Houstonist: Getting Barnes & Noble's attention?

Cipher

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:27:50 -0600

Houston has an 11% retail vacancy rate, there's plenty of other retail spaces owned by other property companies to rent from. Mayor White is wrong - higher sales for the River Oaks theater and the Bookstop wouldn't change the rental contracts they already have with Weingarten. If anything, higher sales would just mean that Weingarten would raise their rents in the next lease negotiation, and lower the companies' profits. And it's not so hard to boycott Weingarten, every store you normally go to has either another location in Houston close by, or has a web presence. This issue is bigger than just punishing Weingarten for being a bad civic citizen, a Weingarten Boycott would put all Houston Developers on notice that even if you couldn't care less about pretty old buildings, that tearing down usable well-built real estate and rebuilding a bunch of cardboard and plate glass crap that won't last 20 years is not only environmentally unethical, in Houston's hot as hell climate, it's absolutely insane. We should demand city wide Green Building standards. We should be ahead of the Californians and the Chicagoans on this issue, because God knows, global warming is going to come up and knock us on our asses.

Jim Parsons

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:40:01 -0600

Well, we all know it isn't realistic to imagine that a boycott will force the Bookstop/Barnes & Noble out of business. Given that, B&N does have a choice in the matter. They're one of Weingarten's biggest tenants nationwide, so I imagine that if B&N said they were committed to the Alabama Theater and wanted to stay there, Weingarten would listen. It would be foolish not to. Considering that B&N signing on as an anchor tenant for the new River Oaks Shopping Center is integral to making the new center (and the demolition of the old one) work, and considering that B&N has stood behind its decision to restore and occupy historic buildings in other cities — but not Houston — I think it's fair to hold them at least partly culpable for what's happening.

Urban_Houstonian

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:14:25 -0600

laanba

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:59:01 -0600

One of the things Mayor White said at the meeting on Tuesday was that people need to show with their money that they support the River Oaks theater and the Alabama Bookstop. Action and not just words. (I can't remember his exact wording ....) If people stop going to the theater altogether because they are boycotting Weingarten then they are just confirming for Weingarten that there is no reason to keep the theater or bookstore around. That said I've joined the Facebook group because if they tear those places down I will NEVER shop at that Barnes & Noble.