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.
So another retail loss – will the old Anthropologie be another Palantir satellite office?
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
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.
@Mystified – It is a retail loss for downtown palo alto which has seen numerous retail businesses leave recently.
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.
Downtown PA has a number of issues, in terms of retail. But one of the biggest ones is the street bums, attracted by the magnet of liberal guilt services. The Opportunity Centers was, as originally predicted, a major magnet. There was a headline article in the Daily Post, last week, stating as much, with city services required to scoop up their poop. A vibrant Downtown will require police action to clear out the bums, like it used to have. The limo-libs, living in their own exclusive PA domains are, so far, content to dump the problem on Downtown, and other convenient non-elite neighborhoods…they don’t shop there, anyway. Ever notice how, when the rare case of a bum sleeping on a tasteful concrete bench in the Old Palo Alto neighborhood (Churchill and Bryant), was quietly removed?
Actually, Laughton, if Palo Alto were to deport a certain resident of College Terrace to, say, San Bernardino, the atmosphere in the city would be VASTLY improved.
Just saying…
@@, I will make that choice, not anybody else. Thus far you are stuck with me for a few more years, perhaps decades, at least. Sorry (for you). Cheers!
BTW, since you claim to be from another community, what would that community be? Care to use your real name…I doubt it…but I just think it worth trying to smoke you out. Any cojones on your part?
I want to make Palo Alto a better place to live for all of us who can afford to live here.
“I want to make Palo Alto a better place to live for all of us who can afford to live here.”
How? By spreading your ill-founded bigotry on these boards? Some favor you’re doing for Palo Alto, chum.
Go move to San Bernardino. You’ll fit right in among your own.
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.