A Sea Of Red

Money does rule in retail. Was up in Cville today at the mall and Barracks Road SC. The Belk carries much more and higher quality inventory--also has two large spaces. But assume Sears will close soon--which they will quickly backfill. Also really bad traffic but great Thai food. Glad its there but no desire to live there. L is home sweet home and improving in its own ways.

News & Advance wrote:SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium planned for River Ridge mall in Lynchburg
Rachael Smith

An aquarium is planned to open in River Ridge mall by the end of the summer.

A 22,000-square-foot SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium will be built to the left of American Eagle Outfitters, where mall security, restrooms and administrative offices are currently located. Those offices and amenities will be moved to a new spot in the mall once construction begins.

Although about 12 local and state permits are required, construction is planned to begin this month.

Click Here for Full Story

Hmm, could use a store or two....

I think this is a GENIUS idea. Excellent outside of the box thinking. And it's bound to help our zoology majors at LU.

alabama24 wrote:

News & Advance wrote:SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium planned for River Ridge mall in Lynchburg
Rachael Smith

An aquarium is planned to open in River Ridge mall by the end of the summer.

A 22,000-square-foot SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium will be built to the left of American Eagle Outfitters, where mall security, restrooms and administrative offices are currently located. Those offices and amenities will be moved to a new spot in the mall once construction begins.

Although about 12 local and state permits are required, construction is planned to begin this month.

Click Here for Full Story

There’s a comment about a pool boy that I’m refraining from

This isn't bad. I see people complain that the mall should be for stores but the reality of the modern day market is that you can shop from home and by providing an experience in the mall that drives foot traffic, it may help increase sales at the brick and mortar locations.

The big question will be how much foot traffic can this location drive in the long term. It certainly looks interesting and family passes aren't too expensive. If they provide a good enough experience, could drive repeat visits.

You know what I would love? Something similar to The Void. https://www.thevoid.com

That's one of the better experiences I've ever had but our market wouldn't support it long term.

SeaQuest has a notorious reputation for mistreating the animals and has a bad track record of keeping customers safe, so as much as I like the concept, I will not be going. Much like when I stopped going to the Natural Bridge Zoo and Safari Park once their animal mistreatment/abuse scandals started popping up a few years ago. I have less than zero use for people who can't treat animals with respect.
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/f ... estigation
https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/an ... -in-court/
https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... t-but.html

You needed a report to make you realize the animals at that joke of a zoo were mistreated? I went once over 10 years ago and it was the most depressing place. I couldn't believe it was allowed to operate. I'm sure it's on gotten worse.

It has been quite a long time since I have been to either. Also I didn't know the safari park was owned by the same group when I went.

New development plans for River Ridge mall announced

https://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/ ... f3c.html#1

Very exciting! Can't wait to see it.

I'm having a hard time envisioning an amphitheater in the mall.

I'm thinking the stage would be below grade. As long as they make a vehicle access for Roadies got bring equipment to the stage easily, I could see that being a great addition. Carolers for the Christmas season. Could be great for children's plays. Mimic the Fridays after 5 of Cville and have a free concert in the amphitheatre every Friday from May to September. I really like the idea.

Separately the idea of a lodge feel is perfect. The ambience of a Cabelas or Bass Pro has prevented a lot of the commodization of their market.

Restaurants with dual entry from road or mall should help too. I'm still amazed there isn't a single service style restaurant in the mall.

Right now the mall has a whopping 4 places to eat.

The amphitheater is in the background of this picture, at least that's what it looks like.

I'll have to visit the wine bar

ATrain wrote:I'll have to visit the wine bar

Especially if you can drop a kid off at SeaQuest for a couple hours of guided fun.

ATrain wrote:I'll have to visit the wine bar

Maybe a FF meetup!

ATrain wrote:I'll have to visit the wine bar

As a beer/wine steward Im intrigued by the wine bar as well. I really would like to see a more proactive approach in getting food options in the food court area (4 options is not going to cut it obviously) and finding an anchor or two among the "mix of national, regional and local retailers, entertainment uses and restaurants" noted in the article

On a more immediate note, a gun show is coming to the old Macy's building next weekend.

Glad to see the mall being potentially returned to glory under committed leadership who actually have a long-term vision for the place.

The mall was great when I was a kid in the 90s, a place I thoroughly enjoyed going to. It was truly a sight to behold during Christmas season.

But it's been a mismanaged abomination and a wasteland for seemingly over a decade now. Of course, I know part of that is because of shifts in the economic/consumer landscape as malls are dying out nationally, but the previous management didn't exactly seem to have the ability to see the changes coming and formulating a long-term plan to avoid the downfall, they just seemingly did the bare minimum to keep the place afloat.

I'm actually excited to see all this come to fruition. I haven't been excited about the mall since, well, when I was a kid in the 90s.

lynchburgwildcats wrote:Glad to see the mall being potentially returned to glory under committed leadership who actually have a long-term vision for the place.

The mall was great when I was a kid in the 90s, a place I thoroughly enjoyed going to. It was truly a sight to behold during Christmas season.

But it's been a mismanaged abomination and a wasteland for seemingly over a decade now. Of course, I know part of that is because of shifts in the economic/consumer landscape as malls are dying out nationally, but the previous management didn't exactly seem to have the ability to see the changes coming and formulating a long-term plan to avoid the downfall, they just seemingly did the bare minimum to keep the place afloat.

I'm actually excited to see all this come to fruition. I haven't been excited about the mall since, well, when I was a kid in the 90s.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the remodel. However, I think a more ambitious plan is needed. Unfortunately, especially with Lynchburg's demo, a remodel with some new stores, etc won't be the game changer that malls need. That's just my two cents. I hope that it's successful though. The last thing I want is for the mall to fail. For some reason, I have an affinity for malls. Spent a lot of my youth and early 20's hanging out in malls.

I hit the gun show during a break at team camp

Purple Haize wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2019, 2:05 pm I hit the gun show during a break at team camp

Purple Haize wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2019, 2:05 pm I hit the gun show during a break at team camp

Buy anything? I might go tomorrow after church (why does that sound so wrong?!).

Cider Jim wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2019, 7:30 pm

Purple Haize wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2019, 2:05 pm I hit the gun show during a break at team camp

Buy anything? I might go tomorrow after church (why does that sound so wrong?!).

God
Guns
‘Murica

I did not. My rifle guy didn’t show up. He had other plans. Apparently there was a cover charge I was unaware of but I just walked in with a bunch of people so.......
We have camp again tomorrow so I might stop by again