Surprise... I went to the new mall
Did you really think that I wouldn't??? I escaped work early on opening day and went to check it out with a co-worker. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but here's what I found:
•It's pretty. Seeing the Emporium Dome again in all it's refurbished glory was nice.
•Like I said, it's a pretty mall. But it's still a mall. Just a bunch of mall stores. feh.
•Okay... so there were a couple of newcomer/standouts; a store out of the UK called Next. On Thursday (the opening) they weren't quite done, but their doors were open. I wandered in, but nothing really jumped out at me. I went back on Saturday and was kinda' pleased... full line of True Religion, and some other high end denim makers.
I really liked another newcomer - Reiss. Don't know where they're from, but they looked good. Like Next, they weren't ready on Thursday (unlike Next, they didn't open their doors that day) but they were open for biz on Saturday. Luxe stuff... moderately high end and really clean lines. The store design is a bit "much" - a little tricky... but at least the assortment is good. I'll definitely be going back.
•Bloomingdales. Now... I loved Bloomies when I lived in New York. It was so quintessentially NYC to me. I remember being kinda' excited when they opened a store out at Stanford Mall. I was HUGELY disappointed with their west coast debut, so I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I wrong. This Bloomies is nothing short of spectacular. full line of John Varvatos (including shoes!!!), MARC-FREAKIN'-JACOBS! Martin Margiella, Hickey, Jack Spade (not a full line, but a decent assortment), Michael Kors, Lambertson Truex, True Religion, Rock and Republic, Paper Denim and Cloth, Juicy for Men, Viktor and Rolf (!!!!!) and more. Really, really incredible.
•Food. I was so happy to see that there are more/better options for eating downtown now. Their food court was impressive. A few steps above your average foodcourt... they also have a Bristol Farms - nice, high end "food emporium". Tom Collichio's Wichcraft is there - I'm really looking forward to checking that out. Beard Papa Sweets Cafe is there - I avoided it like the plague, but I know at one point I'll give in and gorge myself on their Cream Puffs.
SIDE NOTE: I was listening to morning radio today and they were interviewing people at the new mall... so the interviewer asks a woman what she was eating. Her response - "Cheeeeesss Papp". Cheeeeesss Papp?? What the hell?? He continued with the interview, asking her stupid questions... with her next answer I realized that she had a really heavy accent. A really heavy FILIPINO accent. I immediately figured out what she was saying - "Cheese PUFF". hahahahaha
Back to food... We had lunch at Straits Restaurant. All I have to say is, "Don't bother". It's Malasian cuisine... small plates meant to be shared. We ordered 5 items and they were out of 3 of them. We ordered two replacements and were informed that they were out of those as well. Mind you, it was 1:00pm. They had been open for exactly one hour at that point. Absolutely rediculous. The stuff that did manage to make it's way to our table was lacklustre at best. I could get just as good/better on Clement St. for about a third of the price. I bitched about them on Yelp.
so that's all I got right now... I'll be going back this weekend...
oh. Surprisingly enough, I made no purchases at the mall. I DID get a pair of John Varvatos for Converse green leather Snake Skin embossed Chucks from Gimme Shoes. yum.
•It's pretty. Seeing the Emporium Dome again in all it's refurbished glory was nice.
•Like I said, it's a pretty mall. But it's still a mall. Just a bunch of mall stores. feh.
•Okay... so there were a couple of newcomer/standouts; a store out of the UK called Next. On Thursday (the opening) they weren't quite done, but their doors were open. I wandered in, but nothing really jumped out at me. I went back on Saturday and was kinda' pleased... full line of True Religion, and some other high end denim makers.
I really liked another newcomer - Reiss. Don't know where they're from, but they looked good. Like Next, they weren't ready on Thursday (unlike Next, they didn't open their doors that day) but they were open for biz on Saturday. Luxe stuff... moderately high end and really clean lines. The store design is a bit "much" - a little tricky... but at least the assortment is good. I'll definitely be going back.
•Bloomingdales. Now... I loved Bloomies when I lived in New York. It was so quintessentially NYC to me. I remember being kinda' excited when they opened a store out at Stanford Mall. I was HUGELY disappointed with their west coast debut, so I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I wrong. This Bloomies is nothing short of spectacular. full line of John Varvatos (including shoes!!!), MARC-FREAKIN'-JACOBS! Martin Margiella, Hickey, Jack Spade (not a full line, but a decent assortment), Michael Kors, Lambertson Truex, True Religion, Rock and Republic, Paper Denim and Cloth, Juicy for Men, Viktor and Rolf (!!!!!) and more. Really, really incredible.
•Food. I was so happy to see that there are more/better options for eating downtown now. Their food court was impressive. A few steps above your average foodcourt... they also have a Bristol Farms - nice, high end "food emporium". Tom Collichio's Wichcraft is there - I'm really looking forward to checking that out. Beard Papa Sweets Cafe is there - I avoided it like the plague, but I know at one point I'll give in and gorge myself on their Cream Puffs.
SIDE NOTE: I was listening to morning radio today and they were interviewing people at the new mall... so the interviewer asks a woman what she was eating. Her response - "Cheeeeesss Papp". Cheeeeesss Papp?? What the hell?? He continued with the interview, asking her stupid questions... with her next answer I realized that she had a really heavy accent. A really heavy FILIPINO accent. I immediately figured out what she was saying - "Cheese PUFF". hahahahaha
Back to food... We had lunch at Straits Restaurant. All I have to say is, "Don't bother". It's Malasian cuisine... small plates meant to be shared. We ordered 5 items and they were out of 3 of them. We ordered two replacements and were informed that they were out of those as well. Mind you, it was 1:00pm. They had been open for exactly one hour at that point. Absolutely rediculous. The stuff that did manage to make it's way to our table was lacklustre at best. I could get just as good/better on Clement St. for about a third of the price. I bitched about them on Yelp.
so that's all I got right now... I'll be going back this weekend...
oh. Surprisingly enough, I made no purchases at the mall. I DID get a pair of John Varvatos for Converse green leather Snake Skin embossed Chucks from Gimme Shoes. yum.
posted by Shuboy at 6:58 PM
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