Web Posted: 12/19/2005 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

Just in case you haven’t counted, you have six more shopping days until Christmas. Put it in gear, Santa. This year, with The Shops of La Cantera, San Antonio is basking in a new era of service and selection.

I have to admit that I hadn’t had a chance to visit The Shops until very recently. I’ve heard lots of raves about luxury newcomers Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Tiffany & Co. that the shopping center has introduced to our market.

On the surface, the city’s ascension in the retail world would appear to serve mainly the fashion-savvy, but our community is reaping many more benefits. Moving up in the retail world is increasing the number of shopping tourists, meeting pent-up demand from locals, expanding charitable fundraising opportunities, and further validating that our city is coming of age economically.

If you’re like most shoppers, it takes more than steep discounts to get you into a store. According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, 85 percent of consumers spend and shop more at retailers who provide good service. According to the Washington, D.C.-based organization, Nordstrom ranked at the top of customer service for department stores.

“We try to hire nice, enthusiastic, hard-working people who love fashion,” said the retailer’s spokesperson, Deniz Anders. Nordstrom’s employee handbook consists of one card with these words: “Use good judgment in all situations.” Now there’s something to strive for.

Shoppers wanting customized attention can also visit Neiman Marcus, where the salespeople are trained to be able to guide a customer through the entire store, if needed. In addition, the store offers a complimentary personal shopping service.

“We try to make our service as personal as possible,” said the retailer’s spokesperson, Emily Spicer. “Our philosophy is really based on the relationship that we have with our customer.”

Service is important, but at this time of year many of us are looking for dazzling and exclusive attire for Christmas and New Year’s parties. Priscilla Hale, who runs a local image consulting and personal shopping business, says Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus offer this market unprecedented choices of gala gowns, party clothes and designer menswear.

The wider selection of designers enables her to meet all of her clients’ fashion needs here in San Antonio. “Those dollars are staying here rather than going to Houston and Austin,” she says.

For years, San Antonio has relied on small boutiques in the Alamo Heights area, as well as stores at North Star Mall and the Alamo Quarry Market to supply its luxury needs. The market seems to have enough room for the new and more established retailers.

Mollie Calvert, senior marketing manager at North Star and The Shops, says both centers are 98 percent leased and that sales at North Star have fallen only slightly since The Shops opened in September.

The success of North Star, including the Mexican nationals who make up 30 percent of its market, partly paved the way for The Shops, Calvert says. Both properties are owned and managed by Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., and they’re actually vying for some of the same dollars.

“We have now split the pie between the two shopping centers,” Calvert says.

Still, North Star tenants are by no means taking a back seat to the new competition. Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard’s recently completed renovations at North Star, and the mall is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation. And many of the mall’s smaller tenants are aggressively marketing themselves through direct mail pieces.

People will probably continue to do most of their shopping near where they live, but The Shops is generating healthy competition that can affect everyone. Department and boutique stores alike will have to step up in service and selection to stay relevant to their shoppers.

Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus won’t give specifics, but they report they’re pleased with the performance of their San Antonio stores. And both are committed to supporting local charities.

Nordstrom coupled a fundraising opening gala with a runway fashion show and raised more than $200,000 for the Junior League of San Antonio, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation. The opening gala thrown by Neiman Marcus raised $52,280 each for Artpace San Antonio, the Witte Museum and the San Antonio Museum of Art.

New competition is also good for stepping up the caliber of charitable events. Right before The Shops opened, I was very excited to attend the Chanel style show hosted by North Star’s Saks Fifth Avenue. The event benefited the San Antonio Children’s Museum. Boy, was it chichi?!

Emceed by Tracy Wolff, the New York-style runway show was complete with exciting lights and sound, world-class models and impressive clothes. I was particularly glad to see that the hemlines were short. There’s an old saying that if hemlines are going up, so are the financial markets.

The more than 35 new stores brought to the city by The Shops signals one more way that our city is being discovered by outsiders. Toyota, Washington Mutual and the PGA Tour have all decided that San Antonio is a great place to do business. New corporate citizens, shopping tourists, an upscale housing boom and sophisticated locals all confirm that the city can support shopping at its best.

Hang on to your hats and wallets, you lucky San Antonians, and Happy Holidays.

W. Scott Bailey
San Antonio Business Journal

Vanguard Health Systems Inc. is developing a 60,000-square-foot, three-story medical plaza on the West side of San Antonio.

Company officials haven’t put a cost on the project, but Vanguard subsidiary Baptist Health System plans to build a facility that will house imaging services, an outpatient surgical center and medical office space.

The project could be the first step to building a new hospital in the Westover Hills area of San Antonio. Baptist President and CEO Kent Wallace says the medical campus will serve a population that currently must travel to other parts of the city for health care. Ultimately, he says, the Westover Baptist Medical Campus will fill 40-plus acres and “help bring much-needed primary and specialty physicians to the area.”

Wallace says the medical office building will likely be owned by a third-party developer.

Baptist runs five acute-care hospitals in San Antonio. Last year, the health system bought six diagnostic imaging centers in the city from Radiologix for $9.7 million.

Nashville-based Vanguard owns and operates 19 hospitals and health care facilities in Chicago, Phoenix, Orange County, Calif., San Antonio and Massachusetts. The company, which was bought by The Blackstone Group for almost $2.0 billion last September, posted revenues of $994 million in the second half of 2004. Pre-tax losses for that period came in at $154 million, which included more than $182 million in stock compensation, debt retirement and other expenses related to the company’s acquisition.

by Courtney Ronan

Although Texas’ border with Mexico lies further south, San Antonio, Texas, is where the cultures of Texas and Mexico meet and coexist contendedly, giving rise to numerous festivals and other cultural attractions that celebrate this place where two worlds converge. San Antonio, now the nation’s eighth-largest city, will always be known first and foremost for the Alamo, and second for the famous Riverwalk, but it’s actually one of Texas’ most culturally fascinating cities with much more to offer than its historical artifacts.

We’ve all heard the famous cry, “Remember the Alamo!” But what is its origin? Few of us — particularly those of us who reside outside of Texas — know its history. The Alamo is actually an historic mission where, for 13 days in 1836, a brave group of Texas soldiers stood their ground against Mexican troops led by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. Despite the efforts of these brave Texans, the Alamo ultimately fell on the morning of March 6, 1836, and the Texas soldiers lost their lives. The mission continues to serve as a symbol of bravery and sacrifice for the sake of freedom. Sam Houston, leader of the Texas Army, uttered the words that none us have forgotten. Since 1905, an organization called the Daughters of the Republic of Texas has managed the Alamo. The well-preserved mission, located within short distance of the Riverwalk, remains a must on any San Antonio tourist’s trip.

Other notable attractions within San Antonio include the King William Historic Area, which served during the late 1800s as one of San Antonio’s most exclusive residential districts. The district has retained that aura throughout history. Comprised of 25 blocks, the district is lined with homes once owned by notable German merchants, such as Carl Hilmer Guenther, who built his estate here in 1860. Visitors may tour the Guenther home, as well as the Victorian-style Edward Steves Homestead, built in 1876.

Market Square, also known as “El Mercado,” is a festive outdoor market reminiscent of similar shopping areas in Mexico. Within Market Square, you’ll find numerous retail shops, a farmers’ market and periodic festivals throughout the year that celebrate Latino culture through food, music, cultural performances, arts and crafts. The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park houses four 18th century Spanish colonial missions. These architectural anomalies are a rare treat for any visitor. The Riverwalk, also called Paseo del Rio, is a peaceful waterway and green oasis winding through downtown San Antonio. Along its banks, you’ll find plenty of well-shaded shops and eateries perfect for R&R. Pull up a chair, order yourself a margarita, and enjoy a little people-watching on a pleasant San Antonio afternoon.

San Antonio’s lush greenery is spotlighted in the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and Lucile Halsell Conservatory. Within its 33 acres, you’ll experience the best of Texas’ diverse landscape. The conservatory houses 90,000 square feet of exhibits, including a “desert house,” “tropical house,” “palm house,” “orangery” and “fern room.” And before you leave, be sure to visit one of the city’s most valued treasures, the San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium. Regarded as one of the United States’ best, the San Antonio Zoo is home to more than 3,000 animals representing some 700 different species. Among the zoo’s highlights is its bird exhibit, one of the largest in the world.

With an average annual growth rate of 1.9 percent, San Antonio is expected to rank among the nation’s fastest-growing cities as we move into the next century. The city’s current population is approximately 1,172,000. Its median age is 32.5 years old, and average annual income, according to 1998 statistics, is $31,563, somewhat lower than the U.S. average annual income of $34,618. Unemployment stood at 3.0 percent in February 1999. Among San Antonio’s largest employers are SBC Communications, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, H.B. Zachry Company, La Quinta Motor Inns and KCI.

One of the biggest draws to San Antonio from any corporation’s perspective is its extremely reasonable cost of living. An analysis by Runzheimer International found that an executive earning $60,000 annually with a family of four in New York would, if transferred to San Antonio, pocket $18,631 at the end of the year. San Antonio is indeed a transferee’s dream; home prices are approximately 30 percent below the national median and are available at less than half the cost of comparable housing in some cities in California and New England, according to the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. The foundation reports that the city’s real estate market offers good buys thanks to San Antonio’s plentiful labor, land and building materials, as well as its lengthy building season (the weather is friendly year-round here, with the exception of an occasional rainy spell, as the city is currently experiencing). San Antonio’s wealth of solidly built homes are a steal for any incoming resident.

Add up all of these factors — cultural diversity, numerous attractions, a rich history, strong economy and an excellent housing market — and you’ve got the recipe for a high quality of life. It’s little wonder that the Alamo city is attracting corporations left and right, and is likely to keep and perhaps even improve its rank in the nation’s top 10 cities as we move into 2000 and beyond.