What's the Real Reason Neiman Marcus is Pulling Out of Walnut Creek?

Last night, the Walnut Creek City Council decided to repeal its September zoning and height changes to allow a 107,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus to go up in Broadway Plaza, the Contra Costa Times reports

Macerich Co., which owns Broadway Plaza, asked the council to repeal its decision and promises to return with a new, improved plan for this upscale department store to come to Walnut Creek. Macerich said it wanted to adjust the project in response to a pending lawsuit, a referendum petition, and concerns raised by people in the community about the project's size and impact on downtown parking.

But will Macerich do this? Can it deliver on this promise? I wonder if this is some kind of face-saving move on the part of Macerich and of Neiman Marcus, which isn't doing so well financially.

I recently cited a news report from the Wall Street Journal, showing that Neiman Marcus reported an 84 percent decline in profit for its fiscal first quarter [ending November 1] as even wealthier shoppers cut back on spending."

The Journal added: "Neiman said it expects retail demand and revenue to remain weak 'for an extended period of time' and said it sees higher markdowns putting pressure on margins in its fiscal second quarter." According to another report, from Reuters, the Texas-based retailer, while not planning to close stores in the face of these financial losses, has decided to put major and minor remodel plans on hold.

Meanwhile, another upscale retailer, of which Walnut Creek is very proud to have in its downtown portfolio, is also hurting. That same Wall Street Journal story says that jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. "is offering voluntary retirement packages to 800 U.S. employees after profit slumped 57 percent in its latest quarter."

Anyway, I wonder if Macerich and the city are being upfront about the real reason Neiman Marcus is pulling out--at least for now, as they say.

I also wonder if Walnut Creek city officials are worried that their up until recently glittery downtown retail scene (and taxable sales) will be taking a huge hit this holiday season and in the ongoing recession. If any Macerich or Walnut Creek City officials want to to put in their two cents, or if anyone else out there has any theories, I'd love to hear.

No, Cost Plus Doesn’t Plan to Shut Down in 2009

In a November 26 post, I mentioned a business report about 10 major retailers that might not make it to 2009 if their sales dropped by double digits during this holiday season compared to last year’s holiday season. Four have locations in Walnut Creek, including Oakland-based bargain import retailer Cost Plus

I wondered what the loss of Cost Plus would mean to Walnut Creek, what with Cost Plus having its prominent storefront location in downtown at the corner of Mt. Diablo and California boulevards.

Well, according to a blog on Diablo magazine’s website, Cost Plus CEO Barry Feld says that Cost Plus is here to stay. “I expect to be around celebrating our 75th anniversary,” says Feld, who was brought in as CEO in 2006 to reinvigorate the business. “We’re not going anywhere.”

According to the Diablo blog: Feld said the recent news report, predicting Cost Plus’ impending doom, reminded him of the need of tabloid journalism to accentuate the sensational and the negative.

At the same time, he acknowledges that Cost Plus has been going through tough times.

He tells Diablo: “I was brought in very specifically to do the turnaround. Cost Plus was in very serious trouble when I got here. The fundamental issue was that during the housing boom of ’03, ’04, Cost Plus turned itself into ‘PotteryBarn lite,’ a furniture store. I was a vociferous opponent of that strategy. I felt very strongly that this was a very dangerous merchandizing shift.”

Adds Feld: “For years, the company successfully sold an aggregation of inexpensive products—soaps, candles, or foods from around the world, inexpensive carpets, home décor items for the first-time home buyer. Cost Plus started to lose its core customer base when it started to fill our stores with expensive collections of furniture. The company started to slow down when the housing market started to slow.”

Now, according to Diablo, "Cost Plus is back in the business of selling mostly low-priced, iconoclastic items to the same kinds of people who shop at Trader Joe’s: educated singles and couples, with or without kids, living in or near urban centers, looking for items that are tasteful, original, but not super expensive."

Feld says that "85 percent of items sold at Cost Plus now go for under $20 a piece."

Let’s hope that’s the case. Actually, I always liked Cost Plus. And even though I’m downsizing my holiday gift spending, I might stop in to see if they have any fun stocking stuffers.

Miracle on Mt. Diablo Boulevard! A New Long-Awaited Arrival in Downtown Walnut Creek, and, no, It’s Not More Street Parking, But ...

It's something just as welcome: A NEW DOWNTOWN HARDWARE STORE!


Yes, that’s right. Those of us close to the downtown core no longer need to drive out to Ygnacio Valley, or to Lafayette to fulfill our needs for just that right “roofing nail,” pipe wrench, or all-in-one faucet. We can head to Walnut Creek Hardware at 2044 Mt. Diablo Boulevard. (Just west of Blockbuster).


And, golly, gee, listen to me throwing these home improvement terms around! As if I, Soccer Mom, know anything about any of this DIY/home improvement stuff. But I’m sure there are a fair number of Walnut Creek residents who care about such terms and equipment and are delighted that this convenient new store is open, and every day except for certain major holidays.


Actually, I was amazed to learn that Walnut Creek Hardware had its soft opening this past Thursday. Talk about coincidences! That evening, I was at a pizza party for my son’s Walnut Creek soccer team, and a couple of parents lamented the fact that downtown Walnut Creek no longer had a hardware store. Not since Simon’s closed to make way for Plaza Escuela and the failed Andronico’s upscale grocery store project.


As a Walnut Creek native, I personally have fond memories of my father, a big fan of home improvement and guy/carpentry projects, dragging me--to what I believe it was called--to Kelway’s Hardware at 2721 N. Main Street on Saturdays. It turns out that I actually loved rummaging around the bins of nails and pipes in that crowded, dusky, messy old place (what is now Masse’s Billiards Bar and Grill). And then, as a celebration of our father/daughter hardware shopping bonding, we headed to McDonald’s on California Boulevard and gorged on Big Macs and chocolate milkshakes. Those were the days.


But back to my soccer parent friends last Thursday: I assured them that a hardware store was coming to Walnut Creek soon. Very soon. I’d read about it and talked to people about it.
And lo and behold! It arrived on the very day I spoke of it!


So, yes, I hear that it is a basic hardware store. It occupies about 12,500 square feet of retail space and is stocked with supplies for home building, plumbing, electrical, cleaning, and DIY projects. No, it’s not a fancy “Restoration Hardware” kind of place. However, given that it is located a few blocks from such stylish destinations as Tiffany and Co. and Nordstrom, it isn’t decorated in a dusty, messy, fluorescent-lit hardware-store kind of way, and it does stock does stock such classier items as chrome fixtures for your Harley-Davidson motorcycle. And since “green” is so stylish, sexy, and, of course, socially responsible these days, Walnut Creek stocks eco-friendly non-toxic, non-odor paint by Mississippi-based Mythic Paint.


The official grand opening of Walnut Creek Hardware will take place in late March and coincide with the completion of the store’s nursery, of up to 8,500 square feet, which will open to the rear of the hardware store. The owners, both Walnut Creek residents, had the idea that they wanted to replace what was lost when the Whole Foods Market took over the former Navlet’s garden center on Newell Avenue.


Finally, Walnut Creek Hardware is part of the Ace Hardware cooperative, but is independently owned.


Except for major holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, Walnut Creek Hardware is open Monday-Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For information, call (925) 705-7500.