During
the past few decades, Raleigh, like the rest of the country, is shopping
differently. Yes, online spending continues to grow, but spending “in real
life,” or in shopping centers, is changing, too. Urban in style with a mix of
uses is the new trend in retail development, and in Raleigh, a few locations
offer shoppers goods, services, and a place to socialize.
“I
think it is the future of our cities,” said Bonner Gaylord, general manager of
North Hills and a member of the City Council.
North
Hills is a growing area along the Beltline and Six Forks Road with a mix of
residential condos, street-level shopping, entertainment, and office space.
Paul
Bronson of North Raleigh’s
Lafayette
Village agrees. Lafayette Village is a thematic retail and office
development based on a European village feel with a diverse offering of shops
and restaurants.
“We’ve
created an outdoor lifestyle center,” he said. “The enclosed mall model doesn’t
work anymore.”
Lafayette Village. Photo by Leo Suarez.
With
multiple examples around the country showing success, places like North Hills
and Lafayette Village in Raleigh are complimenting Internet sales rather than
competing.
The
keys to their success include a diverse mix of high-quality offerings and an
equally important social component.
Gaylord
and his team at North Hills keep a close eye on the diversity of the shops that
are opening up in the midtown development.
“Diversity
is very important to us,” he said. “We want to have a mix of goods and
services.”
Starting
as early as the 1960s, automobile ownership grew at a much faster pace and
allowed more people to move around a city to do their shopping.
Enclosed
malls and department stores offered the ability for one-stop shopping and
quickly became popular.
Today,
shopping on the Internet is changing that dynamic. What the Internet can’t offer
is the real life community aspect that makes people feel better connected.
“We
want shoppers to meet the owner, not the manager,” Bronson said about the shops
in Lafayette Village. “We didn’t want a Starbucks.”
Lafayette
Village and North Hills take the experience one step further with little things,
from hiring a sidewalk musician on Friday nights all the way to street festivals
on major holidays. Events are an important part in bringing consumers back and
creating community between shops and visitors.
North Hills. Photo by Leo Suarez.
While
North Hills and Lafayette Village have been enjoying recent success, downtown
Raleigh has always been the city’s main urban hub. During the course of
Raleigh’s city history, the city center has enjoyed quite a bit of retail
success and it’s possible that the rise in Internet shopping is helping bring
that retail back to downtown.
Downtown
Raleigh has just as much urban-style development and is naturally built for a
mix of uses. Paul Reimel, Economic Development Manager of the Downtown Raleigh
Alliance (DRA), feels that it is a big advantage for downtown over other city
retail areas.
“Nowhere
else can you find that diversity and product,” he said.
Retailers
look for all kinds of different spaces and this is where downtown may have an
edge.
"There
are retailers that want new, others that want middle of the road, and others
that want old. Downtown has all that."
Behind
the scenes, the retail recruitment efforts are different in downtown than they
are at North Hills or Lafayette Village. The newer developments are controlled
by a single property owner where downtown is a mix of several hundred private
property owners and governments including the city, county, and state.
Reimel
and the DRA build relationships with property owners and outside retailers and
attempt to match them up. With studies and reports, they try to encourage
services or retail that is needed in downtown, but the ultimate decision lies
with the property owner.
A
contrast to this method would be with what is taking place in Lafeyette Village.
A very strict selection policy is used when choosing retailers. High quality,
great service, and proven success is something that the owners of Lafayette
Village seek.
“We
have not lost any tenants in the last two years.” Bronson said.
At
93 percent capacity, it must be working.
While
different in operation, downtown Raleigh, North Hills, and Lafayette Village
share the same social aspect that has been vital to their success. With an
increase of uses, the days of shopping only at the mall may be numbered.