[ALUmnus]

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/business ... ing/12200/

So McDonald's closed down on 12/31, and now the Gap will be closing at the end of this month. I've noticed a lot of other vacancies (jewelry stores, b moss). I hope the new movie theater can hold up.

Also, I'm guessing the new store replacing Gap will be Forever21 (whatever that is), I've seen them advertising management positions the last couple weeks.

[JDUB]

if RR starts losing tenants and Candlers has been losing them, where are all these companies going? Are they leaving town or just relocating?

and more importantly, we need to begin looking for a rich person needing a large tax writeoff

[flamesbball84]

you know its bad when even a mcdonalds can survive in there...

[LUconn]

Gap is closing!?!?! Where will I get underwear for $12?!?!

[ALUmnus]

Now you can get your $12 underwear on clearance!

[flamesbball84]

Gap is closing!?!?! Where will I get underwear for $12?!?!

please tell me that is for more than one pair...

[Sly Fox]

Retail is still getting hammered right now regardless of location.

[Hold My Own]

I've said it to many on this board and I'll say it again...


I like to think that I know this area pretty well and have a average business mind yet I still cant come up with a good explanation for them putting as much money as they are into a movie theater. The amount of money that they are spending is very close to the amount that the mall itself is worth. Yes I know that they will do well...but if RR cannot put tenants in the empty places then it doesnt matter how well the theater does. I hear more closings will be happening soon not mentioned on here before. I also heard Gap is relocating to Wards.


I really just dont know...but it does seem like it's just a matter of time before....


hahaha enough said

[thepostman]

well the theater people know they will make money because there is a need for a nice theater in this town...i do think, at least for a while, when the theater opens it will boost things a bit for the mall....thats a big theater and a lot of people that never go to the mall are going to come because of it...

now will there be long term success for the mall?? its hard to say...but for the short term after it opens I think it will help give them a boost they need...

but i am not really a business kind of person at all, so I could be completely wrong

[Fumblerooskies]

The Gap store at River Ridge mall will close by the end of the month but will be replaced later this year by another retailer, the shopping center’s manager said Wednesday.

The clothing store will be the latest of several stores to close at River Ridge: Whitehall Jewelers and B. Moss shuttered in December because their national chains went bankrupt, and the McDonald’s at the food court closed just after Christmas.

“This is a tough year for retail,” said Louise Dudley, general manager of River Ridge.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/loc ... ose/12209/

[ALUmnus]

Kind of makes you glad the whole process for the Colonnades is taking so long. That doesn't seem like such a great idea at the moment.

[TDDance234]

BMoss is closing everywhere. We walked through the mall here a few days ago and I think I saw a tear in my wife's eyes.

[Hold My Own]

well the theater people know they will make money because there is a need for a nice theater in this town...i do think, at least for a while, when the theater opens it will boost things a bit for the mall....thats a big theater and a lot of people that never go to the mall are going to come because of it...

now will there be long term success for the mall?? its hard to say...but for the short term after it opens I think it will help give them a boost they need...

but i am not really a business kind of person at all, so I could be completely wrong

It still just doesnt make sense. They are paying rent just like everyone else so even if its booming they cannot cover the other 30 stores that the mall is losing money on because they are unused. They gotta find people quick who can pay full rent and not just some to stop the bleeding like they have been.

I just hope someone steps out of the booth and buys this for a 501c3

[LUconn]

I guess a big question is: Who is paying for the construction of the theater? If carmike won't own it and will have to pay rent, why would they pay for it to be built? If the owners of the mall are footing the bill, or a portion of it, that's your reason why they're at the mall and not in a stand alone.

[Hold My Own]

I guess a big question is: Who is paying for the construction of the theater? If carmike won't own it and will have to pay rent, why would they pay for it to be built? If the owners of the mall are footing the bill, or a portion of it, that's your reason why they're at the mall and not in a stand alone.

RR is not paying for construction...there's no way, this would have broke their back. I'm sure they're lease is small due to having foot the bill of the construction but I dont think there is any way they are doing a rev share. Although that's about the only chance RR has a chance to be around in 3 years

[PAmedic]

I really just dont know...but it does seem like it's just a matter of time before....

hahaha enough said

c'mon "PAmedic Arena"

I'll even kick in a fiddy toward the naming rights.

love it.

[Sly Fox]

Kind of makes you glad the whole process for the Colonnades is taking so long.

I was under the assumption that the Crossroads project was dead.

[Hold My Own]

on hold...whatever that means

[badger74]

I have said before L has about as much retail as it can support right now with no additional projects--anything new will just kill the older centers. L has a pretty sound economy but incomes are just too low to support much upper end retail. Here's a recent report on L from Moody's Economy.com. They predicted the current markets pretty well over two years ago.

Recent Performance. The Lynchburg economy was still growing at a fast pace up until August of this year, but was then stopped in its tracks as the U.S. recession set in. Employment has fallen slightly from August to October and the unemployment rate, while still at a low 4.5%, has also risen in the past two quarters. Despite this bad news, LYN remains relatively well-off; it has suffered little by the way of a housing correction and almost no decline in mortgage debt performance.

Better income. LYN will be less affected income-wise in the current U.S. recession. Because its employment numbers have not yet headed south and will most likely fall by less if they do, and because a larger portion of its population consists of retirees who have shifted their portfolios to safer assets, real income has increased for LYN in all three quarters this year. By contrast, real income for the U.S. fell in the first and third quarters and stayed level in the second. Forecasts for the coming quarters, though not as optimistic, still have LYN outperforming the U.S. and Virginia. Unfortunately, longer-term problems will prevent LYN from maintaining this good performance.

Nuclear energy. Given the importance of AREVA and B&W as the metro area's main high-technology growth drivers and employers, the future of nuclear energy is of continuing importance to the metro area. The good news is that the prospects for nuclear energy refuse to die. Though not the most recent, a 2003 MIT report has maintained the consensus that nuclear energy is still a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
However, this report also stressed several problems that can only be addressed with substantial effort and investment, namely the reduction of reactor and fuel processor risk and the needed increase in suitable waste disposal facilities. Nuclear energy thus remains an industry whose viability is hindered by massive sunk costs that only extensive government support can hope to overcome. Without such support, AREVA and B&W will continue to have their markets limited to the U.S. Navy and to existing reactor maintenance.

Housing and retirement. Because of its lower cost of living compared with neighboring Virginia cities, LYN has gained a reputation as a potential retirement haven, a reputation that may influence its future development. LYN's housing affordability will remain good and LYN has avoided the collapse of mortgage debt performance evident elsewhere in the U.S. Over the next decade, the metro area will continue to attract in-migrants, but not to the same extent as it has in recent years. The credit crunch and sharp fall in equity values as well as the bursting of the housing bubble elsewhere have eaten into the wealth of many households close to retiring. This negative wealth effect will force many households to delay retirement and to stay put.

[thepostman]

I guess a big question is: Who is paying for the construction of the theater? If carmike won't own it and will have to pay rent, why would they pay for it to be built? If the owners of the mall are footing the bill, or a portion of it, that's your reason why they're at the mall and not in a stand alone.

i think its Regal that is doing it, not Carmike...not sure though...i will check

yeah..Regal...they are better then Carmike anyways...carmike theaters seem to always be run horribly

The new 2,400-seat theater, managed by Regal Entertainment Group, is expected to open in fall 2009.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/loc ... ater/4934/

[LUconn]

Thanks for that Badger. That's pretty interesting.

[thepostman]

haha, no problem...anytime

[Sly Fox]

Great read, badger. Thanks for sharing.

On a side note, Nordies appears to have pulled out of an outdoor complex here in NW Houston which is brand new and probably 25% occupied. The economy is brutal right now.

[JDUB]

crossroads is just holding off until the economy recovers. they have almost finished the bridge

[LUconn]

yeah, I've never seen a bridge take so long. But it looks like they've also done some clear cutting and land moving where they want to put it.