The Downtown St. Louis Partnership and Mayor Francis Slay invite you to attend the Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting ceremony for the new downtown Sprint Store.



Located at 1136 Washington Avenue, this is the 1st Sprint store to open in the city of St. Louis.



When: Friday, May 16th at 11:00 am

(lunch will be provided)



Speakers:

City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay

Downtown Partnership President Jim Cloar

Angela Haas, District Manager, Sprint



Browse the new store, meet the Sprint staff and take a look at the newest Sprint and NEXTEL phones and accessories. Free gift bags will be given to all grand opening attendees.



RSVP by clicking here.

Its a pretty sad statement for us that there is such fanfare and a speech from the Mayor just for a cell phone store. I realize its a big step getting a national retailer to open a location downtown, but come on...

"Its a pretty sad statement for us that there is such fanfare and a speech from the Mayor just for a cell phone store. I realize its a big step getting a national retailer to open a location downtown, but come on..."



While I agree that it's a little much for Slay to attend the opening, I think it's significant in that it may be the only chain retail location to open on Wash Ave in a sea of independent stores/restaurants/bars, which says something about the business climate there. Chains dont take risks on locations as independents do. Am I right that the only other "chains" on Wash Ave are the Starbucks (that's inside the Renaissance) and Tigrin, which is kind-of a chain, there are a few locations nationwide?

dweebe wrote:Probably because Sprint has professional PR people that can put something like this together.

Bingo.

This is actually kind of a landmark, its the first major national retailer to recognize downtown as a place to locate a new store...so I think it is appropriate that the city recognizes that and makes some noise about it. They need to send a message to all other national retailers that they should open up here as well and follow the lead fo sprint...imagine a washington avenue with local places mixed in with stores like Gap, etc...it would be awesome.



I think this is about more than a Sprint store opening...and I personally hate Sprint, but its abotu momentum for downtown.

^ A landmark? Come on. Do we really want Washington Avenue to turn into a West County strip mall? What about the independents that took a chance early on. Where is our ribbon cutting and tax incentives?

This stuff rarely happens for local businesses that aren't yet brand names.

Actually, it happens quite often. Glad you noticed this one.

^^^ Just joking. Downtown is a great neighborhood and without the help of the Downtown Partnership and City Hall many of the independents would not be here either. We welcome the addition of the chains but please remember to support your independents.

mophipsi wrote:This is actually kind of a landmark, its the first major national retailer to recognize downtown as a place to locate a new store...

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't there been at least two, maybe several, cell-phone stores that have opened downtown, and some that have closed, including one at either 7th or 8th and Olive that only lasted a couple of years?

shopgirl10 wrote:^ A landmark? Come on. Do we really want Washington Avenue to turn into a West County strip mall? What about the independents that took a chance early on. Where is our ribbon cutting and tax incentives?

Almost every urban shopping area is filled with chains...whether 5th Ave in NY, Union SQ in SF, South Beach, etc...there are cell phone stores, Starbucks, various restaurants, and chain apparel stores mixed in with local retailers. I don't think this is a bad thing. A Zara, H&M, Club Monaco, etc would be terrific for downtown, for example.

bonwich wrote:

mophipsi wrote:This is actually kind of a landmark, its the first major national retailer to recognize downtown as a place to locate a new store...

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't there been at least two, maybe several, cell-phone stores that have opened downtown, and some that have closed, including one at either 7th or 8th and Olive that only lasted a couple of years?

7th and Olive for sure. T-Mobile maybe? I think it was in the same business as Sen, but closed a while before the whole hoopla with May Co.

migueltejada wrote:Someone tell me if this store is corporate owned or just a franchise? If it's a franchise - WHO THE HELL CARES? It's not a sign of "national retailers liking Wash Ave if it's a franchise - just some local who thinks the area is doing well. Talk to me in 6 months if a Chipotle opens up, since AFAIK, they're all corporately owned and operated.

I stopped in over the weekend to check it out and I believe they said they were a franchise owned by a company based out of Kansas City (where Sprint is also based). Besides selling Sprint and Nextel they will have a repair and service center.



I think it is a decent addition to Washington Avenue simply since there isn't another store of its type in the area. Chain or independent is sort of moot in this industry since all the providers are nationwide these days (I think). As far as chains go, there is one other on (well, close enough) Washington Ave.: The Original Soupman.



While its always good to see the city making an event out of something in the area I have to agree with the folks who express some concerns about such events only happening with national stores. Just in the short time I've lived down here there have been a number of local businesses open or move (B&T, Mosaic, Perchelle, Beso, Solace/Sugar, etc.) and I don't think they had any kind of city involved opening ceremony, let alone with the Mayor.



Sure, national chains have access to more PR (generally because they have departments dedicated to nothing but that) and asking whether a local business asked for a ceremony is a valid question. However, those things alone shouldn't cause the disparity. There should be a greater effort to promote all businesses launching in the area, not just national chains. It doesn't just benefit the local business itself, any such event brings attention and media coverage to the area as a whole.



Finally, greater promotion of local business is important for letting people know about the unique aspects of the area. If all people who live elsewhere in the area here about happening on Washington Avenue business-wise is Sprint stores, Chipotle, and other chains they already have where they live, then they have little reason to visit the area when it comes to shopping and dining.

^There was a big event for the opening of Flamingo Bowl which the Mare attended. He even did something that sort of resembled bowling.

jlblues wrote:^There was a big event for the opening of Flamingo Bowl which the Mare attended. He even did something that sort of resembled bowling.

And for Good Works as well. Both not podcasts, but maybe they could have been!

bprop wrote:7th and Olive for sure. T-Mobile maybe? I think it was in the same business as Sen, but closed a while before the whole hoopla with May Co.

There was an AT&T Wireless store in the space now occupied by Teutenberg's. There also used to be a wireless store in the Mercantile Library Building at the southeast corner of 6th and Locust.

Every store that opens is given the option of hosting one of these events with the mayor. The partnership arranges it for the stores or restaurants. I remember the days when there were at least one of two of these events every month.

bprop wrote:7th and Olive for sure. T-Mobile maybe? I think it was in the same business as Sen, but closed a while before the whole hoopla with May Co.

T-Mobile? Who uses them? I know only one person. Sprint stores, as abundant as they are, are almost always packed unless they are in remote/obscure areas.



I think the new Sprint store on Washington Ave. would help to relive the Clayton Rd. store, which is crazy busy. I've even seen Marshall Faulk at the Clayton Rd. store.

Arch City wrote:

bprop wrote:7th and Olive for sure. T-Mobile maybe? I think it was in the same business as Sen, but closed a while before the whole hoopla with May Co.

T-Mobile? Who uses them? I know only one person. Sprint stores, as abundant as they are, are almost always packed unless they are in remote/obscure areas.

Why so defensive? I was just quoting what was in the Gill building in response to Bonwich. T-Mobile is still big and might even acquire Sprint; your anecdotes really don't affect reality.