Boston Store in the Grand to Close

[Eldon]

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2018/04/20/downtown-milwaukee-boston-store-building-owners-shift-plan-b-bon-ton-shutting-down/535918002/

I guess it was only a matter of time.  What fills its place?  Is there anything left in the Grand other than a popcorn stand and random cell phone vendors?

[Mr. Nielsen]

They are all closing. Mayfair, Southridge, Brookfield Square

[warriorchick]

All Boston Stores, Carson's, and Younkers.

Will there be any department stores left in Milwaukee?

[GGGG]

All Boston Stores, Carson's, and Younkers.

Will there be any department stores left in Milwaukee?

Penney's. Macy's. Kohl's.

[dgies9156]

Penney's. Macy's. Kohl's.

Wal-Mart, Target, Dollar General

[BrewCity83]

Penney's. Macy's. Kohl's.

Von Maur just opened in Brookfield.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Amazon

[WarriorDad]

Malls are going to be vacant places in another 10 to 15 years potentially.  I suspect the gov't will start to tax online purchases to a higher degree to keep brick and mortar enterprises going. 

Brave new world

[tower912]

Retail is dying.  It will only get worse until they start adding sales tax to the internet.

[rocket surgeon]

there is a new string of stores going up around 84th and layton.  i can see them from 894 going east.  kirkland, among others...this is probably within a 1/2 mile of so west of southridge

[mu_hilltopper]

Retail is dying.  It will only get worse until they start adding sales tax to the internet.

Unless the eTax is about 20% .. it isn't going to stop brick & mortar's decline.   Not to mention, the elephant (Amazon) already charges sales tax nearly everywhere .. didn't save Boston Store.


.. Seeing the "out of business sale" sign guys walking around city streets pointing toward Boston Store is depressing.  "Not that I ever shopped there, though" said everyone.

Our local mall (Bayshore) did a remodel a dozen years ago, so it's fancy and "new" -- it peaked about 2 years ago, now bleeding tenants.  Sears and now Boston Store are gone, movie theater gone, leaving giant chunks of land available.   

In <10 years, it'll be a shell.

[MUBurrow]

The sooner Grand Ave gets knocked over the head, the better.  It won't be cheap, and there will be a ton of fighting over how to pay for it and what to do with the space - but whether that fight gets fought now or later, it will happen.  On a smaller scale, but very similar situation, Port Plaza Mall in downtown Green Bay languished since the early 2000s. During that time, it contributed to a gradual deterioration of Green Bay's downtown, as it took up a tremendous amount of space and obstructed just about every major thoroughfare (sound familiar?)  Maybe a private company or two swoops in and helps offset some of the cost for TIF or economic development credits, but the costs of that over the years might exceed the one-time cost to take it down and preserve at least some of it as green space.

[D'Lo Brown]

Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I can't remember ever choosing to buy something online because of sales tax. Invariably I buy stuff online because it is infinitely easier to do so (in terms of time, effort, price comparisons).

That definitely sounds like something the govt will do to "save" some of these dying companies, but at best it will be a dead cat bounce. No way out for these retailers.

[jfmu]

Retail isn't dying. Poorly run retailers or p/e backed retailers are dying.

90% of retail sales still occur in bricks and mortar locations. Malls are changing and won't be the way people remember them. Anchors are going to be replaced with multiple smaller users, medical office, apartments, etc.

Repurposing these mall anchors are ways to draw more traffic.

Retail will be changing no doubt, but it's demise is grossly exaggerated