Huntsville updates

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by hsvdj84

Fans of the brand?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dunkin-Donuts-and-iw-2658593954.html?x=0&.v=1

Does this mean we are actually getting new locations or is the brand just fishing for somebody willing to open a new location?

[ThatGuy]

Does anybody know what is being built at the corner of Pratt and Dallas (next to the old Rockabillys BBQ)?

Also, the old pet store next to Baskin Robbins looks like it might be being renovated. Anybody know what is going in there?

[David1502]

Check out this article.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/05/airtran_could_get_another_2_mi.html

It appears that the City of Huntsville is apprehensive that AirTran will not get enough business from the flying public and discontinue service to HSV even before AirTran can consider starting service to their ATL hub. Their fears are not unwarranted as AirTran has been forced to discontinue service due to low flight loads in other Southern cities - Mobile, Fort Walton Beach, Savannah and Charleston.

There are two unanswered questions:

1. Will any of the Delta frequent flyers fly on AirTran? or will they be so loyal that they will change planes at ATL when flying to DC so they can keep their Medallion Level status with Delta when they could have flown nonstop from HSV on AirTran to BWI? likewise to MCO (Orlando).

2. Will the leisure travelers who have been flying Southwest out of Birmingham and Nashville start flying AirTran? and are there enough of them?

When looking on the AirTran website for seats on holiday weekends, there are plenty of seats available to both BWI and MCO out of HSV which is not a good sign for AirTran.

Only time will tell, but it is obvious that the HSV City Council is tired of having the notorious distinction of having an airport with the highest fares in the country and are willing to pull out all the stops to loose that title.

[David1502]

Joseph A. Banks is locating a store in the former S & K Men's Store location at Bridge Street. It would appear that this will mean they will close their Parkway Place store and move like the Gap, and Banana Republic have already done.

This is not a good sign for Parkway Place and makes you wonder how long they will be able to keep their other high end stores like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. It may be that Joseph A. Banks has some insider knowledge that Bridge Street is about to land a Macy's or other department store and think in the future it will be the premier location. The Belk at Parkway Place is beginning to de-emphasize the higher end brands Parisian carried and give more floor space to the cheaper Belk brands which is not helping the "prestige factor" of that mall, either.

The Heritage Club is being constructed underneath the Mellow Mushroom and will further solidify Bridge Street as a business destination.

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by David1502

Check out this article.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/05/airtran_could_get_another_2_mi.html

It appears that the City of Huntsville is apprehensive that AirTran will not get enough business from the flying public and discontinue service to HSV even before AirTran can consider starting service to their ATL hub. Their fears are not unwarranted as AirTran has been forced to discontinue service due to low flight loads in other Southern cities - Mobile, Fort Walton Beach, Savannah and Charleston.

There are two unanswered questions:

1. Will any of the Delta frequent flyers fly on AirTran? or will they be so loyal that they will change planes at ATL when flying to DC so they can keep their Medallion Level status with Delta when they could have flown nonstop from HSV on AirTran to BWI? likewise to MCO (Orlando).

2. Will the leisure travelers who have been flying Southwest out of Birmingham and Nashville start flying AirTran? and are there enough of them?

When looking on the AirTran website for seats on holiday weekends, there are plenty of seats available to both BWI and MCO out of HSV which is not a good sign for AirTran.

Only time will tell, but it is obvious that the HSV City Council is tired of having the notorious distinction of having an airport with the highest fares in the country and are willing to pull out all the stops to loose that title.

Originally Posted by David1502

There are two unanswered questions:

No. There are not ANY unanswered questions because this horse was beaten to death very badly when the AirTran service was initially announced!

Originally Posted by David1502

1. Will any of the Delta frequent flyers fly on AirTran? or will they be so loyal that they will change planes at ATL when flying to DC so they can keep their Medallion Level status with Delta when they could have flown nonstop from HSV on AirTran to BWI? likewise to MCO (Orlando).

Just to recap... Some may try the new service, but most are whores to SkyMiles and will take the DL connection in ATL.

Originally Posted by David1502

2. Will the leisure travelers who have been flying Southwest out of Birmingham and Nashville start flying AirTran? and are there enough of them?

Just to recap (part two)... I believe a lot of them will, but there may not be enough of them to make the routes successful, especially if the DL crowd (above) remains faithful to DL.

I certainly could be wrong, but it is a little ominous that the city is already deciding to add $$$ to the AirTran pot before the first flight has even arrived!

[nickodemis]

I think most businesses will be more the happy to subsidize Airtran's initial cost of flying out of HSV. It will create competition and keep prices low, which will help reduce a lot of companies travel budgets. It will also attract more businesses to HSV, which means more tax revenue for the city.

Sounds like the goal is to keep Airtran in HSV at least along enough until the BRAC people to start to relocate. These will be the people that generate the most profit for Airtran.

Also, a lot of the Delta whores will be forced to fly Airtran by their companies because the flights will be so much cheaper. Of course they'll fight it as much as possible, but it will happen if Airtran starts flying to Atlanta.

I see Airtran eventually offering flights to Milwaukee as hub for its West coast destination.

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by David1502

The Heritage Club is being constructed underneath the Mellow Mushroom and will further solidify Bridge Street as a business destination.

Mellow Mushroom is in providence. Did you mean something else?

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by nickodemis

Also, a lot of the Delta whores will be forced to fly Airtran by their companies because the flights will be so much cheaper. Of course they'll fight it as much as possible, but it will happen if Airtran starts flying to Atlanta.

No, they really won't.

Let me explain how this works... as this scenario has played out all over the country. Fares will come down... that is a given and a GOOD thing. The problem is that Delta will match AirTran's fares and then the travelling public (individuals, companies, etc.) can keep doing what they have been doing (i.e., flying Delta and accumulating SkyMiles) at the new lower price. It is unfortunate, but this is generally what happens. People have to realize (and maybe enough will...) that you are only enjoying these new, lower fares because AirTran is now here. If people do not fly AirTran, the fares will inch back up once they leave HSV.

Let's not even speculate on what might happen should AirTran ever try to compete with Delta on the HSV-ATL run. I don't have a crystal ball, but I can see Delta running 11 flights a day with B757s and all of those (26) first class seats available for their SkyMiles members to fight over. It will be GREAT while it is happening, but once the bloodbath is over... and AirTran has withdrawn from the market, it will be back to a CR9, an MD88, and the rest CRJs. Who knows, Delta might even punish HSV and go to all regional aircraft for a while.

It's going to be an interesting show either way. Ultimately, Huntsville and its travelling public will control the outcome. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

[David1502]

Originally Posted by stewdog1

Mellow Mushroom is in providence. Did you mean something else?

My bad. You're right. I meant to say The Melting Pot which is located on the North end near the Westin.

[bestdeception]

The Heritage Club hasn't started construction yet, so I would think October would be a maybe if they get started soon. Can't figure out why they closed downtown before even starting here. They've been closed downtown for at least a month now.

And yes, Mellow Mushroom is in Providence, and the Heritage Club is below The Melting Pot.

[hsvdj84]

I hate empty spaces. It looks like a Powerhouse Gym will go in Old Navy's previous location to join Earth Fare. Now if we can get Linens-N-Things and the old Wynn Dixie just down the road filled I'd be a little happier.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20100519/bs_prweb/prweb4024504_1

http://www.castoinfo.com/retail/propdetail.php?action=detail&pID=84#

[hsvdj84]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

Does this mean we are actually getting new locations or is the brand just fishing for somebody willing to open a new location?

Let's hope it means new locations. I'd love to see Dunkin' Donuts back in Huntsville. We'll see.....

[huntsvillefan]

The people of Huntsville are smart but do they have the vision to see beyond the inevitable undercutting of AirTran? I hope AirTran is a rip-roaring success. It easily could be--if only...

[David1502]

Originally Posted by huntsvillefan

The people of Huntsville are smart but do they have the vision to see beyond the inevitable undercutting of AirTran? I hope AirTran is a rip-roaring success. It easily could be--if only...

So far it doesn't appear that way as there are plenty of seats on their flights to Baltimore and Orlando this weekend. If this market can't provide a high load factor on Memorial Day Weeekend, when can it? Not a good sign..

[David1502]

There are reports that Bridge Street Town Centre is in negotiations with the City of Huntsville to use 50% of the sales tax revenue to get a "super regional department store" to locate at Bridge Street. The developers of Bridge Street would use this tax revenue to finance construction of the building and they are saying it could employ as many as 500 people. See story at WAFF's website, http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12542176

Is there any doubt it will be Macy's? Mayor Battle has reservations that this store will take away revenue from the existing stores, so why should the City give it an advantage? It seems like Bridge Street should do like Madison Square did and sell the land and parking lot space to the department store and have them build from the ground up.

The reason I say Macy's is that Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's are too high end for the Huntsville area and HSV is probably one of the largest U.S. cities without a Macy's. Only time will tell, but it will be interesting to see where the store will be built on the property - I'm thinking across the street next to The Sports Authority.

In my earlier post I told of Jospeh A. Banks relocating from Parkway Place - they must have known that something was in the works with Macy's. Now, you have to wonder if Ann Taylor, Potter Barn and Williams Sonoma will also make the move when their leases expire. Now that Belk has downgraded some of the merchandise at Parkway Place and begun to give more floor space to the cheaper Belk brands, that mall is losing its "prestige factor" and the other stores will feel it, too with fewer higher end customers.

[David1502]

There are reports that Bridge Street Town Centre is in negotiations with the City of Huntsville to use 50% of the sales tax revenue to get a "super regional department store" to locate at Bridge Street. The developers of Bridge Street would use this tax revenue to finance construction of the building and they are saying it could employ as many as 500 people. See story at WAFF's website, http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12542176

Is there any doubt it will be Macy's? Mayor Battle has reservations that this store will take away revenue from the existing stores, so why should the City give it an advantage? It seems like Bridge Street should do like Madison Square did and sell the land and parking lot space to the department store and have them build from the ground up.

The reason I say Macy's is that Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's are too high end for the Huntsville area and HSV is probably one of the largest U.S. cities without a Macy's. Only time will tell, but it will be interesting to see where the store will be built on the property - I'm thinking across the street next to The Sports Authority.

In my earlier post I told of Jospeh A. Banks relocating from Parkway Place - they must have known that something was in the works with Macy's. Now, you have to wonder if Ann Taylor, Potter Barn and Williams Sonoma will also make the move when their leases expire. Now that Belk has downgraded some of the merchandise at Parkway Place and begun to give more floor space to the cheaper Belk brands, that mall is losing its "prestige factor" and the other stores will feel it, too with fewer higher end customers.

[ttownfeen]

Is Parkway Place going to be dead mall so soon? My H'ville friend says it's nicest mall up there.

[mp7123]

makes you wonder what the definition of "this region" is. is it N AL, AL, or the southeast. if its N AL, I would say the store would be Macy's. It could be Nordstoms, Saks, or some west coast store though.

[Huntsvillenative]

Macy's would really benefit being at Bridge Street. Since the town center opened the business at Parkway place and Madison Square mall has decreased and headed out to BS.

Huntsville NEEDS a Macy's. This will bring more upscale businesses to Htown that wouldn't have given us a sniff before.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative

Macy's would really benefit being at Bridge Street. Since the town center opened the business at Parkway place and Madison Square mall has decreased and headed out to BS.

Huntsville NEEDS a Macy's. This will bring more upscale businesses to Htown that wouldn't have given us a sniff before.

One of those two malls will be gone in a few years, and I'm betting it's not Parkway place.