I walked by the old Mike Shannon's Restaurant space which has been busy with construction the last couple of weeks and notice a Hooter's sign.  Has Downtown redevelopment reached the tipping point?



MikeL

I'm glad to see Hooters move closer to my office, but they are moving from Union Station sort of a zero sum gain in this case.

I don't know if I'd necessarily say zero. It's hard for me to honestly think of the stuff inside of Union Station and St. Louis Centre as "part of downtown." It feels too isolated and difficult to get to, like Walgreens. I do think its nice that another national restaurant is confident in the street level retail space.

The Hooters is looking close to finished these days. I have heard that it is set to open on July 31.

Jeff707 wrote:I like Hooter's.

Me too. I think they're going to be very successful in the old Shannon's space. Heck, they'll probably break even from my office alone.

Hooters



My family restaurant when I was in elementary school, anyone else?

Father > Hot wings

Mother > Clams

Brothers > Curly fries

Yeah, you know it's funny. I've been to Hooters a few times, and I'm always surprised by how many families eat there. Despite the, uh, scenery, it really is a family friendly place.

SMSPlanstu wrote:Hooters



My family restaurant when I was in elementary school, anyone else?

Father > Hot wings & subtle glances at cleavage hoping mom doesn't notice

Mother > Clams

Brothers > Curly fries

The part you forgot!

I really don't get why they're moving. The space in Union Station is amazing and unique. Will the new location significantly increase sales?

Matt wrote:I really don't get why they're moving. The space in Union Station is amazing and unique. Will the new location significantly increase sales?

That would be my guess. A lot more visibility.

Plus, as has been posted on here many times, I think most retailers recognize that Union Station is in a death spiral, until/unless they do a major overhaul.

jlblues wrote:Plus, as has been posted on here many times, I think most retailers recognize that Union Station is in a death spiral, until/unless they do a major overhaul.

They need to add residential to Union Station. The increased foot traffic of residents and visitors would help immensely. It'd also help the demographics, allowing for better quality retail.

SoulardD wrote:They need to add residential to Union Station. The increased foot traffic of residents and visitors would help immensely. It'd also help the demographics, allowing for better quality retail.

Yes, it mystifies me why they didn't do something of a residential or mixed-use nature on that massive parking lot a long time ago. I know there is some sort of proposal out there, the Mayor has mentioned it a couple of times, but I haven't seen or heard a clue as to what it might include. Perhaps they are waiting for the first phase of Chouteau Lake to be finalized, so they can collaborate/coordinate with that project?

Is Hooters still on track to open July 31?

It looked like they were getting ready to put the signage up last week.

They have signs in the window announcing July 31 as the opening date plus they have been training waitresses and servers all this week. I've been making it a point to check out their progress during lunch this week.

brickandmortar wrote:They have signs in the window announcing July 31 as the opening date plus they have been training waitresses and servers all this week. I've been making it a point to check out their progress during lunch this week.

Are you sure it's the "progress" you're checking out, and not the waitresses?

^Both.



I 'found' myself checking it out again during lunch. Today they are giving away food. I didn't go inside because the place was absolutely packed.



On another note, I just picked up a 2006-07 St. Louis tourist map/guide and it has a Hooters ad in it. The ad shows two downtown locations: one at Union Station, the other at 100 N. 7th(Old Mike Shannon's).

It's now open!

quite a statement about their belief in downtown to keep 2 locations.

Actually, the ad you saw was probably when the transition was being made. As of Aug 1, The Union Station location has been closed.

matguy70 wrote:Actually, the ad you saw was probably when the transition was being made. As of Aug 1, The Union Station location has been closed.

That is my understanding of what was supposed to happen also.

Checked out the Hoots last night - the front windows of the restaurant are basically big garage doors which were completely open last night. Nice to see someone finally incorporate that idea as many people on this forum have been advocating that kind of design for restaurants/bars downtown for quite a while now.



The waitresses were nice to look at as well.