It's mind blowing how big of a deal some people are making over a Banana Republic, a generic mid tier store, is closing. They announced over 2 years ago that they were closing over 100 locations in the US by end of 2023. This type of brick and mortar retail in most places has been dying for a long time. People need to wake up, stop thinking it's only their city, and start thinking more intelligently. It could be slow, but Mag Mile will change and be fine eventually. Just hope they get more restaurants right on Michigan Ave

I'm actually a bit happy to see these generic national chains close up shop on Michigan Ave. I'd rather see them on State, which is suffering far more than Michigan Ave.. or at least it feels that way if you walk down S State. There is potential for so much better on Michigan Ave. Either make it a distinct flagship experience or just stick to suburban shopping malls. Michigan Ave should be unique. No loss in my book.

There's a reason why areas like Rush/Oak/Walton nearby, or Armitage (and to an extent....Southport) do well. At least Armitage and Oak St area have more high end and unique brands that aren't a dime a dozen everywhere like Banana Republic or Gap is.

Totally agree. So much potential. It’s also crazy to me that even with the current 30% vacancy rate on the Mag Mile, every single weekend the streets are absolutely packed with people. On that note, is there zoning against having bars/restaurants directly on Michigan on the mag mile? There are literally none, and I’d think those would be gold mines.

Open House Chicago is really amazing this year. If you're not participating, you're missing out

You bring up a good point. The problem isn't a lack of foot traffic, it's the business model. Mag Mile worked in an era when you couldn't easily buy shit online. I'm sure there's a few higher-end stores that may go on since some folks like to go try on expensive stuff before purchasing it. However, the rest of that area needs to pivot towards businesses that draw people in for experiences you can't get anywhere else.

I just spent well over an hour at the top (almost) of the BMO tower. Sadly due to child care responsibilities I can't visit too many more sites...

The views from Fulton East aRe pretty amazing if you can make it. Unfortunately I believe they’re closed Sunday so if anybody is curious you have 2 hours to get there.

Totally agree, and they'll figure it out. More 'experiences' than shopping. Eg the Prince Museum, the Museum of Ice Cream, and the Starbucks Roastery are all good recent additions. And flagship stores like Ralph Lauren.

Honestly thanks for mentioning, going to head there now. :haha:

Don't know how it slipped through my radar. Will check some of the stuff out downtown tomorrow too. Thanks!

Does anyone have any insight on why cities like Paris, Rome, London seem to have far less retail vacancy than American peers? I just got back from a trip to Paris where I walked probably 10 miles a day and saw only a handful of vacant storefronts across the city the whole time. Same with Rome last fall...

The U.S. has a lot more retail space than other countries. The sector is overbuilt.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfIy_rCXEAAlT_8.jpg

100% this. I was at the Starbucks Roastery with my girlfriend a few weekends ago and it was absolutely packed. Every. Single. Floor. Packed!

We need a lot more of this, and a lot less of crap you can find at Old Orchard. Flagship stores are totally fine, but a ho hum Banana Republic or Gap? Who cares. Tourists that visit the Mag Mile have those in their home towns. We should focus on unique experiences that only mega cities like Chicago can offer.

I have no worries at all about N Michigan Ave. It is undergoing a somewhat difficult transformation (as are all premier retail streets in the post-Covid era), but it will come out on the other side better than it was before.

Maybe there's a little of that reaction, but I think that folks are largely having a justified reaction to another in a long line of recent closings that are taking a while to backfill. The mag mile is at its absolute lowest point in memory - maybe ever? I don't think that people are saying it's doomed/never going to be reinvented/recover either (it will)....it's just a largely rational assessment of current market conditions which are pudding-soft, without any indiation of a substantialk near-term turnaround.

And yes, the ave does need a more unique identity and draw in tenant mix, but the comparison to the more niche upscale streets just to the west is of course off base, as one of the issues with the Mag Mile is the sheer area of space that is still retail. It's of course been (necessarily) declining with the 'decommissioning' (from a retail perspective) of a lot of that higher floor space in some of the malls, but it's still just too much space to be that upscale. Yes, there are a lot of luxury-destined discretionary dollars out there from tourists, business travelers and locals alike, I'm sure you'll come back with......but simply not enough.

Yeah there's THREE banana republic stores within walking distance of Times Square in New York, and the fact that the Mag Mile can't even support a single one is concerning. I have yet to see any single proposals from the city to reimagine Michigan ave, seems like they're just content with the status quo of all these companies leaving. It's not a good look

^^I'm really starting to doubt you're actually on this forum to say anything positive. Chicago is a city with its ups and downs, but not having a Banana Republic store on Michigan ave is not the end of the world. I shouldn't even be responding to you since I've questioned many times whether you're a troll, but IDK. If not, please have a bit more insight before you post stupid comparisons to other cities on every Chicago thread. I think you've said essentially the same thing on various threads hundreds of times now, and it's just white noise at this point.

Are you really trying to compare NYC's shopping to Chicago's? LOL. NYC, especially Manhattan, is leaps and bounds ahead of literally everyone else in this country (yes even Vegas, Miami, and Los Angeles). There will be 3 different locations in Manhattan alone of some super expensive boutique that's maybe in 2 other US cities (1 each). They've also closed multiple stores in Manhattan in the last few years - both Upper East Side and Upper West Side locations. Their UWS location was there for some 4 decades and still got closed down. Banana Republic even closed their store in Manhasset which is uber rich Long Island territory. Their store was in the same area as not only stores like Lululemon, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie but also Hermes, Cartier, Gucci, Burberry, Audemars Piguet. They still closed up shop. It's part of their long term plan to downsize tons of locations and they aren't even close to done yet.

They announced 2 years ago how they were closing many stores by EOY 2023. They will announce more soon and don't be surprised if at least 1 of those in Manhattan you cite ends up closing too.

Banana Republic (Gap Inc.) had stated a year or two ago they would be progressively closing hundreds of stores by the end of 2023, and my guess is that this location was just another victim. If you look at the track record for all these stores closing, they coincide with national closures.

It sucks to see stores leave, but all the ones that have left are the same stores you can find anywhere in the suburbs. They just aren't that special, and the pattern of national closures is just evidence of this. Covid, recovering tourism, and online shopping all have been contributing factors as well. Mag Mile is going to have to change for sure, but these are short-term woes and I'm sure given time and reinvention it will bounce back.

Quoted for absolute truth.

Aaron (Glowrock)

I must say when I was in Chicago for about a month filming this summer (August), mag mile was packed with people, it certainly did not seem abandoned or run down in any way--the Starbucks colossus was jam packed, plenty of activity and traffic... maybe I had some rose colored glasses on as I always find the avenue impressive but the only BIG hole I noticed was where Uniqlo used to be.