i’hoto b> Sr4H Pmtoii
The development of suburban shopping malls have led to hard
times and a lack of tenants for dow ntown retail t enters such
as The Atrium
Community
New plans, tenants create hope
for struggling downtown Atrium
By Bob Waite
The Atrium, a retail building
in Kugene’s downtown was
tjuiellv busv with people
lounging outside .1 few eus
lomers at the ii e i ream store in
side and tavern employees
making reads for the lunch
i rowd Friday morning.
Nestled next to the empU
building that used to he a Sears
store I'fie \trium typifies Kti
gene's downtown: half full and
seeking a renewed identity and
i niiimen lal vitality
I wo w eeks ago Kugene vot
ers narrowly approved a ballot
measure to i hange urban re
new.il plans and this may sig
nal a change for The Atrium
and other downtown business
‘I've worked downtown
since l'loll." liette Sandall,
Atrium manager said "We all
Used to go out and sfiop for
dresses on our noon hour and it
wasn't pist us (downtown em
ployees| It isn t like that
now
Sandall said The Atrium has
main good tenants and has
some good prospet live tenants
as well
Sandall said "mall rats " or
loitering youths, have been a
problem and she needed to hire
sci urit\ guards and ( lose the
public restrooms because of
vandalism
|an lloliman. development
anal vs! for the < it \ of Kugene
Planning and Development de
partment said hope exists for
I he Atrium by "maybe re de
signing ret,ill spai e and en
i ouraging other tenants such as
non profit organize! ions
[■( (j \\\ an economii con
sultan! firm, is ln< aled ill I lie
Atrium "Because it s central to
our employees we elijov being
downtown and it's nu e offii e
spat e with affordable rent."
Helen Kosenau. I t ( ) s adminis
trative manager said
Russ Isbell, of led Durant
and Associates in Portland, is
formulating marketing strati'
gies for The Atrium's new ow n
er. Connecticut Mutual l.ife In
surance Company in Hartford.
(ionnei t ii lit
' They (Connecticut Mutual
Life) should have a plan in the
next '•() davs Then we'll have
our man long orders to begin
formulating our market strate
gv.” Isbell said
We don't think it's a dead
building." he said. "We think
some prior ownership problems
may have i ontributed to the
problem
"We expect 90 percent occu
pam v within the next 1H
months. Isbell added "The
downtown is dying' idea has
been around for the last 20
years hut we don't believe it
Hut Kverett Smith. I ’niversity
geography professor, said the
retail outlook for middle si/.ed
Ameri( an dow ntowns is not
good
Between ton' and 1072. re
tail sale- save : in Kugene s
downtown ris ng somewhat
between 1072 ami 1077 He
tween 1077 old 1082, sales
continued to slow ly ini rease
Smith said
liven w ith the sales gains be
tween 1072 and 1082. Smith
said, sales were well below
what was expected and the na
tional i onsumer price index
Smith said retail business is
undergoing a decentralizing
trend, indicated by the (level
opment of shopping malls in
the 1070s .mil the current boom
in suburban shopping center
development
Businesses like the new
Costco and Shopco on Coburg
Road, the new Fred Meyer and
Safeway on West 11th Avenue,
and the Springfield Mall on
Gateway have displaced big re
tail centers downtown.
"1 guess these buildings (like
l he Atrium) just don’t work as
they are perceived anymore.”
Smith said
20% Sale does not include. coursebook*.
Him processing lobecco products, class rings,
academic regalia, computers, software, tennis
balls, and items alraady priced as sale merchandise
as wall as some electronic equipment which is
already priced extremely competitively No further
discounts, cash register sales only, limited to stock
on hand Main store at 13th and Kincaid only
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&0r. » ANGIE AND LOTUS ° O °
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