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In Marketplace Briefs
Changes at the Shops of Grand Avenue
Changes coming to the Shops of Grand Avenue.
By Jeff Sherman RSS Feed
OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer

E-mail author | Author bio
More articles by Jeff Sherman

Published June 14, 2008 at 8:36 a.m.
Tags: shops of grand avenue, downtown retail, ritz, linens n things, erica anderson, ashkenazy acquisition corp.

The Ritz Camera Center, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave., inside the Shops of Grand Avenue is closing. A sure sign of the decline in demand of photo processing and even more so of the nearly constant turning of the retail tables at the Downtown Milwaukee mall.

In regards to the constant turn at the Shops of Grand Avenue one new store, Scented Garden, opened in late May. It's a bath and body shop that offers lotions, bath beads, and customizable products. Scented Garden is located on the second level in the New Arcade.

In the food court, Tossed will open July 1 on the west side. Tossed will provide create-your-own salads, a soup of the day and a variety of other luncheon options.

"In the coming months, shoppers will see many other specialty shops, possibly to include a women's and men's boutique, a lingerie store, service related concepts such as a hair salon and an optical store, among others. National retail is also a factor that shoppers can get excited about as we have our national leasing team working carefully with exceptional retailers," said Erica E. Anderson, Director of Marketing and Specialty Leasing.

Hopefully, the Ritz space that's just adjacent to Linens "n Things will be gobbled up soon and reopened. Linens 'N Things also is closing at the end of summer (it's closing several stores due to bankruptcy), according to an employee there and recent reports from the company. Grand Avenue officials say that neither store has provided an official last day of business.

"The Shops of Grand Avenue is looking to create a tenant mix attractive to Downtown employees, residents and the metro Milwaukee area. And although Ritz Camera and Linens 'N Things are, and have been, valued tenants, we need to look to the future and to retailers that will positively impact this great Downtown shopping center and make it the center that its shoppers, owners, management, and city want it to be," added Anderson.

9 comments about this article.
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Recent Talkbacks ...
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DowntownRed "Macys, Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor"? You're kidding right? Macy's (and its ...
seahawk As someone who works downtown, I really enjoy the Grand AVE. The supposed bad ...
littlelamb Diesel 1976: Fields was not "replaced" by Borders. It was vacant for years. ...
brewcityeastsider Linens n' things' closing could be a great opportunity for Grand Ave, it's a ...
diesel1976 If they get rid of the low class stores and dining options they will attract ...


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