia lost their American Apparel location last year due to their filing Chapter 11. Now I'm sad we lost another nice in spite of the naysayers I did enjoy their classic wear too. I do like Hollister but its not the same. I guess if I need A&F now I'll shop online or plan a day in Charlotte. Or Augusta if that one is still open too. I just really, really hope A&F is not going to go the way of Anchor Blue. This article is two years old but it seems to sheds more light on the closings and A&F troubles: http://www.dispatch....ose-stores.html As for Columbiana itself, yes expansion is needed. Close dying Sears and bring on Macy's from Columbia Place. Do something with that fifth anchor pad. Open a California Pizza Kitchen in the closed restaurant area by Forever 21.

I was in A&F in Greenville at Hayward back two days after Christmas I thought it was a nice big space and well the store was obviously busy. On the flip side, Armani Exchange would be absolutely awesome to open up. Almost as good would be H&M.

Well, it looks like Haywood is also losing its A&F store, which is odd because in the Columbiana thread on the Columbia forum someone mentioned the store at Hayward was very profitable. Guess not? http://www.thestate.com/2012/01/14/2113133/business-notebook.html

When Flatirons first opened it was, especially when it opened with a Lord and Taylor. Also I'd say Flatirons was a success it caused three other malls in Denver and Boulder to shutter altogether. You can't beat Cherry Creek for sure, although like Charleston they've lost their Saks. Anyways I talked to a rather causal acquaintance who works at A&F in Columbiana today and he said A&F is mainly going to focus in bigger markets and bigger malls and has been closing stores as their leases come up. He's going to be working at the Hollister store in the meantime.

Wow this news about A&F closing at Columbiana definitely makes me feel sad. Actually the truth is A&F as a whole has been hurting as of late. It was about what a little over a year ago this time of year when A&F shuttered over 100 stores and even closed one store at a very upscale mall in Denver(Flatirons Crossing). EDIT: Found it! http://blogs.citypag...crombie_fit.php The A&F store at Columbiana is very, very nice inside but its true in the two years I've lived here I never saw much traffic inside the store. Nowhere as busy as sister Hollister and rivals AE, Buckle, and Aeropostale. Is Forever 21 at Columbiana going to get a men's section in their expansion? Because I would definitely want that! Who knows, maybe an H&M store in is this mall's future...

Well I know for sure they have a nice section for Michael Kors as they have banners for it, but not being a woman I don't usually look through the woman's department.

Oddly Belk at Columbiana Centre is more high end than Belk at Haywood. Columbiana's Belk men's department has a big sections devoted to Lacoste, Tommy Bahama, 7 for All Mankind etc.

This store isn't at South Park but after seeing the Belk discussion(I don't usually like Belk, although the Belk stores at SP and Columbiana are great) I was curious if you guys think JCPenney's current gamble will work ie. the guy from Apple as the new CEO and bringing over more Apple people and lately getting rights to sell more upscale brands etc.