Addison wrote:mhainli wrote:The mall owner (UBS) picked the wrong company (Trademark) to manage the mall. Almost nothing has happened since they presented improvements (conceptual I know) to the city for TIF participation back in January 2020.
I’ve always thought that due to density and lack of available land on the site, having one owner for all property (office, hotel and retail) is key to making the improvements necessary. If Macys and Nordstrom still maintain ownership it’s probably fine but we’ve seen the challenges with too many owners (aka Valley View..). Too many competing interests…
Simom managed the property before Trademark took over.
But I completely agree with Trademark being a poor choice to take over. They had no prior experience managing a super-regional upscale mall and it's now showing.
While I do agree that The Galleria is their first “super-regional upscale mall” that they are managing, I do think it is a good fit for them. Having a Louis Vuitton expansion is likely out of necessity as the current store is small and still does good business, even as brands like Coach and J. Crew have left the mall. Additionally, Stance, Garage, Lovisa, and Banter are not no-name stores, even though they aren’t the luxury stores the Galleria used to attract. The entire Galleria area has been going through a transition following the demolition of Valley View, and I assume in a couple years as it progresses maybe the Galleria will return to somewhat normal. It seems as if it’s been going through an identity crisis as of right now, and I definitely do agree that department stores, in general, aren’t doing too well there. As for the Nordstrom, I think most Nordstrom stores are typically what the Galleria store is now, on two levels. Like Stonebriar’s, which is on two levels and carries trendier brands along with upper-mid range rather than the luxury ones that NorthPark tends to carry. There’s not much need for two flagship locations within 15 miles of each other.
Looking at their portfolio, they manage Market Street in The Woodlands, which is another upscale shopping district. Recently, they just landed another Nike store and a Gucci store. As for La Palmera in Corpus Christi, they’ve landed stores that, while not upscale, are also pretty big names that typically weren’t in Corpus Christi beforehand. They’ve also landed the first Cheesecake Factory in that region.