KANSAS CITY LATE NIGHT JUXTAPOSITION: COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA STAYS WINNING OVER FADING SUBURBAN MALLS!!!



Credit where it's due as Kansas City confronts the death of retail . . .

The Country Club Plaza deserves credit for a pair of important victories over the inner-suburbs as of late.

First, the crown jewel of Kansas City retail snagged Nordstrom from Oak Park Mall.



And then . . .

Today's foodie victory bringing Shake Shack to the Plaza has local gluttons all jazzed up . . . Even if our TKC blog community believes that it might come at the expense of Winstead's

Either way, on the opposite side of the spectrum we notice Independence Center on the auction block.



The lesson . . .

First a reality check for the haters: All three of these locations have had their problems with shootings, robberies, beat-downs and typical fear of violent teens. So, making an argument about a flight to safety doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. 

Instead . . .

Even after all these years, the faux Spanish architecture and middle-class upscale legacy of the Plaza wins the day over inner-suburban box story glory that isn't much more exciting than a mouse click . . . Merchants might also remember that it was LOCAL offerings that build this district in the first place . . . But in the final analysis . . . A trip to the Plaza is still slightly more exciting than a visit to the mall. Example: They never caught that naked guy running around the parking lots. 

And so the "experience" and cultural amenities of Kansas City proper SEEM to lure the last holdouts of the retail market whilst everybody else just shops on Amazon.

You decide . . . 

Comments

  1. You heard it here 1st2/6/18, 11:16 PM

    Prediction:

    If Oak Park Mall can lure another Ikea into the mall, they will NEVER miss Nordstroms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn, that's actually not so bad of an idea.

      Delete
    2. Greater Kansas City2/6/18, 11:20 PM

      Pass on both locations. I'll take Prairie Fire any day. They have better shops, nicer restaurants and the working-class rabble can only trek out here on Saturdays, thanks the earlier closing times, that's not such a bad deal.

      The future might be Amazon but they don't yet have the technology to make a decent meal. I look forward to it but for now I'll take a decent mall above dealing with the future day labor workforce of KC. #sorrynotsorry

      Delete
  2. ^^^ Please stay out there and never come back!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dead cat Plaza bounce?

    Most likely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I thought you said the Plaza was dying, Tony. That's what you said. You say it every
    time you have a chance.

    It's not, so what's up your butt?

    Oh, right.

    Everything and everybody.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deduct 2 points for you thinking about Tony's butt.

      Gross.

      Delete
  5. Prairie Fire? What a joke!

    Isn't that place having finance issues too?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Think about it, they can build a mall anywhere but the plaza actually has some history and stuff you can't see it anywhere else. You can't tell one mall for the next anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just another great Groid punks opportunity for the stealing of higher end over priced shit , and a new place to rob , mugg the white people who dare to be there !¡!¡

    ReplyDelete
  8. First, Nordstrom's hasn't moved yet, Oak Park just tried to stonewall them on a rent increase and they're just hitting back.

    Secondly, the Plaza doesn't really need another Burger Joint, Winsteads and McDs have that covered. Shake Shack is an eastern chain, with all that implies, and having actually tried their food, it seems to me that they will do better in areas that don't know what burgers should taste like rather than out here in "food country". As bad as Winsteads outlets have become, they'll still beat out Shake Shack once the "new and shiny" wears off.

    No, unless the City decides to put up a ten foot tall chain link fence down Troost, the Plaza is moribund.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Money is moving back to the city center, it's happening all over the world. Nobody wants to live on the outskirts to town anymore. Sorry suburbanites. Looks like you got suckered again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 4:06 is spot on , the Plaza dump is dying of the Killa city boons invasion and will never GUNNA stop never GUNNA stop never GUNNA stop , so sad , that the Amish inner city youth scholar's hood rats have destroyed another area , Plaza shit hole will be like Bannister mall , Indian Creek , ruined by the GROIDS TRANNY bangers Boyz dope dealers and metrosexual DOUCHEBAG pieces of shit !¡!¡!¡

    ReplyDelete
  11. ^^Well pops, the rest of us are not scared little pussies like you. With any luck, one of those Killa city boons you long to fuck will get you and then thankfully we will be rid of you! Fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete
  12. ^^^^^Not scared and not stupid either.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ^^Disagree. You certainly are stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @4:06 - McD's was tossed out of the Plaza years ago for not being upscale enough for the image the Plaza's owners try to project. There ARE burger places other than Winstead's, but there's NOTHING cheap to eat on the Plaza since they kicked out McD's.

    I've worked on the Plaza now for nearly two decades and just finally threw up my hands and started bringing my lunch, like so many others.

    ReplyDelete

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