Easton Town Center has become such a popular fixture, it's hard...

Many Limited Brands investors were reportedly unhappy about the huge expense of Easton. I enjoyed your article and agree Easton is unique -- Wexner brought things Columbus didnt have. It also has stiff competition that's less than ten minutes away by freeway -- and under a roof. Is Easton making money? Can it compete with Polaris? I'm always a little dubious of just how objective any Columbus media coverage of Mr. Wexner can be.

While I understand that some people view Easton as "fake", it really is a huge draw for Columbus. Every time I return to Columbus to visit my family, my stay always includes a trip to Easton. They have really done a good job of updating the center over the years. Columbus had always been a "B" retail city but Easton changed that and made Columbus a "have to be in" retail market.

When Mr Wexner is no longer running his companies, things will change for the worse. Easton is slowly being surrounded by urban decay. City "leadership" will spout bovine waste about how to stop the decay. Their plans will work as well as they did for Northland Mall and City Center. Online retail will triumph as consumers vote with their wallets.

Is there any truth in the Westland Mall being converted into a "Weston"?

DUH! the city can't be blamed for the wasteful sprawling development choices made by private developers. Those developers care about making money and NOTHING ELSE!

its a vicious cycle!!!

1 Build a shopping center.
2 Make money for 20 years.
3 Sell it to someone else.
4 Build another 5 miles down the road.
5 Leave someone else (the city and the neighbors) with the problems that come with a huge abandoned development.
6 REPEAT

easton might be a little better off since it is set up diferently but Tuttle Mall will be dead in 10 more years and polaris will fall shorly after.

stop supportingg devlopers who erase farm land to build more sprawl! there are plenty of retail and development opportunities within existing city limits! SUSTAINABILITY IS THE KEY!

DowntownColumbus wrote:

DUH! the city can't be blamed for the wasteful sprawling development choices made by private developers. Those developers care about making money and NOTHING ELSE!
its a vicious cycle!!!
1 Build a shopping center.
2 Make money for 20 years.
3 Sell it to someone else.
4 Build another 5 miles down the road.
5 Leave someone else (the city and the neighbors) with the problems that come with a huge abandoned development.
6 REPEAT
easton might be a little better off since it is set up diferently but Tuttle Mall will be dead in 10 more years and polaris will fall shorly after.
stop supportingg devlopers who erase farm land to build more sprawl! there are plenty of retail and development opportunities within existing city limits! SUSTAINABILITY IS THE KEY!

WE LOVE SPRAWL!

The further we get away from downtown human debris, the happier and safer we are. Keep your social problems and your wrecked liberal municipal government inside I-270, please.

westsider wrote:

Is there any truth in the Westland Mall being converted into a "Weston"?

I'd like to know this too.

DowntownColumbus wrote:

<quoted text>
and by "we" you mean "I". your bigotry is applicable to you and you alone.
your silly attempts to shield yourself from reality only makes you a larger bigot every day. your life is obviously a miserable existance.
LOL!

I like the walls they've been building around I-270. Hopefully it will keep you people in. If not, a barbed wire fence should do the trick.

I am for higher taxes in the suburbs, by the way. Taxes as high as they can possibly get, because the higher they are, the less likely you will be able to afford to move out here!

I don't shop as much as I used to, however the concept of the Easton Town Center is wonderful because the browsers and shoppers do get fresh air and exercise and most importantly a sense of community that is missing in enclosed shopping Malls.... When I do shop, I rarely shop on the internet or from tv shopping networks but prefer an outdoor setting for shopping. My favorite places for serious shopping are or were: Surfside,FL (many years ago), The Bal Harbour Shops (browse mostly), Palm Beach (definitely browsing and people browsing) & we went to Easton Town Center once to visit family and we loved the experience. Very neat and clean and comfortable and actually fun....We were all in a good mood to be there and it was a nice event. Great restaurant selection also & something for everyone and nice friendly sales people who weren't at all demanding yet helpful when necessary.

Anthropophobia- Fear of people or society.

LOL @ U for being so scared of everything!

I have tried to like all of the artificial Disneyland like atmosphere of Easton but I guess I blame Wexner for the demise of downtown City Center. He was one of the major players in that also. Of course, the rich always say that "all is fair in love and war and business" The expansion of the elite New Albany with it's boring use of a beautiful Georgian architecture tells it's own story. I seldom use Easton and don't plan to.

steve_stiffler wrote:

<quoted text>
No, he's not alone. Thousands of us choose to live normal lives, powderpuff. You homosexual urban elites need to crawl back in your scummy holes.

Ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble....

I lived 10 minutes away from Easton, in Westerville, and moved "back home" just as it was opening. It's one of the only things I miss, and return to, in Columbus (that and Lucky House!). Be assured that Easton is a destination for many, many people in Ohio. I always try to stop in when business brings me back to Central Ohio, and my family and I consider it a true "outing" to come down.

In 2003 I was co-chairman of a multi-state convention that took place at Easton. Once we took the committee members for a look-see...they were sold in a big way. None of them had ever sen anything like it, and it was a very, very successful event. Everyone loved Easton!

I've done business in malls all over the USA, and I can tell you that Easton is unique, trendsetting, and hopefully, durable. Other Midwest cities would positively kill to have Easton. Save me a seat at Restaurant Hama!

P.S....Still NOT from Salt Lake City!

Our USA Economy:

From the perspective of a consumer who potentially and in real life is also an investor I personally see 3 major factors shaping our economy:
#1 Demographics: Our locale (PA and The State of Delaware) has an aging population. I am an 'aging'(but young looking) baby-boomer...I remember my late mother, telling me when she was my age the following: "I have everything I need." Most of us don't need more 'stuff'...Still shopping can be fun and it is great exercise....So, what to do? Re-evaluate how we want to live. Maybe we no longer want to or need to own our own houses. If we were to become renters then we could buy some new things for our apt. and this could reinvigorate our economy & more shopping.
#2. The weather. El Nino and La Nina are making people consider if they want to own homes. Wet, leaking basements & foundations. Not fun. Homw ownership's suffering from "The Katrina Effect" as well as the mortgage meltdown-implosion......Commer cial real estate, I am luckily not familiar with but obviously our economy does affect sales and so on.
#3. Health Care Insurance premiums are too high. The more people use doctors and unnecessary elective surgeries, the higher costs are. Then people have less to upgrade to better homes, condos and co-ops. Speaking of co-op apartments: they are great. Co-ops are far better than condos and this could be a future idea for real estate...

I would rather go to Polaris than Easton due to the fact its a teenager hang out. I just worry when taking my kids in there later in the evenings due to all the teenagers and gang bangers. Dont know if anyone has noticed, but Easton is becoming the new City Center. I like to shop the outside area only if I have to go there. Its sad when the teenagers are yelling and acting so bad that a 5 yr old will cry and say Mommy take me home.

After you're done shopping at Easton you can go across Morse Rd. and shop at the Little Linden WalMart for a little added diversity.

You could have written the exact same story 25 years ago and substituted the words "The Continent" in place of "Easton" or 15 years ago substituting the words "City Center" - both now embarrassing centers of blight.

Real Estate Depreciation: It used to be, I don't know if it still is, but for taxation purposes, an owner of real estate, who rents out his properties could gradually then fully decreciate the properties over and after a 25 year period...So for tax purposes, a property would be 'fully depreciated' after 25 years. This does not mean the land is worthless, but for tax purposes the buildings and fixtures are fully (tax) depreciated...There's nothing wrong with this concept....Some people are landlords and some are not...This is called capitalism....

It's nice that Easton is doing well with its town square, station, sidewalks and at-the-curb parking, small-ish shops. Funny that's what many Ohio towns looked like before the malls killed them off.

Proposition 13 wrote:

<quoted text>
WE LOVE SPRAWL!
The further we get away from downtown human debris, the happier and safer we are. Keep your social problems and your wrecked liberal municipal government inside I-270, please.

Easton was a nice idea and for the most part appears to have done well so far. Unfortunately, like most other areas Columbus City has touched with aggressive annexations over the past 50 years, it too will someday turn to crap. Look what Columbus did to Sawmill Rd., Morse Rd., doing to Tuttle, has done to City Center, the mess they are making out of Polaris, the list goes on... try keeping them out of the mix someday and end up with something that can actually be sustained.