The New Retail Thread

Ron Newman said:
According to Universal Hub and The Other Side's Facebook page, The Other Side will NOT be closing! Seems like Room and Board never followed through on their promises to the landlord.
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I'm glad that the Other Side is not closing.

I'm sad that Room and Board is not coming to Boston.
 
R.I.P. Filene's Basement. The Boylston Street store (and the rest of the chain) closed yesterday.
 
Back Bay New Balance to add glitz to sneaker sales

By Donna Goodison
Thursday, January 5, 2012 - Added 5 hours ago

Running shoe maker New Balance is planning a retail store just strides from the Boston Marathon finish line and less than two blocks from NikeTown.

The Boston company is developing a New Balance Experience store at 583 Boylston St. in Copley Square.

A spokeswoman for the company, which has an outlet store around the corner from its Brighton headquarters, confirmed it was planning the new full-price store, but offered no details.


“As we celebrate 40 years of Jim Davis owning New Balance in the spring of 2012, we are excited to open New Balance Boston,” spokeswoman Amy Dow said.

It will be the second Experience location in the United States for New Balance, which opened a 4,000-square-foot store in New York City in August that sells its clothing and footwear. That store has a two-lane Mondo running track along a perimeter wall and a sunken treadmill for gait/form analysis. Workers assemble sneakers in a demo area, and there’s a live video feed from New Balance’s Lawrence manufacturing facility.

The Boston store is planned for the first-floor, roughly 2,500-square-foot space formerly occupied by the Copley Flair greeting card and gift shop.

Branded stores are very important for athletic shoe makers, said Matt Powell, a SportsOneSource Group analyst. “It allows them to display the real breadth of their line,” he said. “Most retailers will (only) buy a portion of a brand’s line.”

New Balance, which expected to break the $2 billion mark in sales last year, lost traction in 2011. Sales dropped 17.7 percent and its market share fell to 5.8 percent from 7 percent as of Dec. 24, according to SportScanInfo.

“They’re doing OK,” Powell said. “Nike, Adidas and Reebok are all doing much better in the U.S. right now, but they do expect a nice turnaround in 2012.”

It’s unlikely Nike will worry about New Balance giving its NikeTown, which has occupied a prominent Newbury Street spot since 1997, a run for its money. Nike has an estimated 42 percent market share, and its revenue hit $20.9 billion in fiscal 2011.

-— dgoodison@bostonherald.com

http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...d_glitz_to_sneaker_sales/srvc=home&position=4
 
It's about damn time. They've been headquartered here and didn't even have a flagship store in the city.
 
From the Boston Business Journal:

The Palm Restaurant to close in Back Bay, reportedly planning Financial District move

The Palm Restaurant at Westin Copley Place in Boston will be closing at year’s end, officials there confirm. The restaurant is reportedly planning a move to Boston's Financial District.

The restaurant, a steakhouse specializing in northern Italian cuisine, was unable to renew its lease with the Back Bay hotel, according to Elizabeth Beutel, the eatery’s sales manager. Its address at the Westin Copley is 200 Dartmouth St.

According to a report on the industry blog bostonhospitalityindustry.com, which first reported the news, the Palm is moving to One International Place, where it plans to reopen next fall. Beutel said she couldn’t confirm or deny that report.

Jeff Phillips, the Palm’s COO, said the new 8,500-square-foot space will feature a main dining room, a private dining area and outdoor patio. “It will be different from our space at the Westin that was on two levels,” he said.

Founded in 1926, the Palm operates 30 locations, including five in New York City, according to the company’s website. It opened in Boston in 1996. The restaurant chain is still owned and operated by the families of its two original founders.

Chiofaro couldn’t be reached for comment.
 
dirtywater said:
From the Boston Business Journal:

The Palm Restaurant to close in Back Bay, reportedly planning Financial District move

The Palm Restaurant at Westin Copley Place in Boston will be closing at year’s end, officials there confirm. The restaurant is reportedly planning a move to Boston's Financial District.

The restaurant, a steakhouse specializing in northern Italian cuisine, was unable to renew its lease with the Back Bay hotel, according to Elizabeth Beutel, the eatery’s sales manager. Its address at the Westin Copley is 200 Dartmouth St.

According to a report on the industry blog bostonhospitalityindustry.com, which first reported the news, the Palm is moving to One International Place, where it plans to reopen next fall. Beutel said she couldn’t confirm or deny that report.

Jeff Phillips, the Palm’s COO, said the new 8,500-square-foot space will feature a main dining room, a private dining area and outdoor patio. “It will be different from our space at the Westin that was on two levels,” he said.

Founded in 1926, the Palm operates 30 locations, including five in New York City, according to the company’s website. It opened in Boston in 1996. The restaurant chain is still owned and operated by the families of its two original founders.

Chiofaro couldn’t be reached for comment.
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I didn't realize it was in the Westin, and not the retail area of the building.
 
Yep, immediately on your left as you enter the hotel from Dartmouth Street and Columbus Ave.
 
Morton's Steakhouse in Back Bay is now closed.

Morton's Steakhouse in Seaport District still open (at this time).

According to jacksonville.com, Morton's Steakhouse has closed locations in Boston, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Washington, DC, Phoenix, Atlanta, Brooklyn, and Tyson's Corner, VA. A check on the Morton's site indicates that the Boylston Street location is no longer listed, which confirms what a Chowhound poster mentioned yesterday.
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http://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.com/2012/02/mortons-steakhouse-in-bostons-back-bay.html
 
dirtywater said:
From the Boston Business Journal:

The Palm Restaurant to close in Back Bay, reportedly planning Financial District move

The Palm Restaurant at Westin Copley Place in Boston will be closing at year’s end, officials there confirm. The restaurant is reportedly planning a move to Boston's Financial District....The Palm is moving to One International Place, where it plans to reopen next fall... Jeff Phillips, the Palm’s COO, said the new 8,500-square-foot space will feature a main dining room, a private dining area and outdoor patio. “It will be different from our space at the Westin that was on two levels,” he said.
.
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Looks like a win for the Greenway and a loss for Copley and particularly the Westin
 
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Relevant to the filenes tower ground floor retail discussion but probably more appropriate here -

Did anyone else notice huge amounts of retail vacancy in the financial district? Every other tower seems to have an available retail opportunity next to the lobby, often in large spaces. What accounts or this? Are these spaces new or is the market for cafeteria-style lunch spots and equinox gyms completely saturated?
 
Shepard said:
Relevant to the filenes tower ground floor retail discussion but probably more appropriate here -

Did anyone else notice huge amounts of retail vacancy in the financial district? Every other tower seems to have an available retail opportunity next to the lobby, often in large spaces. What accounts or this? Are these spaces new or is the market for cafeteria-style lunch spots and equinox gyms completely saturated?
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I have noticed this almost daily working at 101 Federal for the last 11 years and living downtown for several years during that time and prior while attending graduate school. And it seems like more and more ground floor retail is coming on line. 1 Federal just spent tens of millions renovating their first few floors and must have what has to be several thousand feet of retail space now available. The retail situation in the financial district is pretty sad. There is an old Sprint location in the shadow of the Filene's building on Franklin that has been vacant for about 6-7 years now. Many stories just like that spot unfortunately.
 
Art Gallery coming to 655 Tremont Street, in the South End. This is the space (half of it, at least) that was the site proposed as a Dunkin' Donuts, last year.

Gold Gallery is the new contemporary art project in Boston’s historical South End. Founded by entrepreneur, Adam Gold, the gallery is an art experience rooted in education, innovation, and discovery. Our goal at Gold is to emerge as Boston’s premier art destination by showcasing a spectrum of artist’s work that satisfies the visual palette of both new and seasoned collectors, as well as those that fall in between.
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http://au-gallery.com/
 
Yes, because the one thing Boston lacks for is enough Dunkins...
 
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