Women’s clothing store opening its sixth retail store in Buckhead.
Rebecca Taylor, a New Zealand-based women’s clothing boutique, is entering the Atlanta market.
The women’s clothing boutique submitted an application with City of Atlanta last week for a building permit to make “tenant finishes” to space at Phipps Plaza.
Rebecca Taylor will spend $230,000 to finish the 1,750 square feet space it intends to occupy at the Buckhead luxury mall, according to the permit application.
The Atlanta location will be the sixth retail store for Rebecca Taylor, according to its website.
Rebecca Taylor was not immediately available for comment.
6 Responses
Interesting. I’m honestly surprised that Phipps can sign anyone. Lenox seems to be the powerhouse as far as retail centers is concerned in this city, and Phipps just feels like it’s rotting from the inside out when you go inside (apart from the Holidays). Maybe there’s no space at Lenox, but I still don’t think I’d ever open up shop in Phipps – especially with the Streets of Buckhead ~1yr away as well (which I assume has some space to lease too).
Hey Urbanist – interesting perspective on Phipps. What gave you that feeling? A recent walk through the mall?
I recently walked through and it definitely seems like Simon is getting lax on sign standards for local/non-traditional retailers that have opened in the spots where national retailers have left.
But I will counter that malls that are rotting do not traditionally sign retailers like Sur La Table. Legoland will drive additional traffic into the mall as well, so I feel like Phipps is actually doing a decent job evolving with the times as best as it can without taking off their roof.
I get that feeling every time I walk through that mall when it’s not holiday season.
I know Lenox is full of riff-raff, but it still seems like a more vibrant shopping environment. Phipps just always seems dead. My personal opinion is that shopping malls won’t really have a place in this world in 10 years, but if either Lenox or Phipps will survive, it will be Lenox all day long.
From a retailers perspective, if I were thinking “I want to have a storefront in Atlanta”, I’d be looking at where I want to be in 2-3 years (since I’m signing what will likely be a 5 year lease), rather than right now. So, that decision might make me say, “I’ll work on getting a lease in this Streets of Buckhead 2.0”, or “maybe near high end retailers like Billy Reid and Lululemon on the west side”, or “There’s 2 new high-rise luxury towers opening in Midtown next year, maybe that’s a good spot”. I wouldn’t be saying “I want to sign a lease in a mall that seems stale and dead, and will gradually lose more and more foot traffic over time”.
It’s just surprising that retailers like Sur La Table, etc. are still finding a desire to have a mall presence.
HA HA!
Urbanist said he spends his time walking in malls!!!
What a phoney!!!!
Hmmm, Urbanist. Phipps Plaza has been a luxury destination since 1968, which was developed by Ogden Phipps. It is not the fault of the mall that Corporate Property Investors of New York sold it to the Equitable trust fund which fueled the nearly $150 million dollar renovation and expansion. Yes, the Italian marble floors were hand laid, and the Mahogany wood is REAL. Then here comes Simon and they themselves do not even know what they are doing. In pre-Simon, it was filled with luxury stores and made plenty of money. After Simon bought Phipps Plaza, it was the start of what would be a downhill decline that started over a decade ago.
Interesting though that not only is Rebecca Taylor setting up shop, but as mentioned Sur La Table is coming. Also luxury watch retailers Hublot and Omega have new boutiques under construction, and another upscale retailer Lilly Pulitzer also has a boutique under construction. Maybe Simon has finally seen the ways of their mistakes, and are trying to finally pull their act together.
@ Urbanist. What city are you a native of????
There is such a huge difference between Lenox and Phipps. Of course Phipps is “dead” in comparison. The typical Phipps shopper detests Lenox Square due to the high volume of traffic. Phipps is pure luxury and caters to those with the means to buy any/everything they want. So, while it may appear that Phipps is “dead”, I assure you, the customers that shop there spend 5X more $ per transaction than at Lenox. One morning I even watched as a lady had her Tiffany purchase carted to her car via a pallet! I have no doubt that the tenants at this mall are definitely not hurting!