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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 1:59 PM
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Pictures of walkable, urban-format big box stores

Hi folks. I think it would be fun to see examples of urban-style big box stores. They're starting to be more common, so I expect more examples than the last time we did this a few years ago. When posting pictures please follow these three criteria:
  • Show only stores that are laid out primarily to provide pedestrian access from the sidewalk, with a front door that greets the street. Parking facilities are allowed, but pedestrian access must be "easier" than car access. For this reason, stores located in malls should generally be avoided, but exceptions are allowed if you can demonstrate that the main entrance is off the street rather than from the mall.
  • Show only stores that people traditionally think of as suburban big boxes. While I agree that the difference between a Target ("big box") and JCPenney ("department store") is extremely fuzzy, the point of this thread is to show how chains that have traditionally built only suburban-style strip mall stores have evolved to fit urban spaces. WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc are all fair game. Please avoid the likes of Macy's, Sears, Penney's, etc. Also, no grocery stores.
  • Generally speaking try to avoid "small box" stores like Barnes and Noble or Pottery Barn that can be fit in a much more wide variety of spaces. However, feel free to post if you think you have a particularly interesting example. No hard rule here, just try to use reasonable judgment.
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Last edited by Cirrus; May 27, 2011 at 2:44 PM.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 2:33 PM
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Well that leaves out most anything in Miami. We do have a scattering of contenders, but they're still primarily accessed through the parking garage. There is some respect paid to the pedestrian though. It's more "vertical retail center" than urban big box store. Like everything else in Miami, it's dense, but not necessarily urban.

Here's our contenders... I'll let you decide if it's picture worthy or not, maybe these all fit too much into the "mall category".

Dadeland Station (in Kendall, adjacent to Metrorail - Target, Best Buy, Sports Authority, etc)
5th and Alton (in South Beach - Publix, Best Buy, Petco, Staples, etc)
Miracle Marketplace (Coral Gables - PetSmart, DSW, Bally's, etc)
Midtown Miami (Miami - Target, Marshall's, PetSmart, etc)
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 2:39 PM
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Here are some examples from Washington, DC.

This Target is in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. The Target occupies the two upper floors, while smaller shops occupy the bottom.




There is a Best Buy in the same building.


This Best Buy is in the Tenleytown neighborhood. It's a mixed-use building with Best Buy on the lower floor and housing above.



WalMart is working on building four stores in DC. One of them is in what you might call a vertical power center with a couple of other big boxes stacked on top of each other, but still basically in a suburban layout. I won't picture that one, because it isn't urban. The other three qualify, especially this one which is on the fringes of downtown:



Small scale retail lining the sidewalk and apartments above. Very impressive, if it gets built.

The 3rd and 4th are similar. Both are stand alone one-story buildings with parking underground below the store. Both are fundamentally urban and greet the street, but lack helpful touches like small scale lining retail and mixed-use. This one is in the Brightwood neighborhood on Georgia Avenue:



The reception for that Brightwood store has been pretty positive. The design is interesting enough to compensate somewhat for the lack of lining retail, and the store isn't very wide to begin with (it's deep).

Finally, this one is Capitol Heights (east of the Anacostia River) along East Capitol Street. Although it is similar to the Brightwood store it is worse in a number of ways. The architecture is much less engaging and more like a strip mall. Whereas Georgia Avenue in Brightwood is an urban street lined with historic buildings on either side and across from the Walmart, East Capitol street lacks all that; it's much less dense and much less commercial. Also, the Capitol Heights stores is much much wider (less deep), has less interesting architecture, and has more landscaping. So while the Capitol Heights and Brightwood stores are both one story with underground parking, this one comes off as much more suburban:

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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 2:49 PM
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Here's a Best Buy and Canadian Tire (major big box in Canada) in downtown Toronto. There is a school of business above both. While it is connected to the Eaton Centre (mall) it is more or less standalone with it's main access to the street.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourhom...n/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio-...n/photostream/
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 2:51 PM
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Gaithersburg, MD, built a new urbanist area in the mid-90s that was very progressive for the time and has a number of basically urban big boxes. It's in the suburbs so everyone drives to get there, but they did their best to make it urban.

I believe the Target there was Target's first experiment in an urban-format store in the US. It's a bit obsolete now; there's no small scale retail lining it, for example. It still has a strip mall look to it, for another thing. But still, this was an important step.



A block down after a short stretch of small scale stores, there is a Dick's Sporting Goods (called Galyan's at the time of this picture):


... And a block in the other direction, a Kohl's:
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 2:56 PM
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Best Buy and Filene's Basement in downtown Baltimore:


image from flickr user Joe Architect
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 3:32 PM
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Target in downtown Minneapolis:


source: flickr user desertdevil
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 3:39 PM
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Target at Wilson Yard along Broadway in Uptown Chicago. Seems to share some design vocabulary with the one in DC:


picture from Chicago Tribune
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 3:51 PM
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is this thread only for new construction urban big boxes, or can examples of big box chains shoehorning themselves into older urban buildings also be included?
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 5:43 PM
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^
Go for it.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 6:01 PM
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well, we're not quite there yet, but target has officially signed a lease to open a new store next year in the heart of downtown chicago in a Louis Sullivan masterpiece, the old carson pierre scott store, now called the Sullivan Center.

it should be interesting to see how target works with all of the extremely ornate architectural detail at street level. the building is an official city landmark, so they won't be allowed to monkey around with it too much. perhaps just some red awnings and such.


source: http://www.greenspacetoday.com/green...ago-goes-green
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 6:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus View Post
Finally, this one is Capitol Heights (east of the Anacostia River) along East Capitol Street. Although it is similar to the Brightwood store it is worse in a number of ways. The architecture is much less engaging and more like a strip mall. Whereas Georgia Avenue in Brightwood is an urban street lined with historic buildings on either side and across from the Walmart, East Capitol street lacks all that; it's much less dense and much less commercial. Also, the Capitol Heights stores is much much wider (less deep), has less interesting architecture, and has more landscaping. So while the Capitol Heights and Brightwood stores are both one story with underground parking, this one comes off as much more suburban:

Looks like a high school. If the Walmart logo wasn't on the left, I'd probably guess that that is exactly what that is.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 7:05 PM
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Yeah. You're not the first person to say that. The flag pole and the people with backpacks don't help.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 7:22 PM
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Home Depot - Halsted

Lincoln Park Home Depot: Tech Tour by dmitrybarsky, on Flickr

Home Depot nighttime by Payton Chung, on Flickr
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 7:34 PM
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Combo Target/Publix Grocery/Dick's Sporting Goods in Atlanta:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghettoj...n/photostream/


Aerial view (with the central parking structure)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willeva...n/photostream/
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 7:40 PM
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10 Dundas East, next to Dundas Square in Toronto. It is home to Future Shop (Canadian store similar to Best Buy), AMC Theatres and Shopper Drug Mart (typically considered big box in Canada), as well as some restaurants and smaller retail. Most people who go here get there by foot or public transit, it's next to a streetcar stop and subway station. There is an underground parking lot under Dundas Square though, and an above ground one in the Eaton Centre across the street.



Would Gerrard Square count? It's a small shopping mall with most of it's parking is under or above ground, and it has entrances along the street, but it still has a suburban feel.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...7.19,,0,-10.31
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 8:03 PM
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I assume Lincoln Park is in Chicago, but I've never heard of Halsted. That's in Chicago, then?
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Last edited by Cirrus; May 27, 2011 at 8:30 PM.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 8:05 PM
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^ yeah, that home depot is in lincoln park on chicago's northside. halsted is the name of one of the main retail streets in LP.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 8:45 PM
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If Staples is sufficiently big box, this might count:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...189.07,,0,-4.2

If SilverCity Theatres and Toys R Us are sufficiently big box, there is Yonge Eglinton Centre:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...9.07,,0,-26.33

The Empress Walk condo complex in North York has a shopping centre that includes a 3000 seat multiplex (Empire Theatres), Loblaws (supermarket), Future Shop and Staples, all of which are 20-65,000 square feet in size.
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Old Posted May 27, 2011, 9:23 PM
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10 Dundas Street East in Toronto (formerly Toronto Life Square) is a 500,000 square foot complex that was completed in late 2007/early 2008. The majority of the 500,000 square feet (360,000) is retail/restaurant/entertainment space. The second floor has a Future Shop (probably 40-50k square feet). The upper floors have a 16-screen AMC theatre. The basement is part of the PATH, and has direct underground entrance to Dundas Station.




One short block west of 10 Dundas Street East, is the Ryerson Business School/Eaton Centre expansion. It is 500,000 square feet, with retail on the basement and ground floors, parking above that, and Ryerson's graduate business school on the top floors. Retail is 150,000 square feet, including a 100,000 square foot Canadian Tire (basement and ground floor), and a 40,000 square foot Best Buy. The basement level connects directly to the Eaton Centre.



Empress Walk at North York City Centre subway station is a massive mixed-use development. The bottom 5 or 6 floors are retail (indoor mall, but also learned with store entrances from the sidewalk outside). The basement has direct indoor subway access. Big box stores include Future Shop (basement and ground floor), Staple, Loblaws supermarket, and a large cinema on the top floor. The complex presents a pedestrian-friendly exterior to Yonge Street, with the entrance to the underground parking garage "around back". Two large condo towers rise up from the mall podium.

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