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Upscale Cincinnati mall worth the drive for its variety of shops, speciality stores
Monday, October 15, 2007
CINCINNATI — If shopping is one of your favorite leisure-time activities, chances are you'll enjoy the chance to get away for a day and explore interesting stores in other towns.
If you haven't been to Kenwood Towne Centre in years, there are lots of pleasant surprises in store including a number of retailers that haven't yet come to the Miami Valley. The biggest news, of course, is that in the Fall of 2009, Nordstrom will be opening in what was formerly the Parisian store.
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Would you believe the upscale center — on Montgomery Road in Cincinnati — was originally a grocery store, then a strip mall? In 1988 the building was renovated to become an enclosed two-level center; in 2003 the Mall added a "streetscape" design along Montgomery Road, adding more than 100,000 square feet of retail space to the property.
Today the trendy and attractive mall includes two department stores — Macy's and Dillards — and 180 specialty retailers. When it's time for lunch and dinner or a shopping break, in addition to The Cheesecake Factory, there's Maggiano's, a family-style restaurant with checkered red tablecloths and family portraits that aims at capturing the nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of pre-World War II Little Italy.
A friend and I recently spent a pleasant day browsing at Kenwood. Here's a capsule look at just a few of the specialty stores we liked that you won't yet find in Dayton.
When it comes to stores filled with pretty furniture and accessories in a wide range of prices, you can't go wrong with this trio — Williams-Sonoma Home, Pottery Barn and West Elm — all owned by the same parent company. The most pricey of the three — Williams-Sonoma Home — launched its first retail store in Beverly Hills in 2005 and followed with the opening of this beautiful 7,000 square-foot Kenwood store a month later. It's totally re-set and repainted every few months based on the theme and you'll love the gorgeous table settings (Harvest Entertaining, at the moment). West Elm offers budget prices; Pottery Barn falls somewhere in between. The mall also has Pottery Barn Kids with cute furnishings.
Restoration Hardware is also a great store for textiles, furniture, lighting, bath accessories and lots of fun gadgets.
You can't help but feel welcome at Brighton Collectibles — just follow the yummy smell of warm chocolate chip cookies. The company began by selling belts in 1991 and now offers everything from its well-known handbags and leather goods to fragrance, jewelry, eye wear and luggage. The Power of Pink Collection, sold during October to raise money for breast cancer research, includes a necklace, bracelet, earrings. Don't miss the charming painted rest room.
If you like that famous little crocodile, you'll want to check out the Lacoste boutique. You'll find men's, women's and children's sizes — the store stocks polos, button-downs, jackets, sweaters, accessories. The polos come in an amazing array of colors.
G by Guess features a new design concept and more affordable merchandise, there's also a Lucky Brand Jeans store with jeans priced from $98 to $150.
Other fashion stops at Kenwood include a Sigrid Olsen store that features bold colors in novelty prints and knitwear, bebe with its body-conscious contemporary apparel, and Kenneth Cole that carries a broad range of footwear and handbags as well as tops, skirts, dresses for women; button-up shirts, knit sweaters, pants and denim for men. BCBG is slated to open a store this month.
Marmi is a great find for women with hard-to-fit feet. It's owned by the company that makes Van Eli, Amalfi and Meucci shoes and sizes range from 4 to 12 and from slim to wide. This season you'll see lots of wedges, animal prints, fun flats. Check out the neat novelty bags.
The busiest store on the day we visited was definitely the Apple Store, and here's where the guys can have a good time while the women are shopping. (The Bose store is lots of fun, too, with lots of interactive displays and seminars and the Mall also has a Sony Style.) All Mac computers are available and open for demonstration.
Shopping for the kids? Janie and Jack is definitely a grandma's store, with adorable clothing and accessories for little ones. Sizes range from preemie to size 6; it's a great place if you need a baby or child's gift. A three-piece outfit runs about $90-$110. The Mall also has a Talbots Kids shop featuring apparel, shoes and accessories. And J. Crew has added Crewcuts, a collection of apparel for boys and girls ages 2 through 10.
If stationery and specialty greeting cards are your passion, you'll want to stop at Papyrus. The shop stocks handmade wrapping paper, invitations and note cards, and offers customized printing.
In June the expanded Coach Store opened at the Mall and it's lovely. It's double the size of the previous boutique making it more similar to the stores you'd see in New York or Chicago. In addition to its handbags, the store now carries shoes. And if you miss your old Coach bag from decades ago, you can order it from the catalogs.
If it's makeup you're after, you'll have fun at Sephora, where you're encouraged to play. The store stocks more than 250 brands including its own private label. Don't miss the beautiful C.O. Bigelow modern day apothecary, which carries 149 brands of personal care items including skin care and hair care.
Wilsons Leather has opened a prototype store at Kenwood; it's being used as a company laboratory and has added more clothing than in the past.
More than 100 vendors are represented at Everything but Water, a shop that offers swim wear as well as sales associates who'll help you find the right fit. A specialty is "mix and match" separates, but it also stocks one-piece swimsuits. You'll see designer suits from Michael Kors, Trina Turk, Betsey Johnson, Lucky and Ralph
Lauren.
It's always nice to find a local shop at a mall. At Kenwood those include Bankhardts, the luggage shop that's been a Cincinnati fixture for 140 years and Sterling Cut Glass, founded in 1902, which specializes in intricate hand-cutting and polishing of the "Brilliant" period of American crystal. Bankhardts sells travel goods, briefcases and luggage from folks like Tumi, and Hartmann.
Kenwood Towne Centre, owned and managed by General Growth Properties, Inc., is now offering a new service that allows shoppers to search for items — and reserve them — at the mall on the internet or mobile phone before making the trip to Cincinnati. Shoppers can also text message stores on their mobile phones while at Kenwood. Check out the new "Searchable Mall" service online at: kenwood.nearbynow.com.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.
