Completed and with all three anchor stores in place, Providence Place mall and its effect on the state’s other shopping malls continued to be the dominant retail story of 2000.
The openings of Lord & Taylor, Dave & Buster’s, Borders Books and Music, Eddie Bauer, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Accessories of Benetton, Old Navy, Joe’s American Bar & Grille, Limited Too, Johnny Rockets, Hops Restaurant, Hoyt’s Cinemas and the Feinstein IMAX theater — among others — should only continue to draw a diverse audience to Providence Place.
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“Aggregate retail sales will be higher for Rhode Island than last year because of Providence Place mall,” predicted University of Rhode Island economics professor Leonard Lardaro.
However, the shifting economy will make it necessary for retailers – including those at Providence Place and the area’s other shopping malls – to refine their goods and services.
“Rhode Island has clearly slowed,” Lardaro said. “I think Rhode Island will slow even more. We’re at the end of a build-up process with a number of large projects, including Providence Place mall.”
Retailers were under pressure from two different ends this holiday season, Lardaro said, with Rhode Island’s higher minimum wage and the need to discount products to attract business.
“The sky is not falling, but we’re clearly in a period of slower growth,” he said. “The question is how much slower will it get?”
Retailers also have growing competition on the Internet.
“To the extent that the Internet does better than last year, that’s going to take away from brick and mortar businesses,” Lardaro said. “Retailers who are doing things the way they’ve always done it are going to have to make some changes.”
More than one suburban shopping center has undergone a facelift since the opening of Providence Place, and no transformation was more dramatic than the improvements to Lincoln Mall. A new entranceway and plantings, among other things, have transformed the one-story structure.
“We’ve really paid attention to the detail here,” said Richard Bacarri, chief executive officer of Providence real estate development firm Churchill & Banks. “We even hired a colorist to make sure that the colors we used were complementary to the existing colors.”
Along with the mall’s fresh face come some new tenants, including Super Stop & Shop, HomeGoods and Pay/half.
Bacarri said he hopes the mall, purchased for $24.5 million in June, 1999 by LMA, LLC, an affiliate of Churchill & Banks, will play host to local events and activities.
Two malls in Warwick have also undergone considerable change. At Warwick Mall, Caldor’s, which went bankrupt, has been replaced by Old Navy, and the cinemas, which were freestanding are gone, replaced by two restaurants. Another multi-screen cinema is also expected to be built on the property.
At nearby Rhode Island Mall, a Wendy’s and Chuck E. Cheese are freestanding buildings not far from Sears, and Wal-Mart is scheduled to open as the center’s newest anchor come Spring.
This type of redevelopment seems to be the future of Route 2 – according to William R. Facente, director of Economic Development for the City of Warwick. The four-mile segment of Route 2 that runs through Warwick is the longest concentration of retail stores in the Ocean State.
The road’s growth spurt in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Rhode Island Mall and Warwick Mall were built in 1968 and 1970, respectively) stimulated retail growth of almost every kind, and today the area is jam-packed, with virtually no remaining spaces to develop.
The stretch of road which runs between Routes 113 and 117 is known to some developers and real estate agents as the “Golden Mile,” where prices of $1 million per acre are not uncommon. According to the Warwick tax assessor’s office, the real estate value of Home Depot’s Route 2 location is $8,532,900; the Target site is assessed at $9,229,600.
In other retail news, in August, after 73 years in business on Federal Hill, Vincent’s Specialty Store closed its doors.
Vincent’s specialized in children’s’ wear, particularly christening gowns and communion dresses and suits.
“Lifestyle is so different now,” said Norma Walsh, who took over the business in 1985 after her father’s death. “With women working, they shop wherever they are. It’s changing times, that’s all it is. Family businesses don’t really exist anymore, but this one has lasted longer than most.”
“These customers really enjoyed coming here,” said Grace Mansolillo, who worked at Vincent’s for 58 years. “It’s personalized selling with a lot of love. I can’t think of any other way of saying it.”
