Barnes & Noble closing Arlington store

[thelakelander]

The Barnes & Noble on Atlantic Boulevard near the Regency Square Mall will close at the end of March when the store’s lease expires, a company spokesperson said.

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/business/2009-01-12/story/barnes_noble_closing_arlington_store

[jandar]

same with the fedex kinkos next door (already closed)

[DetroitInJAX]

Wow... Seems like Regency is really imploding.  After the area's slow slide Im surprised to see it dropping off so quickly.

[RiversideGator]

That stinks.  It is the closest to my house and was the first to open in Jacksonville.

[copperfiend]

No surprise. It is also the closest to my house but I have been there multiple times and they did not have what I needed. I had to drive over the Town Center to get it. I usually drive the extra few minutes to go to the Town Center location. The furniture store next to B&N closed last year, Bennigan's across the street is empty. I was surprised the Circuit City survived.

[thelakelander]

The Pontiac dealership across the street has also closed.  Now the only thing open on that corner is CVS.

[Doctor_K]

Time to build that overpass for Southside Blvd over Atlantic then, since there are no more business on that intersection to complain about visiual blight, and eliminate the backup on Southside northbound!  Perfect project for Peyton's transit-money-for-roads scheme!

In all seriousness though, what does anyone think is next for that immediate area? 

Adaptive reuse into something less suburban? 

Another commercial venture coming in and taking its place (same for Bennigans/Pontiac)?

[thelakelander]

With no adopted redevelopment plan in hand expect blight until the market improves.

[KenFSU]

It’s always a shame to see a book store close. I really liked that particular Barnes N’ Noble, and it always seemed reasonably busy, but I guess this is the economy we’re living in these days. I’m praying the Borders on Southside doesn’t suffer the same fate. It’s probably my favorite bookstore in Jacksonville to spend an afternoon in, and for as long as I can remember, it’s always been shockingly dead in there.

[copperfiend]

The Toys R Us and Babies R Us are gone as well. The old Hooters building is empty. About the only things in the area that seem to do well are Best Buy, Olive Garden and Chili's.

[Doctor_K]

The 'R Us stores relocated to the SJTC area.  They're booming and making traffic even more miserable around there than it already was.

Best Buy, Olive Garden, and the various outparcels are still alive.  I never see much of a crowd in the parking lot for that strip mall on the south side of Atlantic there - behind Chick-Fil-A and the Hess Station - even when the 'R Us store was there.  So I wonder how long that whole thing will stay afloat.

[Joe]

This is just a sign of things to come for Arlington. As others have discussed before, first generation suburbs across the nation are/have been really suffering as they age. Regency's struggles reflect the income demographic shift catching up to them. New developments like that Kendall "Town Center" will help dull the blow, but the overall market is heading WAY downward as the housing stock begins to age.

The parallels between Springfield and Arlington are shocking and instructive too ...

Springfield was (at the time) a suburb built 1890-ish, with construction continuing into the 1920s. In the 1950s the Matthews Bridge + expressway opened. By this time the housing stock was between 30-60 years old, so even the youngest houses were becoming "obsolete." The new highway allowed Springfield residents to flee their now outdated housing (and the poorer people that were begining to live there) to the new suburb of Arlington.

Fast forward to today, and it's the same story. Arlington's housing stock is now between 30-60 years old and not up to modern standards. Poor people have been moving in. A new highway (in this case 9a) has recently opened up huge swaths of the Southside to modern new developments. Now Arlington is dying in the same fashion as the suburb it replaced.

Now, I do think that Arlington's fall won't be quite as harsh as Springfield's. Geographic factors, combined with (slightly) more sane planning policy will help them. However, it begs the question of whether Arlington's modernist character will ever be worth saving and fighting for like Springfield is. My guess is no.

[RiversideGator]

I dont know if Arlington can never rebound though.  In parts of the country, mid-century architecture is becoming hugely popular and there is no reason why this might not happen there also.  Its proximity to downtown is another big plus for Arlington.  If downtown continues to be developed positively, people will pay a premium to live close to it.  So, I think the future for Arlington is mixed but it might not be as bad as people think.

[jacksonvilleconfidential]

Where will all the gay people in Regency cruise now?

[Doctor_K]

RSG--  Wouldn't that statement apply more to Arlington 'proper' - i.e. to the west of say, Lone Star and to the north of Atlantic?  The areas further east like Regency and 'East Arlington' would lag further and longer than parts of that 'burb closer to the river, no?