Got over to the new Artegon Marketplace, the new venture that replaced the long-flailing Festival Bay mall on north I-Drive.
My initial reaction: shock. Festival Bay may have been a dead mall, but it was also the most beautiful mall in Orlando, with fountains and elaborate tile mosaics. Even after a decade it looked brand-new (lack of customers will do that I guess). All that's gone. Fountains and tile ripped out. Instead, the place has what I guess is supposed to be an industrial feel--I thought it felt more like an unfinished construction zone. While traditional shops still ring the exterior walls, the interior is now made up of a maze of black mesh cages. It reminded me of a flea market, or maybe the world's saddest zoo.
The "shops" are divided roughly equally into three categories:
Still not sure of the target audience, either. Are I-Drive tourists really looking to drop $350 on a piece of abstract wall art or a 4-foot sculpture? For that matter, are they planning on selling to the people who come for Bass Pro Shop and the soon-to-open Toby Keith bar? (OK, "Stars, Bars & Stripes" might do better with that market--yes, an actual store.) The style of the stores clash, but so do their target demographics.
I know the initial plan was to tear the mall down and build a more typical outdoor "lifestyle center." This was definitely a more outside the box choice. But I can't see it lasting. On Wednesday, already 10% of the booths were locked up--presumably giving up after less than 2 weeks. There still isn't much of a crowd, and the building is even less visually enticing than when it was Festival Bay. If anything but the anchor stores are left open by Spring Break, I'll be shocked.
My initial reaction: shock. Festival Bay may have been a dead mall, but it was also the most beautiful mall in Orlando, with fountains and elaborate tile mosaics. Even after a decade it looked brand-new (lack of customers will do that I guess). All that's gone. Fountains and tile ripped out. Instead, the place has what I guess is supposed to be an industrial feel--I thought it felt more like an unfinished construction zone. While traditional shops still ring the exterior walls, the interior is now made up of a maze of black mesh cages. It reminded me of a flea market, or maybe the world's saddest zoo.
The "shops" are divided roughly equally into three categories:
- Genuine artists. The kind of booth you'd see at Festival of the Masters or the DeLand or Mount Dora art festivals. Including some of the food booths here--a gluten-free baker, a beautiful chocolatier--because they truly seem to be offering gourmet products.
- Straight-Out-of-the-Flea-Market vendors. T-shirts with a picture of a gun that follows your eyes. Candles made of old liquor bottles. Costume jewelry. A leather shop. Enough knock-off merch that a combination of Disney, WB and Harley-Davidson lawyers could probably shut half the place down n an hour.
- The hold-overs. Bass Pro, Putting Edge, Ron Jon, Subway and Fuddruckers are still here. So are the discount book store and some generic women's clothing shop and the Barvarian Nut guy--it's all very random. None of these have changed their aesthetic to match the new Marketplace. You walk out of the highly themed Ron Jon, it feels like you've stumbled into a construction zone, and that the rest of the mall might open in 6 months.
Still not sure of the target audience, either. Are I-Drive tourists really looking to drop $350 on a piece of abstract wall art or a 4-foot sculpture? For that matter, are they planning on selling to the people who come for Bass Pro Shop and the soon-to-open Toby Keith bar? (OK, "Stars, Bars & Stripes" might do better with that market--yes, an actual store.) The style of the stores clash, but so do their target demographics.
I know the initial plan was to tear the mall down and build a more typical outdoor "lifestyle center." This was definitely a more outside the box choice. But I can't see it lasting. On Wednesday, already 10% of the booths were locked up--presumably giving up after less than 2 weeks. There still isn't much of a crowd, and the building is even less visually enticing than when it was Festival Bay. If anything but the anchor stores are left open by Spring Break, I'll be shocked.
