So it will be an apple store after all

Just not the kind of apples the rumor mill was wishing for.

Construction is under way at the former Borders bookstore at 3338 St. Charles Avenue. A worker at the Uptown site said it's going to be a "health food store," with offices upstairs, and should be open in about eight months.

It will be Family Dollar

Makes more sense than any of the "buzz" to this point, anyway. Also nice to see yet another bank branch is going up across the street. It will be caddy corner to the new bank branch that just opened.

Answering one question

Thanks to The Lens for being on this.

As Louisiana wraps its Gulf Opportunity Zone lending program, only 3 percent of the $7.8 billion went to projects in New Orleans, a review of state records show.

-snip-

These projects include:

These projects include:

* $96 million for a rental car facility at Louis Armstrong International Airport
* $30 million for improvements to the Tulane University campus
* $25 million for Sewerage and Water Board infrastructure
* $22.5 million for a hydrogen pipeline connecting New Orleans to Norco
* $15 million for a Drury Inn and Suites hotel in the Central Business District
* $4.5 million for a Borders Bookstore on St. Charles Avenue at Louisiana
* $7 million for two Robert Fresh Market grocery stores, one in Lakeview and the other in Carrollton.
* $7 million for a warehouse and distribution facility at the Port of New Orleans, west of the Industrial Canal.
* $5.5 million for a new residential facility and headquarters for Bridge House, a substance abuse clinic and homeless shelter
* $8.5 million for a boutique hotel in the Warehouse District
* $4 million for a New Orleans-based company, Southern Theatres, to renovate the 12,000-square-foot Canal Place cinema, along with a 50,000-square-foot theater in Kenner.

And, in case you haven't been paying attention today,

Bookstore chain Borders Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today and said it will close about 30 percent of its stores nationwide, including the two it operates in the New Orleans area. The bookstore chain plans to shut both its Metairie store at 3131 Veterans Memorial Blvd. and its New Orleans store at 3338 St. Charles Ave in the coming weeks. The latter location is the site of the former House of Bultman Funeral Home, which Borders converted and opened in 2008.

Bultman Funeral Home Borders Store to open Friday

Yes, I have been critical of this project... and continue to wonder how long it will last given the current economic environment. Yes, I will continue to patronize and support the excellent locally owned booksellers who operate in the very same neighborhood. And, yes, of course I question the necessity of yet another high-end coffee outlet in this section of Uptown.

But, yes, I will spend some time and probably some money in this store. It's right down the street from me, for Chrissakes.

Meanwhile... the counter-operatives are organizing.

Thank God we let them knock over the Bultman building

Borders may sell itself, but new St. Charles location still moving forward
by The Times-Picayune
Thursday March 20, 2008, 1:24 PM

Borders announced today that it may put itself up for sale and that it has lined up $42.5 million in financing to help the chain continue operations.

But the nation's second-largest bookseller says it remains committed to moving forward with a new location planned for St. Charles Avenue.

"We are still coming to New Orleans," said Kolleen O'Meara, spokesperson for the Michigan-based bookstore chain.

Last year Borders leased the former Bultman Funeral Home and began converting the structure into a 24,000-square-foot bookstore. The St. Charles location, one of 14 "concept" stores Borders is opening across the country this year, is still expected to open in early October, O'Meara said.

Borders' concept stores are being equipped with technology and software that will allow customers to burn Cds, print out their digital pictures and conduct online research, among other things. The company's first concept store opened Feb. 14 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Borders already has a store on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. That store will not be impacted by Tuesday's announcement, O'Meara said.

This Kolleen O'Meara seems a bit optimistic, if you ask me.

Bloomberg:

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Borders Group Inc., the second- largest U.S. bookstore chain, put itself up for sale and halted its dividend as Chief Executive Officer George Jones said the retailer was unable to borrow money to remodel stores and pay for new technology.

The bookseller dropped the most in New York trading since it went public almost 13 years ago. Borders' largest shareholder, Pershing Square Capital Management LP, the hedge fund run by William Ackman, agreed to lend $42.5 million and to make an offer for some of its international chains. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company also reported fourth-quarter profit that rose less than analysts estimated.

Borders said lenders' increasing reluctance to give out credit made it almost impossible to borrow. Most of the company's financing options were ``prohibitively expensive or entirely unavailable,'' Jones said today in a statement. It will take longer than originally planned for the company to reach targets set in March, he said.

A sale and/or bankruptcy of Borders will probably 1) shut down expansion... especially in the form of "new concept" stores like the one being planned on St Charles Avenue and 2) allow the company to release itself from its lease on the property.

Anyone want to buy an empty building facade?