From the San Mateo Times
Anthropologie coming to town
High-end chain latest addition to evolving downtown Burlingame
By Aaron Kinney, STAFF WRITER
BURLINGAME Anthropologie, the upscale retailer of clothing and accessories, plans to open a new store on Primrose Road, in the place of Chicken! Chicken!, the beloved rotisserie restaurant that burned down last November. Representatives for Anthropologie did not return calls seeking comment, but Cliff Woods, who ran Chicken! Chicken! and owns the building where the restaurant operated, confirmed that he signed a 10-year lease agreement with the company in May.Anthropologie, which is known for its quirky, cosmopolitan merchandise, has more than 80 stores nationwide, but none in San Mateo County.There are stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose.
Woods, who runs three restaurants with his wife in the Cayman Islands, including the original Chicken! Chicken!, said in a phone interview that the addition of a proven, popular franchise will be beneficial to what city leaders have dubbed the "South of Burlingame Avenue area."
"We've been long-time supporters of Citizens for a Better Burlingame and the Chamber of Commerce," said Woods. "And part of what we believe needs to happen is you need to expand off Burlingame Avenue to expand the pedestrian nature of the town (and) make the whole area a destination." The design of the new store is being handled by Elmslie Osler Architect, a small New York City firm that has also designed an Anthropologie store in Jacksonville, Fla. Robin Osler, the founding principal of the firm, said Anthropologie hired her firm and others because the company is taking a new direction with the design of its stores."Because they're opening quite a few of them in different parts of the country, they thought it would be interesting to add new architects into the mix," Osler said. The 10,000-square-foot store will feature a modern facade with concrete light bays and a series of copper and wooden rods overlaying a screen made of hogwire, said Osler, whose other clients include the Annenberg Foundation and Kate Spade, both in New York City. Anthropologie has six positions open for its Burlingame store listed on its Web site. According to the site, the store is expected to open in the spring of 2007. Osler predicted a wave of excitement from loyal Anthropologie customers, for whom the store is "sort of a religion."
Among devoted Chicken! Chicken! patrons, there is still hope that the restaurant will return to downtown Burlingame. Councilman Russ Cohen praised Woods as a valued member of the small business community whose restaurant provided a "quick, affordable, but really good meal." Woods said he would like to return to Burlingame, but because he hasn't found a suitable location yet, he has expanded the search for a new spot to other cities in the mid-Peninsula area."We are still keen to rebuild, but it's been a long time," Woods said. "So we're a little less hopeful than we were back in the spring."
Anthropologie coming to town
High-end chain latest addition to evolving downtown Burlingame
By Aaron Kinney, STAFF WRITER
BURLINGAME Anthropologie, the upscale retailer of clothing and accessories, plans to open a new store on Primrose Road, in the place of Chicken! Chicken!, the beloved rotisserie restaurant that burned down last November. Representatives for Anthropologie did not return calls seeking comment, but Cliff Woods, who ran Chicken! Chicken! and owns the building where the restaurant operated, confirmed that he signed a 10-year lease agreement with the company in May.Anthropologie, which is known for its quirky, cosmopolitan merchandise, has more than 80 stores nationwide, but none in San Mateo County.There are stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose.
Woods, who runs three restaurants with his wife in the Cayman Islands, including the original Chicken! Chicken!, said in a phone interview that the addition of a proven, popular franchise will be beneficial to what city leaders have dubbed the "South of Burlingame Avenue area."
"We've been long-time supporters of Citizens for a Better Burlingame and the Chamber of Commerce," said Woods. "And part of what we believe needs to happen is you need to expand off Burlingame Avenue to expand the pedestrian nature of the town (and) make the whole area a destination." The design of the new store is being handled by Elmslie Osler Architect, a small New York City firm that has also designed an Anthropologie store in Jacksonville, Fla. Robin Osler, the founding principal of the firm, said Anthropologie hired her firm and others because the company is taking a new direction with the design of its stores."Because they're opening quite a few of them in different parts of the country, they thought it would be interesting to add new architects into the mix," Osler said. The 10,000-square-foot store will feature a modern facade with concrete light bays and a series of copper and wooden rods overlaying a screen made of hogwire, said Osler, whose other clients include the Annenberg Foundation and Kate Spade, both in New York City. Anthropologie has six positions open for its Burlingame store listed on its Web site. According to the site, the store is expected to open in the spring of 2007. Osler predicted a wave of excitement from loyal Anthropologie customers, for whom the store is "sort of a religion."
Among devoted Chicken! Chicken! patrons, there is still hope that the restaurant will return to downtown Burlingame. Councilman Russ Cohen praised Woods as a valued member of the small business community whose restaurant provided a "quick, affordable, but really good meal." Woods said he would like to return to Burlingame, but because he hasn't found a suitable location yet, he has expanded the search for a new spot to other cities in the mid-Peninsula area."We are still keen to rebuild, but it's been a long time," Woods said. "So we're a little less hopeful than we were back in the spring."
- Written by russ
This sounds like a great addition, though we all miss Chicken! Chicken! Has anyone noticed something odd about the Baby Gap makeover? They've shut all three showcase windows on the Primrose side. It looks like a blank wall, very dull looking, and the street on that side really seems/is dead. What a shame for such an important location. It's basically the same deadness of Park Rd, at the Apple Store. Corner buildings, in particular, should have lots of see-through spaces to enliven the street.
Posted by: | September 28, 2006 at 09:39 PM