I put this together for my own amusement a few weeks ago and never got around to posting it. Mike at Franklin Avenue has nicely summed up my own sentiments about the whole Caruso-Golden Key mess: downtown Glendale is full of massive, empty retail spaces! Three-quarters of the intersection of Brand and Broadway is gaping, empty retail spaces! Much of the Americana is giant, empty retail spaces! The most prominent street-facing storefront at the Americana -- the long-promised Panini Cafe space at Brand and Colorado -- has been empty since the Americana opened!
6 months after the Americana opened, I called the management of the Panini Cafe chain to see if they were actually coming to the Americana, and they said the deal had fallen through. The space is still empty! And now we need a tacky, expensive hotel in place of the long-standing, unglamorous-but-tidy Golden Key?
