EDITORIAL: The Future of Downtown Providence May Be in the Hands of Macy’s Executives

EDITORIAL: The Future of Downtown Providence May Be in the Hands of Macy’s Executives

For downtown Providence, there is little room for error.

Downtown, while not perfect, has many positive attributes and is performing better than others around the country. 

Washington, DC, San Francisco, and New York City are three cities in the news with serious issues — crime, homelessness, and vacancies.

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There are some positive trends in Providence, but also some significant areas of worry. 

This week's announcement by Macy's that they will be closing 150 stores across the country is a warning.

The potential loss of Macy’s from Providence Place Mall would be a destabilizing force. The loss would leave the mall with just one anchor — Boscov’s — a discount retailer.

State and city leaders should immediately take action to take every step to keep the store in Providence open and make it thrive.

Downtown has many positive events that most cities envy.

The core downtown and events continue to perform — WaterFire still attracts hundreds of thousands, and the Providence Performing Arts Center and Providence College basketball at the Civic Center continue to bring visitors to the city.

There are some new positive developments —Marsella Development Corporation is nearing completion of a major food hall, located within the capital city’s historic Union Station. Some businesses are moving downtown — GoLocal included. We moved to the first floor of the Turks Head Building one year ago.

But, there are worries; recent closures include the shuttering of Rory’s, Kleos, Yoleni's market, and others.

Downtown is both vibrant and fragile.

Two years before Bank of America abandoned the Superman Building, former Providence Mayor and downtown developer Joe Paolino tried to warn city and state officials of the potential impact.

Paolino told GoLocal in 2011, it would be "a ticking time bomb if they move out. It would be like the Biltmore closing. It would kill local businesses.”

Paolino urged state and city leaders and the congressional delegation to lobby Bank of America. It did not happen, and just two years later, the bank abandoned the building, leaving it vacant for the past decade.

Superman remains an embarrassing blight and a reminder of both business and government failure.

On the more active side, Rhode Island officials in the 1990s flew across the country to lobby Nordstrom officials to open a store in the then-being-developed Providence Place Mall.

“My father-in-law was also instrumental in the revival of Providence, turning it into a retail and tourist destination. He loved to tell me the story of how he and then-Mayor Buddy Cianci traveled to Seattle to try to persuade Nordstrom to open up shop in what was believed to be a dying New England city. It worked. Nordstrom now anchors the Providence Place development, which has attracted national retailers, upscale condominiums, and companies that have relocated to Providence because it has become a very cool city,” wrote Dennis House, the late Sundlun’s son-in-law, in 2011.

Governor Dan McKee and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley need to drive down to New York and visit with Tony Spring, chief executive officer of Macy’s, and make the deal to retain Macy's.

That is what effective leaders do. They act, rather than react.