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Businesses I would like to see Downtown

ChadKRagland

By ChadKRagland
in Orlando

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VistaLakes01 Hamlet

VistaLakes01

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What about the mall in Downtown San Diego? I forgot the name but it was always full and was open so you could see the skyline and everything.... But I do think Malls (Suburban) are supposed to immitate the walkable towncenter shopping that we had in the 50's and so forth.

Wouldn't all of downtown retail be located in the mall and the rest of the city dead retail-wise? I think if each block downtown had a large anchor (the movie theater in Premier Trade Plaza), a Barnes and Noble or Borders on another block, a department store on another block, etc then all the other retail would fill in. I remember shopping downtown Orlando when I was a kid and we used to walk from Sears to JCPenney's to Ivey's, go to the movies and the streets were bustling with people. There even used to be X shaped crosswalks on Orange Ave so you could go from corner to corner, it was pretty cool. San Diego is probably a big enough city to support a mall downtown, just like Chicago has a couple of nice ones. I don't really recall any nice malls in Manhattan, but I haven't been there for 10 years. Coral Gables has that Merrick Park mall which seems to be a success. I think as long as it incorporates the rest of the city in with it it could work, but I don't like the idea of just a mall downtown and nothing else. ( I used to really want a downtown mall in Orlando when I was younger and there was always talk of one, thankfully it wasn't built back in the 80's or 90's or it would probably be an empty blight downtown now.)

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Whipp Whistle-Stop

Whipp

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i grew up in orlando and was a regular downtowner during the days of harold/maude, barbarella, SAK, and yab yums. I would love to see that type of vybe return, but on a much bigger scale. other than that, and practically speaking...

major drugstores

major bookstore

more fast food places

more ethnic restaurants

more stable chain restaurants but fitted with a more urban feel to them

high end shopping (dept stores as well as boutiques)

major music stores (with downloading stations)

a W hotel

a downtown-only transit system looping all the sectors together

a 24 hr fitness

a trader joes

a gaming place like gameworks

a hip furniture store

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bulldogger Town

bulldogger

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i grew up in orlando and was a regular downtowner during the days of harold/maude, barbarella, SAK, and yab yums. (I miss Yab Yum, too) I would love to see that type of vybe return, but on a much bigger scale. other than that, and practically speaking...

major drugstores

major bookstore

more fast food places - the BK has been gone for a few years now

more ethnic restaurants

more stable chain restaurants but fitted with a more urban feel to them

high end shopping (dept stores as well as boutiques)

major music stores (with downloading stations)

a W hotel

a downtown-only transit system looping all the sectors together - there is a bus system in place currently called Lymmo that is free to use, but it needs an EW component. currently runs NS.

a 24 hr fitness - there is a 24 hr gym now called American Gladiators

a trader joes

a gaming place like gameworks

a hip furniture store

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WeNeed2Progress Hamlet

WeNeed2Progress

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i grew up in orlando and was a regular downtowner during the days of harold/maude, barbarella, SAK, and yab yums. I would love to see that type of vybe return, but on a much bigger scale. other than that, and practically speaking...

major drugstores

major bookstore

more fast food places

more ethnic restaurants

more stable chain restaurants but fitted with a more urban feel to them

high end shopping (dept stores as well as boutiques)

major music stores (with downloading stations)

a W hotel

a downtown-only transit system looping all the sectors together

a 24 hr fitness

a trader joes

a gaming place like gameworks

a hip furniture store

Dude, I try and explain the old Globe to people with Harold and Maude's and The Yab Yum. Ah, truly let's bring them back!

Ditto on the W (will fill that boutique hotel niche), Trader Joe's, transit and as far as a downloading station music store, how about the East Coast's first Starbucks Hear Music Store? They're proving to be very successful. Make your own personal CD from their vast catalog of music while sitting and enjoying a latte'? Sounds good to me, especially if I walk around the corner to see a movie in The Plaza afterwards.

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Whipp Whistle-Stop

Whipp

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Dude, I try and explain the old Globe to people with Harold and Maude's and The Yab Yum. Ah, truly let's bring them back!

Ditto on the W (will fill that boutique hotel niche), Trader Joe's, transit and as far as a downloading station music store, how about the East Coast's first Starbucks Hear Music Store? They're proving to be very successful. Make your own personal CD from their vast catalog of music while sitting and enjoying a latte'? Sounds good to me, especially if I walk around the corner to see a movie in The Plaza afterwards.

here, here (or is it "hear hear") :unsure:

i think all this new development and promise is a perfect opportunity for orlando to step out and be on the cutting edge of technology in the marketplace.

ok, ew, i just sounded like a politician...but you get the pic

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bulldogger Town

bulldogger

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speaking of music, a couple of weeks ago, i walked by the history center area and noticed that the building that will be housing the gibson guitar store is currently being renovated, yet i haven't heard any updates as to the progress. wonder why the sentinel or weekly haven't picked up on this.

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JFW657 Metropolitan Area

JFW657

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speaking of music, a couple of weeks ago, i walked by the history center area and noticed that the building that will be housing the gibson guitar store is currently being renovated, yet i haven't heard any updates as to the progress. wonder why the sentinel or weekly haven't picked up on this.

Did you say there's gonna be a Gibson guitar store??????? Where??????? :w00t:

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bulldogger Town

bulldogger

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Found this on the net searching and hoping to find a good website listing the restaurants downtown. I have been griping about how there is no seafood, which I find odd since we all live on a peninsula. This is going in next to the old DMAC.

The Crawfish Company Of Central Florida, Inc. and the Cottage Irish Pubs, Inc. have teamed up to form the new corporation:
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WeNeed2Progress Hamlet

WeNeed2Progress

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Found this on the net searching and hoping to find a good website listing the restaurants downtown. I have been griping about how there is no seafood, which I find odd since we all live on a peninsula. This is going in next to the old DMAC.

Sounds like a downtown version of Downtown Disney's Ragland Road--- if only they could mimic whatever it is they do to the Guinness draft at Ragland Road. Well, I am upset that Natura didn't survive but this sounds like a good replacement. Thanks for the update.

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bulldogger Town

bulldogger

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At the corner of Court and Central will be a Gibson Guitar.

Yeah, it's crazy that we keep hearing retail, retail, retail from the high rise developers and they are only attracting restaurants. I wonder if we are not getting more chain-style, high-end retail downtown, because some of these chains are already at Mall of Millenia and analysts don't think Orlando can handle more. OR... am I being impatient?

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mrh3 Hamlet

mrh3

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Yeah, it's crazy that we keep hearing retail, retail, retail from the high rise developers and they are only attracting restaurants. I wonder if we are not getting more chain-style, high-end retail downtown, because some of these chains are already at Mall of Millenia and analysts don't think Orlando can handle more. OR... am I being impatient?

I don't think that you are being impatient at all. If you look at the rents in these spaces, they aren't relatively cheap. Only national tenants can get in. In fact, from a real estate standpoint national tenants are preferable due to credit worthiness. Interesting funky shops develop in places with lower rents. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot that in Orlando right now. In the meantime, I think we'll have to suffer through more chains (Maybe a Borders/Barnes and Noble would be acceptable) until the little guys can nudge their way in.

The high end retailers at Millenia and Florida Mall are probably better for DT because they have allowed many new retailers to become familiar with the Orlando area consumer. Should they meet with success I can easily see boutique style shops opened up on Magnolia and Pine. In contrast, Fashion Square severely inhibits the development of street level retail from national chains because of its drawing power. Most retail analysts look at what's called a 1-3-5 ring analysis. This allows them to gather the demographics and figure out the spending habits. Downtown lies within the 5 ring for the Fashion Square and has sucked the life out of downtown street level retail.

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mrh3 Hamlet

mrh3

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its called Pacific Place in downtown seattle

You're thinking of Manhattan Mall on 34th and Broadway in Herald Square. It was not as successful as orginally intended and has suffered from above market vacancies. Basically, New Yorkers like street level retail. Enclosed arcades like this are not a market preference. Even Time Warner Center has had difficulty filling all of its upper level retail space. Anyway, it might work in Orlando due to the extreme climate.

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