The Retail Thread

[CUclimber]

What a shame about the design of that area. There are some good outdoor mall layouts out there; why didn't the planners go with a more progressive design?

That just looks like a duplicate of Cedar Hills Blvd.

[brandonpdx]

^ I agree. the design is a step backward. It doesn't utilize the MAX stop. its as bad as any 80s autocentric strip mall.

I'm sure the developers are salivating over the prospect of attracting all of those Washingtonians to get in their car for tax free shopping. Hence the very poorly designed un-pedestrian friendly mall.

[PeterSmith]

Hmm, at the time I wrote that comment, I was absolutely sure of myself that I had heard numerous examples of Ikea being an evil company...but now that I search for any proof of it, I can find only examples of Ikea being a leader in corporate responsibility. Perhaps I was mistaken. I even found this interesting bit concerning it's founder:

Perhaps it's his humble beginnings - Kamprad was born and raised on a farm in Sweden - or perhaps it is the innate business sense he exhibited at an early age, buying up matches in bulk and selling them individually for a profit. Whatever the reason for Kamprad's legendary frugality, examples of it abound. He lives quietly in Lausanne with his wife, drives a 12-year-old Volvo, takes public transport to work, and routinely uses his pensioner discount card. He avoids wearing suits, flies economy class and encourages his 90,000 employees - Ikea prefers the more egalitarian "co-workers" - to write on both sides of paper. It seems to pay off: Kamprad's minimalist furniture generates more than $15bn a year in sales for Ikea, currently the world's largest furniture retailer, with more than 200 stores in 33 countries.

[Symi81]

I studied IKea at a Jesuit business school and never read anything even remotely unethical about their business practices.

Anybody who compared IKea to Wal-Mart should pull their head out...

[zilfondel]

^^^ Apparently some chairs they manufactured in China last year only used 4% of the wood being sourced from FSC-certified forests.

Otherwise, the quality on their cheaper lines may have gone downhill some.

[MarkDaMan]

Changing the luck of the draw
After Sept. 11, 2001, the city had to alter its strategy at Cascade Station, but Portland still came out ahead
Monday, July 23, 2007

T he Red light-rail line to Portland International Airport opened Sept. 10, 2001. And that's really the best explanation of what has happened since at Cascade Station.

Fun as it may be to speculate about what went wrong with the huge transit-oriented development the airport line was supposed to trigger, there's no mystery involved.

Six years ago, the development failed to take off because of circumstances beyond Portland's control -- and beyond America's wildest imagining.

In retrospect, it's lucky for Portland that the Red line was up and running that Sept. 10. Just 24 hours later, the world was a much darker place, and everything connected to air travel had gone into an economic tailspin. Had the airport line still been languishing on TriMet's wish list at that point, we'd all likely still be waiting for the train to arrive.

Almost certainly, it wouldn't have attracted the private partnership of Bechtel Corp. Although connecting to the airport had always been a TriMet dream, it took a huge private investment to accelerate the plan and thereby realize it. In 1997, the city and the Port of Portland struck an unprecedented deal. In return for development rights to 120 acres near the airport, Bechtel agreed to provide $28 million to get the Red line built.

In retrospect, it's clear that citizens got the best of this bargain and it's fair to wonder whether Bechtel's hopes were realistic in the first place. But that's a question that remains on the table. Portland got its airport connection, even if the private development faltered. To Portland's credit, it eventually regrouped and came up with Plan B -- as in Big Box. In case you're one of the few mortals on the planet who hasn't heard, Swedish furniture pop-star Ikea is opening at Cascade Station.

Ikea is so off-the-charts popular it's actually expected to create traffic gridlock when it opens. That's what it has done elsewhere, and who knows? Maybe we can top that. Maybe it will spark retail road rage here.

Just kidding. Although it will be fascinating to see how many people use light-rail to get to the store, clearly this is not the "transit-oriented" development anyone had in mind. And yet it's a good fallback position, just the kind of stellar anchor that magnetizes shoppers and changes the luck of the draw.

Ultimately, the number of people who take light rail to Cascade Station doesn't matter as much as the number who come, any way they can, to shop there -- or the number who ride past that station.

Last year, residents of our region made more than a million trips on the Red Line to and from the airport. That single train is so valuable, Metro Councilor Brian Newman recently suggested, that it has helped transform popular opinion about light rail. Some in his once-hostile Clackamas County district, for instance, are now eagerly awaiting two light-rail connections of their own.

Plan A was inspired, but a terrible reality intruded and necessitated a shift to Plan B. How that evolves, helped along by Ikea, is very important. But whatever happens, Cascade Station has already taken the region where it wanted to go:

The airport.

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/ore...se/editorial/1184972161285940.xml&coll=7

[pdxman]

So is anyone heading out to ikea today? It looks like all the bad traffic they were expecting didn't materialize--i don't know if thats good or bad. The typical laid-back reaction only portland can do

[zilfondel]

I had to work today. =(

[MarkDaMan]

mmmm...had Apple Cake for the first time yesterday, that was quite delicious.

[mcbaby]

are people utilizing the max train to get to ikea? nobody has meantioned it yet on this forum.

[pdxman]

I've taken max the two times i've gone. when i actually buy stuff tho i'll probably have to drive out there. unless i have it delivered.

[MarkDaMan]

^I've taken the MAX too. There were a lot of people, at least 50, both when getting off when I got to Ikea, and then on the train when I was done Friday evening. I've never seen ridership like that on a late Friday evening on the Red Line.

[2oh1]

I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but, could there possibly be a worse set up for the layout of Cascade Station? It's as if they didn't really want light rail there at all.

I'll be curious to see what other shops move in, and I wonder what the timeline will be before it's all complete.

I'm glad Ikea is here, and I'm all about light rail... I just feel disappointed in how they incorporated it.

Ahhhhhh well. Whatareyagonnado?

[PacificNW]

I am curious: Unless a person is disabled, and has difficulty walking, etc., what is the problem of walking from the MAX station to Ikea?

[zilfondel]

You know, I thought that Cascade Station was very pedestrian friendly. They have a wide park-like pedestrian way in between a slow-speed couplet that is actually pleasant to walk along (until you get to the IKEA parking lot), and quite a few people took the MAX when I rode it on Sunday.

Of course, there were a lot of people driving, but most of them had big shopping baskets full of stuff they bought - and there were also a LOT of large families. Like 6+ kids, the grandparents, etc.

[PDXPaul]

I was home for the weekend they opened so I took my mom. Place was a madhouse even at 830, kids running all over the place like wild little monkeys! Portland's is a lot nicer, IMO, than the one here in Renton. Much more what I 'expected' of Ikea.

I like Cascade Station, but still I couldn't help but remember the original plans for the offices and apartments and sort of feel like it's not as great a utilization of space.

btw there's a bestbuy right by the Ikea. But isn't there a bestbuy just down the road on the other side of I205? what the heck!

[MarkDaMan]

^apartments weren't ever planned. The planes fly low and the FAA and Port never would have allowed homes of any sort. Hell, they almost wouldn't allow IKEA because of land ownership issues that close to the aiport.

The offices and up to 5000 hotel rooms will be built on the vacant fields across from the initial big box Cascade Station development. In fact, an airport version of the W Hotel called Aloft has already started construction. I'm not sure the fate of that other large box of yellow closer to the airport. I believe that was the Costco Home Store that has been cancelled.

[pdxtraveler]

Originally Posted by PDXPaul

btw there's a bestbuy right by the Ikea. But isn't there a bestbuy just down the road on the other side of I205? what the heck!

PDXPaul.. This Best Buy replaces the one on the other side of the highway. But, yes, you are right there was.

[pdxman]

Where would the post office go in that picture?

[PDXPaul]

That's probably a good decision on Bestbuys part, Ikea will draw a lot of traffic. And 5000 hotel rooms is a lot, so I'm guessing the developments picking up steam? I remember when Bechtel got out it kind of being called a failure or whatever, but that was... a few years ago and the economy is a lot stronger now. Maybe they can turn the costco store into more offices/hotels instead of box retail.