Towns recycle abandonded stores

[Capt Worley PE]

Some towns continue to block megastores because they object to their economic impact on local merchants and the traffic congestion they can create. But thousands of other towns across the USA that welcomed them face a growing challenge: What to do with the cavernous spaces left behind by retailers such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Kmart when they downsize or expand elsewhere.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/r...25-bigbox_N.htm

An abandonded Toys R Us in town here is being turned into one of those colleges that awards certificates.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Interesting story.

We've got an old Linens 'N Things and a Circuit City in prime locations just sitting there. The problem is that they are part of larger developments. It'd be a little weird to have Kohls, Best Buy, youth center, Sears.

 

[Dexman1349]

We have a brand new Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership that got "downsized." It's really a nice building and layout, but it's hard to really reclaim an old dealership with anything other than another dealership.

 

[csb]

I just read an article in the Denver Post about a shopping mall that opened up abandoned space for artists to use. It's actually brought business back into the mall and while it's not a long term fix, it's working.

We've got a Circuit City attached to K-Mart...which the K-Mart always looks like it's on the verge of closing (only one checker stand ever open, empty aisles). Not sure what would want to move in next to another sinking ship.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

We have a brand new Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership that got "downsized." It's really a nice building and layout, but it's hard to really reclaim an old dealership with anything other than another dealership.

I see a lot of those turned into furniture stores, especially older, intown dealerships.

 

[TXCoogPE]

We have a brand new Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership that got "downsized." It's really a nice building and layout, but it's hard to really reclaim an old dealership with anything other than another dealership.

We have an old car dealership in Houston which got converted into a very nice restaurant. They even kept the original showroom flooring.

http://www.reefhouston.com/index.htm

 

[Road Guy]

if more local governments would require these new "box stores" to do their surface treatments (walls) in brick and stone, they would not get run down looking in 10 years or so and cause the need for them to relocate.

In part of East Cobb (for you Atlanta folks) there are retail stores that have been there for 20+ years because the zoning required them to "not build it cheap" it has huge long term impacts on the area when these places leave their lease and move 5 miles down the road..

evertime i see a new box store going up with sheet metal and concrete block you can make a mental note about a future blighted spot in your town.

 

[jeb6294]

We have a brand new Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership that got "downsized." It's really a nice building and layout, but it's hard to really reclaim an old dealership with anything other than another dealership.

Actually the opposite at one dealer here. There was a big Kroger (grocery store) that moved to a newer store but left a huge empty space. It's in an area where a lot of the dealers set up shop so the Toyota dealer bought it and turned it into an indoor showroom. I've never actually been in it, but it sounds pretty neat...although I suppose they have to be careful if too many people come in and want to start 'em up to see how the engine sounds.

 

[MGX]

We have a brand new Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership that got "downsized." It's really a nice building and layout, but it's hard to really reclaim an old dealership with anything other than another dealership.

Usually this is the case if the building was a stand alone dealership. If a shop is attached you can have some good square footage. The size of most dealerships was surprising to me when I did a suppression system for one, the thing was tiny; all parking lot and little inside.

Another for BMW was really quite large and frankly a PITA due to weird ceiling slopes and materials.

Perhaps the most bizarre was an abandoned movie theater turned furniture store. Concrete trucks were backed in to fill the theaters; a terrible waste and the layout of the place is abysmal. The low lighting for a theater was left alone so one really can't see the furniture for sale. :tardbang:

 

[Dexman1349]

Perhaps the most bizarre was an abandoned movie theater turned furniture store. Concrete trucks were backed in to fill the theaters; a terrible waste and the layout of the place is abysmal. The low lighting for a theater was left alone so one really can't see the furniture for sale. :tardbang:

I think the most bizarre I've seen is in my home town. They converted the old roller skating rink into an antiques store, and the attached drive through bank was turned into a movie rental store.

 

[Dleg]

if more local governments would require these new "box stores" to do their surface treatments (walls) in brick and stone, they would not get run down looking in 10 years or so and cause the need for them to relocate.
In part of East Cobb (for you Atlanta folks) there are retail stores that have been there for 20+ years because the zoning required them to "not build it cheap" it has huge long term impacts on the area when these places leave their lease and move 5 miles down the road..

evertime i see a new box store going up with sheet metal and concrete block you can make a mental note about a future blighted spot in your town.

What are you, a commie? You can't put restrictions like that on development. You'll stifle growth. It's in every business's best interest to not blight their surroundings, so you can trust them to do the right thing without regulation.

(this is what I have been being told for years. I hate regulating construction - things that seem common sense to anyone just get thrown out the window as soon as someone's money is on the line, and it always becomes a personalized, ideological attack on the regulators)

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Perhaps the most bizarre was an abandoned movie theater turned furniture store. Concrete trucks were backed in to fill the theaters; a terrible waste and the layout of the place is abysmal. The low lighting for a theater was left alone so one really can't see the furniture for sale. :tardbang:

We have an abandonded twin theater that a local animal rescue spot used to use for fundraising sales. The lighting wan't really all that bad. Incidentally, it is the theater I saw E.T. in.

Now that the hardware/hunting shop at the opposite end of the mall (one of the first open air malls...now called plazas...built in 1955) closed, the animal group is using that space.

 

[Road Guy]

its not restrictions on development, its just good zoning

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Perhaps the most bizarre was an abandoned movie theater turned furniture store. Concrete trucks were backed in to fill the theaters; a terrible waste and the layout of the place is abysmal. The low lighting for a theater was left alone so one really can't see the furniture for sale. :tardbang:

I think the most bizarre I've seen is in my home town. They converted the old roller skating rink into an antiques store, and the attached drive through bank was turned into a movie rental store.

They turned the local bank with a couple drive up windows into a Hispanic Catholic church near me. But they left the drive up ATM and overhead covering that extends out from the building.

So I'll drive up to the window to get cash on a Saturday night, and there's a bunch of people milling around in and out of the building all dressed nicely and waiting for services to start, while my white *** pulls up to get cash for pizza and beer. It's an odd set-up.