If you haven't heard, most Tower Records stores area going away. It is still unknown if the one at Sherman Oaks Galleria will go away or not, but if it does, it leaves a huge gaping space at the mall.
What to do? What to do?
I've never agreed with the anti Best Buy movement, but here's a solution: kick it to the Galleria and use the Van Nuys Blvd. location for something that will make traffic even worse - IKEA.
Just kidding.
But what I would really like to see at the Van Nuys Blvd. location is another Whole Foods. We'll call it Whole Foods - Sherman Oaks Central.
Okay no.
If I really had my choice of what would go right there instead of Best Buy, it would probably be some kind of entertainment area. I'm thinking live theatre and/or a concert venue of some sort.
The Sherman Oaks Playhouse? Nothing like a little competition for the Whitefire Theater.
2 comments:
I agree about Whole Foods needing a new location. The parking at both Coldwater/Riverside and Sepulveda/Ventura is awful. I sometimes cannot stand the idea of fighting the SUV's and obnoxiousness in those parking lots and choose to shop elsewhere.
I'm betting a Barnes & Noble will move in. Borders is down the street, and B&N needs a counter-presence in this part of the Valley.
Whole Foods would be an interesting choice, but they won't go for a two-story location, and they've had ample chance to rent actual supermarket space and consolidate their two smallish S.O. locations. Compare both, especially S.O. "East," to what they have in Woodland Hills (or any other WF in the country), and they're losing revenue big time. Of course, their S.O. East rent is probably low enough to compensate.
And if WF isn't concerned with the quality of employees they have -- and believe me, they're nowhere near Trader Joe's on that score -- why should they worry about such paltry things as parking and square footage?
Back to the Galleria space ... could be Barnes & Noble, Crate & Barrel, even an uber-Gap or Old Navy -- there are lots of possibilities, given that the Sherman Oaks/Studio City/Encino area, teeming with moneyed residents, is woefully underserved when it comes to mall-type retail.
Post a Comment