The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Restoration Hardware, one of MacArthur Center's original and most prominent tenants, plans to close its store at the downtown mall in January.
Signs posted in the store's windows say that location will close and advertise 40 percent off all merchandise. Restoration Hardware employees have told customers that Jan. 21 will be their final day.
MacArthur Center and its owner, Taubman Centers Inc., have received no official word of the retailer's plans, said Jim Wofford, the mall's general manager. Leasing agents continue to negotiate with officials from Restoration Hardware, which has a lease that extends past January, he said.
"That's our intent, to try to do everything we can to get them to remain in the center," Wofford said.
A Restoration Hardware spokeswoman did not respond to repeated emails.
Wofford and store employees said the retailer, based in California, has shifted its direction from mall stores to free-standing stores.
"If Restoration Hardware departs, I think it will be a greater reflection of the national economy and their strange change in merchandising rather than an indication of weakness at MacArthur Center or a statement about consumers in Hampton Roads," H. Blount Hunter, a retail and real estate consultant based in Norfolk, wrote in an email.
The MacArthur Center store is the only Restoration Hardware in Hampton Roads. It opened when the mall did, in March 1999. It is one of the mall's upscale retailers, occupying one of its 10 largest spaces. Restoration Hardware recently renovated its showroom to focus more on furniture and less on household items.
The signs at the store suggest that customers can shop online. The next closest Restoration Hardware is in Richmond.
Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com
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Didn't they remodel store a year or two ago?
If I recollect, didn't restoration hardware remodel their store in MacArthur like 1-2.5 yrs ago? If so, why they gonna spend money for that and leave? This story doesn't completely add up.
Midlife Crisis
Ol Mac Center is having a midlife crisis, no longer new and "the place to go" but not old either. People take it for granted and have moved on to newer places and the mall suffers. Tower, Coliseum, Newmarket and Pembroke all went through this phase and had to adapt or died. Chesapeake Sq is also lanquishing for the same reasons. As for me, with Restoration Hardware gone there is no longer a reason for me to stroll the innerds of the mall when I go to a movie. All the male oriented stores are GONE.
This faux has rabies.
Rich people are buying the good stuff, not fake antique furniture. The owners are reportedly going to sell stock to the public so they can recoup their investment. While closing stores? Sounds more like an offload to gullible shareholders before the whole thing collapses.
I used to shop at
I used to shop at Restoration and many of the stores at the mall on a weekly basis, but when they decided to do the teen banning I stopped shopping at the mall completely. The teens were not shopping at this store, but I was!!!
What Were They Thinking?
What were they thinking when Restoration Hardware went from selling household items to large expensive furniture?? I can see why they will be leaving the mall. Who can afford the things they sell now? Mac Mall has gone to the dogs as far as I'm concerned. When it first opened in 1999, it was a nice mall, now, it's just like Pembroke and Military Circle oops, I mean The Gallery at Military Circle. Nothing exciting there anymore. I go there about once a month and each time, it's this store is gone and this store is opening.. such limited eateries there, and it seems as though mall management isn't trying to get anymore eateries there. Such a waste.
Huh?
What point are you trying to make? Your first 3 sentences blame Restoration Hardware, then you say the mall is the problem. What does the mall have to do with RH charging exorbitant prices? If that's the case, isn't the mall better off without it? I hardly think the mall has "gone to the dogs." How has it changed so much? Sure, stores close, and others open in their places. That's nothing new for a shopping mall. But to imply that it's gone down in some way is kind of ridiculous. I can still get a great appetizer and Stella at Kincaid's, an excellent Chai Latte at Nordstrom espresso bar, a great book at Walden's, or clothes at Dillards.
I actually really like
I actually really like Swirlz. You buy the exact amount that you want, and pay accordingly. A beautiful model.
The food court needs some help though. I thought it was supposed to turn over and we would see some better options.
MacArthur. Get a Chik-fil-a.
The food court needs new tenants
I used to go to the Cheesecake Factory once in a while for their salads, surprised to see them go, there was usually a line. There isn't much of a selection now based on the last time I was there. A Chik-fil is a good idea & I would add perhaps a Tropical Smoothie or similar. It would be great to see a local restaurant have a small outpost like the old Waterside had with Pierce's.
uhm
Walden's has been gone for a while. They went out of business a couple years ago.
Yes, instead of Walden's the
Yes, instead of Walden's the mall now has a far nicer and larger, two-story Barnes & Noble.