Growing up in SE Asia this retail experience was what I was used to. Much more interesting and easier to browse, like in a regular street market. Notably, many retail buildings in my Asian experience were multi-story. It is not uncommon to see 5-7 story buildings, each floor full of small retail like that at Eden Center. It would seem to be so much easier to capitalize a tiny place and grow into larger spaces than to always be at the cusp of bankruptcy trying to afford rent. I wonder how many small businesses works prosper rather than succumb after a year with that model.
Eden C is also very South Vietnamese.... the parking lot rows are actually set up as streets, named for SVN generals (I believe). Its a wonderful corner of this area.
I've seen pictures of Vietnamese shopping malls and those vertical commercial structures. It definitely draws on that. But it's something all of us could learn. Retrofitting some larger vacant box stores into indoor malls is a really neat idea, and it's occasionally done. Obviously, though, you need to be able to find enough tenants to fill the space. But maybe it's easier to find a bunch of small businesses than a single box store tenant, with retail trends these days.
Jun 13, 2022·edited Jun 14, 2022Liked by Addison Del Mastro
One problem with small-format retail: they do not enjoy the same benefits of larger supply-chain networks. However, these disadvantages can be offset by other factors. One big one is achieving similar sales/sf by high traffic, then realizing savings through not paying for parking and other car-based amenities bundled into rent. These small-format stores really need true accessibility. While people walk through private hallways cum streets (like an arcade, a zuq, a bazaar, a galleria, or a passage couvert), these are intermodal trips requiring cars. It's hard to see where the economy is without access to convenient housing and good public transportation.
Yes. More people walk here than you would think, but the transportation situation out here isn't great. There are lots of nearby homes, but it's a good example of suburban land-use patterns artificially magnifying distance.
Growing up in SE Asia this retail experience was what I was used to. Much more interesting and easier to browse, like in a regular street market. Notably, many retail buildings in my Asian experience were multi-story. It is not uncommon to see 5-7 story buildings, each floor full of small retail like that at Eden Center. It would seem to be so much easier to capitalize a tiny place and grow into larger spaces than to always be at the cusp of bankruptcy trying to afford rent. I wonder how many small businesses works prosper rather than succumb after a year with that model.
Eden C is also very South Vietnamese.... the parking lot rows are actually set up as streets, named for SVN generals (I believe). Its a wonderful corner of this area.
I've seen pictures of Vietnamese shopping malls and those vertical commercial structures. It definitely draws on that. But it's something all of us could learn. Retrofitting some larger vacant box stores into indoor malls is a really neat idea, and it's occasionally done. Obviously, though, you need to be able to find enough tenants to fill the space. But maybe it's easier to find a bunch of small businesses than a single box store tenant, with retail trends these days.
One problem with small-format retail: they do not enjoy the same benefits of larger supply-chain networks. However, these disadvantages can be offset by other factors. One big one is achieving similar sales/sf by high traffic, then realizing savings through not paying for parking and other car-based amenities bundled into rent. These small-format stores really need true accessibility. While people walk through private hallways cum streets (like an arcade, a zuq, a bazaar, a galleria, or a passage couvert), these are intermodal trips requiring cars. It's hard to see where the economy is without access to convenient housing and good public transportation.
Yes. More people walk here than you would think, but the transportation situation out here isn't great. There are lots of nearby homes, but it's a good example of suburban land-use patterns artificially magnifying distance.