A big red cursive "Virgin" may rise above The Gateway by the end of the year.
A Virgin Megastore — the "category killer" in 22 North American cities such as Boston and San Francisco — is all but sure to occupy the old Union Pacific depot at 100 S. 400 West. The House of Blues' future there is uncertain, and Nordstrom's coveting of a store at The Gateway has led nowhere so far. But a Virgin Megastore will open "fairly soon," said Jake Boyer of the Boyer Co., developer of The Gateway. "We've been talking to them for quite a few years."
Virgin Entertainment, the empire owned by Sir Richard Branson, won't say a word about a Salt Lake Megastore. But Virgin and Boyer have had specific, Megastore-oriented building modifications approved by the city's Historic Landmarks Commission. Virgin's signage will be the subject of future Landmarks hearings. But Boyer got permission this month to tear down a 40-foot piece of the depot's western wall, making room for one of the Megastore's mega-entrances.
"Every time we come we start a party!" trumpeted a news release before a Megastore opened in Boston last February. That three-level palace has artist signings and performances, kiosks where shoppers can listen to CDs and 80 employees.
"This would be a big deal for our city," said Boyer. "I don't know what the final straw was" that put Salt Lake City on Virgin's map.
The 55,000-square-foot Union Pacific depot has room for a Megastore, a House of Blues and a couple of other tenants, Boyer added. The House of Blues signage was approved, after modifications to the original plan, by the Landmarks Commission last year. Since then the House changed its time line for opening in Salt Lake City, prompting Boyer to look for another similar tenant. He hasn't nailed down any concert halls, but he has leased a 7,000-square-foot section of the depot to Thaiphoon, a chain restaurant offering Thai food. Other spaces in The Gateway have been rented to a maternity clothing shop and an educational-toy store. All three are to open by the end of 2002.
Attracting major retailers to Utah has been a slow process, Boyer said. "We all are trying to work to improve our city. But we don't appear to be as unified as we ought to be . . . we're not on the same page." In other words, the Boyer Co. tries to convince national chains that Salt Lake City should be their next frontier, and that if they build here, shoppers will come. City government, meanwhile, focuses on the old downtown and on locally owned businesses, offering them loans in some cases.
"I think there is room for both" big chains and small independents, countered Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson. He took exception to Boyer's "we're not unified" remark, saying, "We're working hard to support Gateway, to the extent that will fit into our initial agreement. I've gone to every meeting with potential retailers that (Boyer) has asked me to go to."
The "initial agreement" is the sticking point. Salt Lake City's development agreement with the Boyer Co. requires City Council permission for any store larger than 85,000 square feet. So Nordstrom, which announced last spring it would vacate its Main Street location, can't move to The Gateway without the city's blessing.
This week the mayor will meet with Blake Nordstrom in Salt Lake City. The purpose of the meeting, said Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White, is to explain why the retailer can't keep its Main Street store open after its lease ends in 2005. "We hope a solution can be worked out so that we can move to The Gateway," she added. Anderson says he's willing to talk — but he's standing by his no-Nordstrom-at-Gateway rule.
E-MAIL: durbani@desnews.com