In this week's retail news, Palo Alto's Goodwill store gets a face-lift while downtown's Anthropologie makes the move to Stanford Shopping Center.
ANTHROPOLOGIE TO RELOCATE ... The tremendously popular Anthropologie, which opened in Palo Alto nearly 13 years ago at the corner of Alma Street and Addison Avenue, is moving one mile north to the Stanford Shopping Center. The high-end women's clothing, accessories, gifts and home decor store, which is owned by Urban Outfitters, will take over approximately one-quarter of the space left vacant last year when Bloomingdale's moved to its new spot in the mall, according to an industry source. The new Anthropologie at Stanford will become a flagship store for the company, the source said, and will come close to tripling the size of its current 12,000-square-foot location in Palo Alto. The larger space at Stanford is scheduled to open in May 2016, and will enable Anthropologie to offer an array of new items including furniture and a bridal line, the source said. The current store at 999 Alma St. was originally scheduled to close for good in February 2016, "but that may be extended; it kind of depends on how the progress goes on the Stanford store," the source said. The Alma street location, which used to be an auto parts shop, has long been considered an unusual spot for the high-end retailer, since it is not in a traditional shopping area of the city. Anthropologie has nearly 200 stores throughout the U.S, Canada and the U.K.
GOODWILL GETS SPRUCED-UP ... Palo Alto's Goodwill store, 4085 El Camino Way, is in the midst of a major face-lift, while remaining open for business. The renovation, which began several months ago, includes the addition of public restrooms, upgraded fitting rooms and office space, as well as a marked pedestrian walkway in the parking lot, additional disabled parking spaces and improved signage at the drop-off section by the side of the store. Goodwill will tentatively close for two weeks in late September while the interior gets refreshed. Workers will redo the floor, paint the walls and reconfigure the floor plan for easier customer flow patterns, including moving the front counter to a side location.
Got leads on interesting and news-worthy retail developments? Daryl Savage will check them out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com.
Comments
Registered user
Community Center
on Aug 16, 2015 at 11:44 am
Registered user
on Aug 16, 2015 at 11:44 am
So another retail loss - will the old Anthropologie be another Palantir satellite office?
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 16, 2015 at 1:50 pm
on Aug 16, 2015 at 1:50 pm
This is good news. Anthropologists is owned by Urban Outfitters, which we know is an evil chain store.
It is best for Palo Alto. I guess what will happen to it now, is up to the owner, though I am hoping we can get a mom and pop store in the location
University South
on Aug 16, 2015 at 6:59 pm
on Aug 16, 2015 at 6:59 pm
So it's retail loss when one store moves to another location in Palo Alto and triples it's space? Sounds like retail gain to me.
Registered user
Community Center
on Aug 17, 2015 at 1:56 am
Registered user
on Aug 17, 2015 at 1:56 am
@Mystified - It is a retail loss for downtown palo alto which has seen numerous retail businesses leave recently.
University South
on Aug 17, 2015 at 9:23 am
on Aug 17, 2015 at 9:23 am
Well, true. But the struggle for downtown has always been the other attractive areas nearby - Stanford Mall is one of the top-performing malls in the world, and Town and Country has really improved itself over the last decade.
If I owned Anthropologie, I'd be happy to move from an isolated area with no foot traffic far away from University to a huge new flagship store within a mall.
They will have a hard time putting retail in that old spot, though. Big box stores by the freeway took over the low-cost retail (auto parts) a while back, and high-end retail really needs a busier location. Who wants to go there?
Since Council passed its "once retail, always retail" rule, I predict we'll see a vacant storefront for a long time. Protecting retail on University makes sense, protecting every spot that ever worked as retail does not.
College Terrace
on Aug 17, 2015 at 3:47 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 3:47 pm
[Post removed.]
another community
on Aug 17, 2015 at 4:39 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 4:39 pm
[Post removed.]
College Terrace
on Aug 17, 2015 at 5:26 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 5:26 pm
[Post removed.]
another community
on Aug 17, 2015 at 5:29 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 5:29 pm
[Post removed.]
Professorville
on Aug 17, 2015 at 6:06 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 6:06 pm
The shopping center is the place people with lots of money like to shop. Visitors to the area with unlimited cash go there.
So an overpriced store like Anthropologie will fit perfectly. I won't miss them.