Nov

10

Bang & Olufsen leaving Plaza for Crossroads, cites Plaza’s declining standards

November 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

Luxury electronics retailer Bang & Olufsen is leaving the Country Club Plaza for 19th and Main Streets in the Crossroads Arts District.  The locally-owned B&O store cites the proliferation of non-luxury shopping mall stores that has occurred under Highwoods’ ownership of the Plaza.  Consider the departure of Saks 5th Avenue and the arrival of The Gap and Forever 21 for an illustration of the concern.

The building at 19th and Main is owned by the Botwin family, whichs also own the Waldo building housing Kennedy’s and The Coffee Girls.

Categories: Business, Downtown, Midtown/Plaza


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Casey on November 10, 2009 8:06 am

    Some are going to decry the a downtown that’s in competition with the Plaza. “How will poor Kansas City survive?” This is exactly what we want, competition. Downtown and the Plaza will force each other to stay sharp.

  2. john on November 10, 2009 9:15 am

    This isn’t about Downtown taking something from the Plaza, it’s about Highwoods neglecting the Plaza and letting it go down hill. It sounds like the store was going to leave the Plaza anyway, so we are fortunate that the Crossroads was able to keep them in the city. They could have easily ended up in Leawood.

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