Retail
The Planetizen News Brief - 10/8/09
4:15 minutes (3.9 MB)
The Galapagos Island deal with a human invasion, and vacant retail is finding new life all across the country -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, download or listen.
Fighting Blight With Art
Palm Springs officials are working to fill the windows of empty storefronts with art and movie posters in order to keep the streetscape feeling lively.
The Los Angeles Times
Pop-Up Stores Find New Popularity in Bad Economy
Pop-up stores -- stores that fill retail space for a couple of quick months, than vanish -- were once scoffed at by retail landlords. Today, they're plugging holes in the retail economy.
Retail Traffic Magazine
States Cutting Economic Development Budgets
Retail Traffic Magazine reports that money-starved states like California are raising taxes on commercial property and gutting local economic development agencies, hurting developers.
Retail Traffic Magazine
Reviving High Streets With Housing
With nearly 20,000 retail outlets shutting down so far this year in England, the future of towns' high streets looks shaky. But some say reviving these main streets is as simple as converting empty shops into housing units.
Building
Car-Free Days Cancelled in One Vancouver Site
Local businesses on a busy Vancouver street that had been hosting weekly car-free events this summer have protested and effectively cancelled the event.
CBC
7-Eleven Opening Stores, Not Closing Them
The convenience store announced it would open 200 new stores this year. A rep said that attractive locations had opened up for the retailer that were previously too expensive.
The New York Times
The Secret To Reactivating Retail: Fountains?
Fountains are highly effective at attracting shoppers, say retail operators REIT Macerich. Their annual survey of 7,000 shoppers says that shoppers connect fountains with a positive shopping experience.
Retail Traffic Magazine
Retailers Fleeing Detroit
As recently as the turn of this century, retailers were taking a chance on downtown Detroit. But today, Starbucks, Borders and others are pulling their stores out.
The Wall St. Journal
Retailers Fled? Think Local, Experts Say
Real estate brokers are looking towards local and atypical businesses to fill empty retail space left behind by shrinking and bankrupt national chains like Starbucks and CompUSA.
International Council Of Shopping Centers
Big Box Exit Spells Trouble for Local Economy
In Dublin, CA, the failure of a slew of big box retailers has created retail deadzones, dragging down local businesses and economies.
San Francisco Chronicle
Vacant Storefronts Sell Space for Ads
Crushed by the falling economy, failing retail spaces are renting their storefronts to make a some extra cash.
The New York Times
D.C. Considers Retail in Train Stations
Washington D.C. transit officials are planning to allow retail vendors to set up shop in some of the city's train stations. Proponents say the move could aid security by putting more "eyes" on the system.
Greater Greater Washington
The Art of Balancing Retail
Diversity is important to neighborhood commercial areas, but getting the right balance of retail and restaurants without disincentivizing the former is not so simple.
Greater Greater Washington
Luxury Replaces Local Goods and Services in Malibu
As a new luxury retail center replaces a decades-old hardware store in upscale Malibu, California, many worry about the troubled future facing local businesses and services.
Los Angeles Times
Largest Real Estate Bust In History
General Growth Properties, the 2nd largest mall operator in the nation, declared bankruptcy this morning. The company was felled by mounting debt from short-term mortgages it used to expand its holdings.
The New York Times
Las Vegas Mega Development on Shaky Ground
A major retail and tourist project in Las Vegas -- what some are calling the largest project in the world -- is stumbling amid the recession. Its developers and the city are unsure of its future.
Reuters
"Land of Extremes" Feels the Hurt
California's Inland Empire's status as one of the nation's leader in foreclosures has fleeing retail as proof of it. This article offers a glimpse in this "land of extremes."
The New York Times
Is the Record Store Dead?
The imminent closing of the Virgin Megastore in New York City may be a sign that the traditional music store will soon be extinct.
Salon.com
The Planetizen News Brief - 3/12/09
4:30 minutes (4.13 MB)
Florida cans growth management, floundering retail leaves cities high and dry, and advertising takes over public spaces -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City". Read, listen or download.



















