The following are a few exerts from the article. The elitist attitude is revolting.
“[City Creek] will have stuff that would be a splurge for most people. [City Creek] is a high end, elegantly landscaped collection of shops that would be at home in the glittering cities of Europe.”
“Downtown Salt Lake will become a destination shopping area. ….. The City Creek mall will offer unique stores that can be found nowhere else in Utah or even in the West. The retailers will be higher end and more expensive. Unlike the Gateway [mall], there won’t be a plaza where children dressed in bathing suits shriek and scamper through dancing jets of water. But there will be features that attract both locals and tourists. “
“…Utah Woolen Mills, which first opened in 1905 and today is a national known multimillion dollar business. The store is directly across the street from Temple Square, “smack dab in the middle of City Creek,” says owner and president Bart Stringham. “I believe getting rid of Crossroads and putting in City Creek is a huge step forward,” Stringham says. “I think people will absolutely love it. You already have the pull of Temple Square. Then to have City Creek right across the street, with the shopping, the dining and the residential, it’s top notch. It’s not just high prices, it’s the quality.” Stringham also believes that downtown Salt Lake is on its way to being famous as a major and sophisticated metropolitan city.”
“When deciding where to ski or snowboard, tourists may choose Utah over Colorado just because of the added attraction of City Creek.”
Talk about needing a reality check! Good godalmighty!
There very well might be a rush at the beginning. There will be standing room only for a few days. But will people be buying lots and lots of stuff at Utah Woolen Mills? Will they come back time after time?
And the idea that there will be "unique stores that can be found nowhere else in Utah or even in the West"? I don't think so. Is there going to be a Tiffany & Co.? My god - here in Seattle (and this is NOT a high end place) there are three, yet they were courted heavily to go into CC, but they said hell no.
The reason I brought up T&Co is that it is a pretty basic "upper end store". I doubt that Hermes, Chanel, Escada, Celine, YSL, Prada etc. would deign consider opening a store in SLC (although their products no doubt will end up for sale in the Nordstrom store).
I would love to see the list of tenants for this boondoggle. For godsake people, one of the anchors is a grocery store!
Utah Woolen Mills has existed for over 100 years, having weathered multiple economic downturns, and worse, the building of the original malls (and having moved because of it), and now the building of the new malls and condos.
They survive and thrive because they carry great products and provide great service.
For those that remember, it was Utah Woolen Mills that caused the church to completely change their design and plans because they would not move to a new location when the church tried to push them out.
As to the grocery store - if you live in a down town condo, and do not wish to drive (get your car our of parking, etc., like NYC, SF, etc.) then you need a large, well situated grocery store.
Whether this turns out to be a boon doggle waits to be seen. In any case, even if a great success, I do not think the church should be in the real estate development business.
No - think about it. If you can't convince the wealthy flock to buy smaller homes and give you the rest of your money, then build big homes and sell them to the wealthy flockers, and get the money that way. In either case, you get their money.
Well, I have noticed that the building fronts that are starting to emerge look, well....drab. I do notice they are putting the ZCMI facade back on that building where it used to be located and at least it has ruffles and fourishes...but that is the ONLY building that does. The others look like plain office buildings. Oh well....another Christmas season with fake trees and canvase paintings made to look like christmas windows up and down the boardwalk through the construction zone...lol
Sounds so typical: overpriced merchandise touted as 'worth it'.
Proud of it aren't they??? I noticed ZCMI years ago when I came south out of the mission field after joining the church and being told how ZCMI was the church's own store I went to check it out.
The merchandise wasn't even as good as Penneys and it was priced about a third higher. Like those ghastly LaVoy gowns!!! A simple gown from LaVoy cost $36 when you could get the same quality and style at another store for about $12 to $15!!! And the $36 gown was the cheapest LaVoy had to offer at the time!!
So here are the dumb morons trying to sell their mall as a destination for their rich cronies who only want to shop and see SLC and ski! Just ignore the people of SLC who really are the economic base of the local merchants..... Wonder what they'll entice the high end merchants with to get them to open up shop in SLC????
Jon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Mormon Church is spending the equivalent of 75 > years worth of humanitarian aid on the City Creek > project. > > They ask members to give generously - hypocrites
This right here. This is what makes me sick with rage.
"The retailers will be higher end and more expensive. Unlike the Gateway [mall], there won’t be a plaza where children dressed in bathing suits shriek and scamper through dancing jets of water."
So, the Mormon mall won't be as family-oriented as Gateway mall. That's good to know.
If the goal is to turn downtown SLC into an attraction, why not convert it to a big park like Disney World? After all, What could be more family-friendly than that?
The temple could be in the middle of the park, just like Cinderella's castle. Around it would loop a giant rollercoaster called the Daredevil o' Doctrine, which would whipsaw riders from the dizzying heights of the Adam-God Alps to the frightening depths of Blood-Atonement Alley. Braver vacationers might board the Hie to Kolob Rocket Ride, which would include a wild swing through the Outer Darkness where riders will experience the terrifying Buffetings of Satan.
Visitors who don't care for rides could visit the Mission Field, where the cultures of every tongue and people would be represented. The employees in this section would include all ethnicities, but would dress in identical, conservative garb. Guests who appear lost would be pestered by pairs of elders or sisters bandying improbable literature.
Truly upscale families could purchase the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator Package, which would endow them with keys to all parts of the park, including a complimentary temple recommend. The less abundantly blessed might buy a discounted Called to Serve pass, which would allow them to experience the joy of cleaning meetinghouse toilets.
Gilgal Gardens could be the "Celestial Kingdom" of your vision in minature.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgal_Sculpture_Garden
I forsee a I GIANT version of the Joseph Sphinx with and other-worldy announcement coming to the people queued up in the zig-zagged waiting line for the ride: "Oh god, here the words of my mouth" ... and then the roller-coaster shoots forth out of the sphinx's mouth ... oh I love the scene!!!
Moyle nearly ran the church into bankruptcy in the early sixties. Reportedly, President McKay worried that the church couldn't meet its payrole. N. Eldon Tanner came in to clean things up. Moyle died in discrace in Florida.
The two big stores are Macy's and Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's is obviously upscale, but Macy's is just barely there. I would think that the other stores have already been brought on by now. If they are so proud of all these upscale shops why don't they release a list of them. Are there already some of these kinds of stores in SLC? Will they be brand new there? I do not believe they will have any of these upscale stores that are not in L.A., Las Vegas and probably even San Diego.
Living in San Diego I know many many people who go to Utah to ski, but WHY oh WHY would they go there to shop specifically?
I think they are trying to attract these upscale stores with the rumors of other stores.
So, people will go to the temple and then head over to buy an $800 at Louie Vuitton????? Not likely.
and what is upscale are two very different things. You are probably right about there not being a Tiffany & Co or the others mentioned (Hermes, Chanel, Escada, Celine, YSL, Prada etc) Their idea of high class is Nordstroms, which to most people is simply a fancy J.C. Penney. I wonder what kind of stores constitutes Mormon upscale. Utah Woolen Mills is probably a fine establishment but it's not Saks and for dining, will there be an Olive Garden perhaps?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2010 11:19PM by CA girl.
That ought to attract the cosmopolitain, Capitals-of-Europe-type of wealthy individual! You know, the intellectual who loves to browse the "miles-of-books" stores in NYC, and smaller used book stores adjacent to major universities. The people who enjoy fine wine and authentic ethnic cooking, The Apple Store, and Neiman Marcus.
Don't lie to us! We've seen the plans with our own eyes. The words: homogeneous, vanilla, institutional, uninviting, come to mind. City Creek Mall will be to shopping, what BYU is to getting an education.
"Keep the motor running, Ma. I'm just going to run in and grab a box of See's, and get the hell out.... Oh, no See's? Just Godaiva." Just because prices will be higher doesn't mean people will get a better product or a better shopping experience.
Hey, thanks for warning us that the prices will be higher. We'll tell all our ski tourist friends to stay up in Park City and shop at those cute little boutiques up there.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2010 03:46AM by forestpal.
Exactly how does a mall help bring people closer to God? It's the great and spacious building that sells the fine linens so people can mock and point their finger at the people below them. So much for the iron rod and Lehi's hallucinations.