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55V35lM t1_iybtrcp wrote

Reply to comment by ltdan123 in Town Center Mall, Short Pump by HoldingtheMoon

Regarding Stoney Point, it does seem to be dying. One of three anchors has been vacant for multiple years now and Saks has closed off its second floor. There have been a couple of owners who’ve given up on it. Stoney Points problem is that there was essentially no land to build out add’l retail unlike Short Pump. It is actually very easily accessible from the West End (Parham to Chippenham) - there just wasn’t and isn’t enough to draw people there unlike Short Pump (and with the traffic, is Short Pump really that more accessible?). Regency Mall, once the top mall and a regional destination before Short Pump arrived, had the same limitations as there was limited add’l space to build out more retail in the surrounding area (not as limited but still limited relative to Short Pump which was an area of wide open fields prior to ~2000).

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anony804 t1_iyc2lpi wrote

it's been a while since i went but as a mall loving person my memory of stoney point was "nothing i can afford" and i left. and i love to window shop, but i remember maybe there being a candy store? and i literally couldn't even buy a few tshirts somewhere else or grab a bite to eat.

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55V35lM t1_iydc8le wrote

Being a smaller, upscale mall with above average chain restaurants was its initial draw which worked for a few years… but that was more than a few years ago. It’s financing was actually subsidized by the City which I think still owns the parking lots (may not be the City directly but an ‘authority’ on behalf of the City).

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anony804 t1_iydclnp wrote

Well I must be poor because when it said upscale I thought maybe Abercombie, Hollister etc with some of those Tiffany type stores sprinkled between. So that’s why I bothered to go. I literally cannot afford anything there and if I was to splurge I’d just buy it online or at the outlets. I’d say with income inequality, inflation and more a lot of other people may feel the same.

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GuanoLoopy t1_iycl0s6 wrote

I left RIC in 2014 and I am surprised Stony Point is still functional as malls we're slowly dying even then and Stony Point just logistically was a terrible place. The only way to get to it is via the highway and it's pretty inconvenient to get to and there was no way to fix that. Short Pump has plenty of mall plus surrounding stores so you can make a trip and get things done with all the options close by, whereas Stony Point all you can do is go there and if it doesn't have what you want it's now a hassle to get to another shopping area.

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jimmyredfoot t1_iyd25lk wrote

I figured Stoney Point's days were numbered when it lost it's Starbucks store (what, like 6+ years ago?) If you can't keep a Starbucks going in a suburban shopping area, you've got no traffic

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ltdan123 t1_iycsndj wrote

Despite traffic Short Pump is super accessible. Being close to I-64 is a major asset. I used to work in site selection - one of the main stats real estate developers look at is average daily traffic counts nearby. In that regard - Short Pump is tremendously better located than Stony Point and the traffic is an asset rather than a detriment because it’s more eyeballs and foot traffic to your location.

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55V35lM t1_iycuuft wrote

Valid points… Except for those of us who avoid it specifically because of the traffic - and I don’t think many people are walking along Broad Street there (ie, no foot traffic)

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eightbitagent t1_iyd9mpc wrote

> Being close to I-64 is a major asset.

And also they're building a new I-64 exit at the other end of the mall (North Gayton) in a few years.

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DinoSnuggler t1_iycq265 wrote

I was going to say the same thing. I've only been to Stoney Point a handful of times, but it seemed half dead the last couple.

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PhoenixAshies t1_iycyjdv wrote

I think if (or once?) Cinebistro shuts down, that'll be the end for Stony Point.

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alexfromjupiter t1_iyd0l7o wrote

i used to work in stony point mall about 2 years ago, and i swear in the short time i was there, i saw like 3 stores close. I still head back out there every now and then because there’s a record store I like there, but it just gets more depressing every time

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