West Elm may open here

Furniture store eyes Cherry Creek North

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The former Tattered Cover Book Store location in Cherry Creek North is poised to get a West Elm furniture store as an anchor tenant, according to several sources.

The West Elm on the ground floor will join the Pura Vida Club and Spa planned by J. Madden in the building at East First Avenue and Milwaukee Street, which was vacated about a year ago by Tattered Cover.

Neither West Elm, its parent, Williams-Sonoma, nor the Sturm Group, which owns the building, returned several phone calls requesting comment. However, Denver retail and real estate officials would welcome the new store.

"If West Elm is landing in Denver, that is a coup," said retail consultant Mary Beth Jenkins, principal of the Laramie Co. "I think this points to the fact that Denver is on the radar screen for cutting edge, next-generation retail.

"West Elm furniture is better built than IKEA and is priced lower than Pottery Barn. It serves a very specific niche that is ultra slick and very affordable."

Williams-Sonoma earlier pulled its Pottery Barn out of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.

At a Lehman Bros. retail conference in New York City in May, top officials at Williams-Sonoma said they are very selective about where they open West Elm stores and will not open them in malls.

Company officials said the 22 existing stores can be found in "very high-profile and expensive locales," according to a report by the CoStar Group, which tracks commercial real estate nationwide.

The typical West Elm store is 15,000 to 20,000 square feet.

That would take up virtually all the remaining space in the former Tattered Cover Book Store, said Nick LeMaster, general manager of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.

"I'm delighted this great retail name is going in across the street," LeMaster said. "When Tattered Cover left, we lost a little synergy between the bookstore and the mall. Having a West Elm could mean good things for the cross traffic between Cherry Creek and Cherry Creek North."

West Elm at a glance

• What it is: A subsidiary of San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma

• What it sells: Contemporary furniture, wall decor, lighting, bedding, bath accessories, rugs, pillows and window coverings

• Denver plans: Former Tattered Cover Book Store building at East First Avenue and Milwaukee Street

• Size: Typically between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet

Sources: Westelm.Com, Costar Group And Local Sources

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207