The popular clothing retailer Brooks Brothers closed on Sunday at The Shops at The Bravern. In addition to Brooks Brothers, Farinaz Taghavi a Vancouver, BC women’s shirt designer will relocate her store from The Bravern to Bellevue Square.
When asked, The Bravern’s PR team did not have details about what will be moving into the Brooks Brothers space.
These announcements come just over a month after it was uncovered that Anthropologie will be moving from The Bravern to Bellevue Square.
Things are looking grim for the Bravern. I had thought that Kemper’s new expansion would kill the Bravern but it may be dead before those new projects are even complete.
The Bravern needs to open additional restaurants which will drive foot traffic. Restaurants in Bellevue are overflowing with customers so its surprising The Bravern hasn’t realized this yet. This happens time and time again where developers want to build a portfolio of high end shopping and when the foot traffic isn’t they lose tenants. The question here is how long will it take The Bravern to get their act together.
Bravern retail was a marketing mistake. Yes, there is sufficient local income/net worth to support ultra high end retailers, but most of their wares don’t fit with PNW culture.
With the exception of Canlis, there isn’t a restaurant in King County where a gentleman needs to wear a coat and tie to dinner. It’s hard to justify dumping big bucks on clothing for the symphony when the folks next to you are in fleece and waterproof boots.
I think Bravern’s retail strategy needs to be completely rethought. And I agree about the restaurants, though that requires retail hours that match peak dining times.
If you look at high-end shopping districts in Tokyo, such as Omotesando and Roppongi Hills, the retail shops are interspersed with dining options from fine dining to casual.
@ES, I agree 100%. The Bravern definitely needs more restaurants and cafes to liven it up. The two current restaurants are completely isolated from the pedestrian traffic and have zero presence along the corridor. John Howie’s entrance is in the office tower lobby and Wild Ginger’s entrance is a big blank black door at the other end. Neither restaurant has any outdoor seating or anything that encourages passerbys to come in.
When the project was in design and under construction, we heard endless hype about how it was inspired by the great shopping streets and plazas of the world. I’m not sure what elements they derived from other projects but if anything it reminds me of a artificial and tacky themed Vegas mall (think Venetian or Forum Shops) but without the tourists.
I live a block away from the Bravern, and I have never had a single reason to actually shop there. Unless you want to buy luxury stuff (as in $300 polo shirts or $2,000 purses) there’s basically nothing to buy there.
Exactly, I can’t believe how misinformed and miscalculated they were when they decided to build a high-end only mall in that location. It’s too far from the Bellevue Collection to have any synergy and there’s no high volume stores that will bring in foot traffic. Too bad they can’t pick up this complex and plop it down on the Rockefeller site. It could work in that location due to its proximity to Lincoln Square.
The residential towers were a mistake as well, they should’ve built a hotel instead. A hotel would’ve at least given them a steady stream of potential customers while also supporting the adjacent convention center.
It doesn’t surprise me that this article brings out such strong feelings about The Bravern and it’s business model. For one thing, on a rainy day, I don’t want to be challenged by the wet, wind tunnel affect
when I shop. When I have used valet, I have
ended up with pen marks on my crème colored
leather… TWICE. They sell high end but don’t seem to ‘ get ‘ the concept.
I agree about the lack of restaurants and
mix of shopping experiences available. If I am going to buy luxury items, I would prefer to purchase them at a major retailer, such as Neiman Marcus, where I am able to add to my InCircle points. There is no incentive to shop at the free-standing stores at The Bravern . Bellevue
Square seems to understand the local market
better, and I hope that Brooks Brothers ends up with a store there again.
I wonder how expensive it will be to retrofit the Bravern to be an glass-enclosed shopping plaza… That would be super cool and lives up to the “high-end” promise they made.
Rich people don’t want to shiver in freezing rains when they go shopping… I just had lunch there today and a summer rain already brought the place to be quite freezing.
the speed bumps in the garage are so painful. That’s my number 1 reason for not going there.
I am not surprised at all. When Kemper finishes the Bellevue Square expansion I hope Louis Vuitton, Hérmes, and Tory Burch move too. It would be so much more convenient to have them at Bellevue Square.
As long as we are creating a Bellevue Square alternative wish list, how about Prada, Saks and Ferrragamo ? I would love to see more stores that cater to adult women business attire as opposed to all the teenager clothing stores.
Interesting tidbit from WWD today:
“Chavez said Hermès will expand ‘stores in many existing markets such as Dallas, Houston, Boston and Seattle. We’re adding square footage to be able to increase our product offering.”'”
Permit Number: 13-131060 BZ
Site Address: 700 110th Ave NE 160 Project Name: Gucci at the Bravern – Ste 160,165,170 (LUX)
Combine suites 160,165,170 into new retail tenant suite. Includes new storefront system.