courtesy of Ben olivo @ mysa.com's downtown blog
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...nter.html#more
DVD and CD store Sam Goody is projected to close its doors at Rivercenter Mall in late January or sooner depending on when merchandise sells out. In short, the store's lease is up. It's also currently advertising an everything-must-go sale — you know, if you haven't done your Christmas shopping, yet.
In this age of Internet shopping and MP3 purchases, the days of a music store occupying 25,000-square-feet of retail space are over, according Chris Oviatt, the mall's general manager.
"When was the last time you bought a CD at a store?" Oviatt said.
Sam Goody's exit falls in line with the mall's identity shift from traditional mall to more of an entertainment and dining complex.
The second phase of the plan calls for the construction of a hotel in the section of the old Joske's building where the Sam Goody is located. The hotel would have a River Walk entrance and face Commerce Street. No word on which hotel; "we've been in active negotiations with multiple hotels," Oviatt said.
The first phase is still in the works and includes the remodeling of the river and street level spaces at the Commerce Street bridge near the lagoon. The Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao is the first and only of a handful of restaurant tenants to move in. The others have yet to be announced. Spaces on the west bank have yet to be remodeled.
Plans have been approved by the city and construction could begin in March or April.
"We're long-term, patient investors and we'll get the deal done when the economy starts to rebound," Oviatt said.
There are no architectural plans for the former Joske's building, most recently Dillard's. That phase is a long ways away from beginning, though, when completed, will add hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space.
"Right now, it would be difficult if not impossible to get a good pre-lease of that space," Oviatt said. "So we're just going to wait."
The mall's owner, New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., envisions the mall as more of an entertainment complex than a traditional suburban mall. Ashkenazy purchased the mall in 2005 and the Joske's building in June 2008.
"We're certainly going to have some traditional retail, but that that has been the most successful at Rivercenter over the years is the dining and entertainment," Oviatt said. "We're glad there's interest (in the mall) and we aren't waiting because we want to, but because it's the prudent thing to do right now."
— Benjamin Olivo
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