What’s Coming to The Plaza

Owners of the Plaza, Taubman and Macerich Partnerships, announced the addition of Shake Shack and Nordstrom to the Country Club Plaza on Feb. 2. Shake Shack is expected to open in 2018, and Nordstrom in 2021.

Shake Shack is a fast food burger chain that started as a small hot dog cart in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, New York. There are currently 90 locations across the United States and more than 50 internationally. The closest Shake Shack currently is in Overland Park off Santa Fe Dr., according to the Shake Shack website. However, that won’t be the case anymore with its move to the Plaza.

Complete with an outdoor dining patio, the new location will take over Talbot’s current location at 239 W. 47th St. in 2018, according to Shake Shack.

Winstead’s, a local burger joint, has closed several locations in the past year, but its restaurant on the Plaza remains open. Some students at East, like senior Toni Englund, are ready to welcome the new burger competitor.

“Shake Shack has the best peanut butter milkshake I’ve had in my life,” Englund said. “The patties are thicker than Freddy’s, and they have cheesy fries which other fast food places don’t have.”

An 116,000-square-foot Nordstrom will be coming in 2021. The retailer plans to renovate and expand Capital Grille, according to the KC Business Journal.

Nordstrom will make its transition from Oak Park Mall where it has resided for two decades. Oak Park Mall, and Nordstrom, generated 6.8 percent of Overland Park’s sales and use tax revenues in 2016 – about $3.6 million, according to an article from the KC Star. Revenues from Nordstrom specifically were not publically reported.

“I like to buy a lot of shirts from Brandy Melville and Topshop through Nordstroms, for a great price,” sophomore Anna Parker said. “It will be very convenient to have the store on the plaza.”

“Kansas City continues to be a terrific market for us,” Jamie Nordstrom said in an announcement about moving locations to the public. “We want to grow our business here, which means we need to invest in bringing our customers the best we have to offer when it comes to both our digital capabilities and our physical locations.”

Students like freshman Megan Biles are excited for the short ride to the new Nordstrom.

“It will be nice to not have to drive all the way out to Overland Park to go to Nordstrom,” Biles said.

William S. Taubman, chief operating officer, Taubman Centers, Inc. can’t wait to see what the new Nordstrom will bring to the Plaza.

“The addition of a new Nordstrom store advances Taubman and Macerich’s promise to create a modern, point-of-difference experience on the Plaza,” Taubman said in an announcement regarding the addition of Nordstrom.