Guilderland

A strengthening Capital Region economy convinced a revitalized Lord & Taylor to return to Crossgates Mall, where it will open in the autumn of 2014.

Other stores are noticing the region's rebounding economy, with its rising wages and thriving technology sector.

Designer Michael Kors has signed a lease for a new store at Crossgates that will open next spring, and Crate and Barrel will open a "pop-up" store during the Christmas shopping season, one of only four it will run nationwide, said Joseph Castaldo, mall general manager.

If all goes well, Castaldo hopes Crate and Barrel will be enticed to stay.

What has changed in the past decade?

The Capital Region has gotten wealthier. While median income in constant 2011 dollars fell in both New York state and nationwide, it rose in the Capital Region, said Rocky Ferraro, who heads the Capital District Regional Planning Commission.

Shoppers age 45 and over also have been increasing their share of the overall population locally, and they typically have more discretionary income to spend.

And one in four households in the Capital Region now earns more than $100,000 a year, compared to just over one in five nationwide, according to data from the planning commission.

And don't discount the impact of the region's burgeoning technology sector.

"When we do leasing for any tenant, whether Lord & Taylor or Dave & Buster's (a restaurant and games chain that will open later this month), the boom in the nanotech college, GlobalFoundries, the Global 450 consortium, all of that has been a selling point," Castaldo said. "It changes your whole demographic profile."

Castaldo said the investment of billions of dollars tells merchants the research centers and semiconductor plants are not going away.

Ted Potrikus, senior vice president of the Retail Council of New York State, also credited the proximity of the NanoCollege for the new interest by retailers.

"A company like Lord & Taylor wouldn't make the investment it's going to take — this isn't a kiosk opening for the holiday season — (until) they've done the math and taken a look at the population and the area," he said.

"The tech boom has brought in people who didn't live here before," said Howard Carr, president of The Howard Group, an Albany-based commercial real estate firm. "We now have a number of jobs that are higher-paid."

Lord & Taylor also has undergone changes, following its sale by Federated Department Stores, parent company of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, to privately held NRDC Equity Partners, which now operates it under its Toronto-based Hudson's Bay Co.

"It's not the same Lord & Taylor that was here" from 1994 to 2005, said Castaldo. "They've really gone upscale."

Carr agrees.

"The Lord & Taylor I saw in Toronto this past April, it's just a nicer store," he said. "It's brighter, and it has a sharper presentation."

Upscale department stores such as Lord & Taylor are doing better than those that cater to middle-income clientele such as J.C. Penney and Macy's, said Natalie Everett, department stores industry analyst for IBISWorld Inc.

While they're struggling, "more well-to-do department stores such as Lord & Taylor are doing well and are indeed expanding their brands into new markets," Everett said. "Higher-end department stores cater to higher-income consumers, who were not as affected by the economy in the first place."

Could other stores follow Lord & Taylor to the Capital Region?

More Information Economic difference Wealth rises (median household income in 2011 dollars) YearCap. RegionNYSU.S. 2000$58,385$58,578$56,689 2011$59,339$56,951$52,762 Older, but with more discretionary income (share of population age 45 and over) 200037.2 percent 201042.5 percent 2020 (projected)44.8 percent Source: Capital District Regional Planning Commission See More Collapse

That's what happened after The Fresh Market had a successful opening in Latham several years ago. Trader Joe's soon followed, and Whole Foods will open its first area store at Colonie Center.

Nothing would please Guilderland resident Muriel Drakes more than to see that repeated. The retired state worker, who once held a part-time job at Filene's and was involved in a grassroots campaign to attract Trader Joe's here, would love to see a Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom's or even a Saks Fifth Avenue.

"I'd like to get a whole brand new group of women and men," she said, "who like upscale stores."

eanderson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5323