urbanMSP

The next phase of the mall needs to be awesome since Minnesota had the first indoor shopping mall in Edina, the Southdale Mall.

I was at the mall a couple of weeks ago and I like the new part. It is looking good so far. I like how the food court is separate from the rest of the mall. I also like the new bathrooms in the new part of the mall and the family bathrooms are massive. I also like the giant new elevator. The new elevator #2 did not work. I like all the natural light.

I like the look of J.W. Marriott Hotel, but there is one issue. I don't like the fact that you have to walk through the entire restaurant to get to their lobby. I like the way the Radisson Blu is connected to the MOA. You don't have to walk through a restaurant to get to the lobby.

I look forward to seeing what they are going to add in the next few month. I think they need to bring Bloomingdales back. They should add it to the next stage of the mall. Also, they need to add a Pro Bass. They need to add a ski lift like they have at the New Jersey ugly shopping mall. Another thing, they need to add entertainment like they are going to do at the New Jersey Mall.

They need to bring more fountains in. People love to sit and watch fountains. They relax and spend more money. The one they added at the old entry to the mall is really small. They need to put a giant one in the new part of the mall.

Hmmmmmm

I did the same a couple weeks ago. Have to agree that they have done a good job with renovating the MOA and making it fresh again. It was getting kind of thread worn there after 20 years. Look forwards to the new space attracting a few more stores on the lower 2 levels. The food court will fill up nicely over the next few months. Curious as to what we will see filling the old food court spaces that closed to help make room for the new addition. There are at least a half dozen spaces on the main part of the mall that will have to be refilled again. But I do agree with the nice natural light that they put in with the atrium in the new addition. Helps to warm up and brightens up the place. They still have some finishing work left to do on the main sections of the north 3 levels. Hopefully it will be completed by spring. That is unless they plan on remodeling the corner areas in front of Sear's, Nordstrom's, and Macy's which at this point are still the original designs.

Did not take time to check out the JW. I'll have to check that out my next trip out to MOA. But thanks for the heads up on the fact that you will have to walk thru the restaurant to get to the lobby. I'd probably would not have felt comfortable to walk thru thinking it was only a restaurant entrance and not one to the Hotel.

I think that the new shopping phase that they are proposing to begin in the next year will need to find more department stores and other medium and small concepts from Europe - America is pretty tapped out... Bloomingdales and Saks are withering... Macy's is doing terrible (They are no Dayton's) and there really aren't any other significant players left... Macy's consumed many of the regional players... If you are going to create an upscale destination then you have to have really new options. There is talk about Hines expanding the Galleria in the Gabbert's space but that is not going to be easy to get approved... and if Gabberts leaves the mall the new expanded space will only add 10 to 15 small to medium size retailers. I hope that the MOA is being aggressive in Asia, South America and Europe... I would love a Shanghai Tang, of a Takashimaya.... or Printemps... or Marks and Spencer or Selfridges... Just throwing it out there... We can buy so much online that they need to bring in retailers that aren't selling in the US...

I think that the new shopping phase that they are proposing to begin in the next year will need to find more department stores and other medium and small concepts from Europe - America is pretty tapped out... Bloomingdales and Saks are withering... Macy's is doing terrible (They are no Dayton's) and there really aren't any other significant players left... Macy's consumed many of the regional players... If you are going to create an upscale destination then you have to have really new options. There is talk about Hines expanding the Galleria in the Gabbert's space but that is not going to be easy to get approved... and if Gabberts leaves the mall the new expanded space will only add 10 to 15 small to medium size retailers. I hope that the MOA is being aggressive in Asia, South America and Europe... I would love a Shanghai Tang, of a Takashimaya.... or Printemps... or Marks and Spencer or Selfridges... Just throwing it out there... We can buy so much online that they need to bring in retailers that aren't selling in the US...

That's a really good idea. Do something no one else is doing. Tourists would go nuts. Imagine living in the upper midwest or Winnipeg or Thunder Bay and being able to drive here and buy a bunch of slick foreign brands that no one else in the country has access to.

They need to bring more fountains in. People love to sit and watch fountains. They relax and spend more money. The one they added at the old entry to the mall is really small. They need to put a giant one in the new part of the mall.

One of my favorite memories as a child in the late 70s was when a small kid fell into the fountain/pond in the Southdale center court. He cried and cried, and his cries echoed throughout the mall.

That and there's more of a chance for funny youtube videos of people on their phones tumbling into fountains.

This may make me sound like a sociopath. #monday

I'm guessing we'll see a UNIQLO in the next MOA phase.

http://www.uniqlo.com/us/

What about Dillards or Lord & Taylor as anchors? They would be new to the region.

Those are some good ideas for anchors. It would be something different.

I can see maybe Lord and Taylor as that is a true standout retail name and company. It would definitely fit in with the higher end shops that MOA 2 is looking for. Dillard's is more of a smaller regional chain that fills the department store needs in the same way Herberger's does up here, except they are based in Arkansas.

Lord and Taylor is a great thought - They were bought by the Hudson's Bay Company with a strategy to expand the stores US and International. So far they are Boston to Philadelphia and one in Miami and 3 in Chicago. That might be the right replacement for Bloomingdales - and the new phase definitely looks to be set up for at least 2 departments stores...

I think Dillard's won't work at the Mall. It still needs some more entertainment since there are so many empty retail spots in the old part of the mall already. The two new levels in the new part of the mall don't have anything yet. Like I said before, it needs more entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment, when I was at the mall on Sunday I passed by the flight simulator place, and I wonder how that business model would be affected by Oculus Rift. Seems like sitting in a simulator with a helmet on that can process modern HD graphics would be an enormous step up from the washed out projection screens you get to use now.

Also, comparing the new Dave and Busters at Southdale to the place at MOA, there's a serious lack of game machines there. D&B is almost indistinguishable from a casino with the amount of light and noise, while the MOA arcade feels pretty much like a TGI Fridays.

I agree that more entertainment is necessary. But it feels like improving the entertainment options that are already there would help as well. If they add in an ice rink and art gallery, cool. But if you want to play interactive games with friends, neither of those things will attract you to the mall, and the current offerings are showing their age.

I know they are talking of putting in lots of high end retail, but they should only put in some high end retail and use the rest of the space for an indoor park or something else especially if they can't even fill the open areas they already have. There are alot of empty store spots there right now. Some of the high end stores in Vegas you would have to be a multimillionaire just to buy one item.It still needs more entertainment and also improvement on what they already have.

It looks like they are updating some stuff at the Nickelodeon Park. What they should do is move the American doll store somewhere else and put in a new big scary ride.

Zara is opening its first MN store in the MOA.

Yay!! I guess the response I recevied wasn't accurate. I still wish they'd open downtown.

http://www.startribune.com/zara-appears ... 366627161/
http://mspmag.com/Blogs/Alishops/Januar ... s-Finally/

So the only info on it is some job posting on Craigslist? Hmmm. I am going to laugh it that is some hoax. ha. I can't believe all the media is all over it, and the only thing that has been seen are postings on CL.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/ ... FCB0Y22248

http://jobs.monster.com/c-zara-usa.aspx