JCity wrote:It could happen while Bush is still President.....Jenna Bush.
YES!! Jenna is HOT!!
shoot me.
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shoot me.
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It would indeed be great if the entire first floor would become one retail store.
IIRC, Stix remodeled the entire first floor, sometime in the 60's. From 6th and Washington at least, you could look into the entire first floor (I seem to remember the "601 Shop" was located there (silverware and china). It was simple but beautiful, and once inside, it didn't feel closed in since you could see out onto the street.
Dillards really botched the remodel, closing off the store from the street and lowering the ceilings. I was only in there once but it just seemed very claustrophobic and the store did not relate to the street at all.
IIRC, Stix remodeled the entire first floor, sometime in the 60's. From 6th and Washington at least, you could look into the entire first floor (I seem to remember the "601 Shop" was located there (silverware and china). It was simple but beautiful, and once inside, it didn't feel closed in since you could see out onto the street.
Dillards really botched the remodel, closing off the store from the street and lowering the ceilings. I was only in there once but it just seemed very claustrophobic and the store did not relate to the street at all.
steveinphila wrote:It would indeed be great if the entire first floor would become one retail store.
IIRC, Stix remodeled the entire first floor, sometime in the 60's. From 6th and Washington at least, you could look into the entire first floor (I seem to remember the "601 Shop" was located there (silverware and china). It was simple but beautiful, and once inside, it didn't feel closed in since you could see out onto the street.
Dillards really botched the remodel, closing off the store from the street and lowering the ceilings. I was only in there once but it just seemed very claustrophobic and the store did not relate to the street at all.
An urban "big box" would be cool. Either a bookstore (Borders, Barnes & Noble) or electronics (Best Buy, Circuit City) would be nice to see.
dweebe wrote:An urban "big box" would be cool. Either a bookstore (Borders, Barnes & Noble) or electronics (Best Buy, Circuit City) would be nice to see.
It's like deja vu all over again.
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steveinphila wrote:Dillards really botched the remodel, closing off the store from the street and lowering the ceilings. I was only in there once but it just seemed very claustrophobic and the store did not relate to the street at all.
That's another observation I thought of after I watched the video I posted from KSDK of the Dillard's/Stix buyout announcement in 1984. There are just brief glimpses of the store in the footage. I was just nine years old when the store closed for remodeling, but that video brought back a flood of memories.
My memory of the place is understandably fuzzy since I was so young then, but the footage of the store was just like I remembered- nice and open compared to the dungeon Dillard's created out of that space. From the doors at Sixth and Washington, you could look into the entire main level. And from at least part of the main level, you could look back onto Washington Avenue. It wasn't necessarily a better arrangement than Famous-Barr, just different.
I do recall that my parents, grandparents, and even I had a W-T-F moment when we first stepped into the renovated and converted Dillard's. How can you make a once-majestic downtown department store look like a suburban hellhole? Ask Dillard's, because they apparently had the formula just right. The upper levels of the building were gutted in the remodeling IIRC, leaving only four levels of merchandise with lowered ceilings (you might as well say three since the selling space on the main level was significantly reduced).
I'd love to bring back the days before Dillard's and the adjoining St. Louis Centre effectively ruined most of the downtown retail scene. And like the Chicagoans pining for Field's, I'd like to have Famous and Stix back as well. Since I don't have a souped-up DeLorean to go back to the future, I'd be ecstatic to see a tenant like Borders or B&N occupy most if not all of the first floor of The Laurel, to take advantage of the openness that was there before Dillard's trashed the place over twenty years ago.
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Just noticed on my way down Wash yesterday that they have added a doorfront on Washington for the sales center. Don't know how long that's been there.
Not only did I wake up to a Laurel radio ad on NPR this morning and see a huge new sign on the way in to downtown this morning (which wasn't there a few days ago) but the sales center is really moving -- as I was dropping the husband off at work at US Bank, we both noticed lots of activity in that corner -- the windows are more open to the public now so you can see inside.
A Laurel ad on NPR?....Surely you mean an on air identification of sponsorship for a program or a day of programming on the St. Louis public radio station? I think they plan to open the sales center this month.
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The center lane of Washington is currently closed and a crew has a cherry-picker set up at the skybridge. Don't know if they're just planning on hanging another sign on the east side of the bridge, or if they have other plans...
DeBaliviere wrote:The center lane of Washington is currently closed and a crew has a cherry-picker set up at the skybridge. Don't know if they're just planning on hanging another sign on the east side of the bridge, or if they have other plans...
They've decided to keep the skybridge so the crew is drawing it back into the picture in the ad.
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Well since the cherrypicker truck was from a sign company (had the name on the side - I forget what it was but something with SIGNS in it), I'd guess they're just doing something with the signage and not taking down the skybridge.
true..new sign...no more Concord...just the Laurel...
hope the concord is not gone..
hope the concord is not gone..
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The Laurel is having an open house on September 27th and will show their new display model at that time. It starts at 5:00 and is open to anyone that is interested.
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In this weeks issue of Sports Illustrated, there is an advertisement for the Laurel. I'm sure there have been ads in other magazines, but I haven't seen any. Anyone know how far mags are distributed within a certain area? I would guess they get a couple hundred mile range on them, no?
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^No. They only get their add in SI's that are distributed in the STL area. Most Likely STL County, St Carles, Jeffco and the ESTL suburbs. I doubt the adds make it all the way to Columbia or anywhere that far. I know this because I just visited a friend recently in Columbia MO and was comparing their Architectural Digest (for this exact reason) and saw only KC development adds. I saw an add for the Alexa in that issue, and an add for Lumier Place, but my guess is that they paid more to have is circulated further. If you look in the Ladue news you will see adds for just about everything on this forum (and even more stuff) but it isnt like people in Chicago are looking at STL development adds in their copies of Architectural Digest.
I would say that Im impressed though by the recent amount of advertizements in national and local print magazines for downtown developments. It makes me happy everytime I see one.
I would say that Im impressed though by the recent amount of advertizements in national and local print magazines for downtown developments. It makes me happy everytime I see one.
washington is closed under the skybridge with a big tarp on the seventh street sign right now and a crew working behind it. looked to me like they were starting construction.
They have been installing furniture and graphics inside the sales center all week. I'm surprised they don't have the windows covered. I noticed a new logo for The Concord was just applied to the windows, so that makes me feel good about it still being "alive". There is also a really cool scale model of the Dillard's building that is lit up in the middle of the space. It looks like they are doing a first class job on this project!
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^ That new logo for The Concord wouldn't have any renderings by chance, would it? I haven't seen any illustrations of what it will look like since The Lawrence Group's design was selected by Pyramid in early 2006.
I won't be able to attend the open house, but I look forward to finding out more about The Laurel on the fall loft tour. I still hope they plan to make the most of the vast ground floor retail space that Stix Baer & Fuller, and later Dillard's, once occupied. And I still hold out hope that it's the right space for a major retailer.
I won't be able to attend the open house, but I look forward to finding out more about The Laurel on the fall loft tour. I still hope they plan to make the most of the vast ground floor retail space that Stix Baer & Fuller, and later Dillard's, once occupied. And I still hold out hope that it's the right space for a major retailer.
Laurel is opening Thursday. Apparently people are invited to come check it out. Starts at 5 ends at 8.
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The sales center looks great. Pyramid has really spruced up the sidewalk in front of the building as well, adding lots of flowers and plants. I wish more building owners would do the same.
