San Antonio Express-News - From Tiffany, with love

By Marina Pisano
Copyright 2005 San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Express-News quotes Dr. Larry Lyon, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Baylor, about the psychological or cultural lift a city experiences when it lands "something big."

It's a major retail development and a mecca of high fashion and fun shopping, but beyond the impact of jobs and business generated by its upscale stores, restaurants and entertainment spots, experts who study this sort of thing say the Shops at La Cantera is bound to have another kind of effect, one that's less concrete but every bit as real.

"When a Tiffany arrives, that suggests you're moving into a different kind of self-definition as a city," says Larry Lyon, professor of sociology and dean of the graduate school at Baylor University, referring to the renowned luxury retailer ensconced at the new 120-store shopping center that's opening with a big splash this month. "Tiffany does the same as a resort hotel with a designer golf course. It reinforces a new upscale image of the community."

No question, he says, the shopping center enhances the city's sense of itself, its confidence and self-esteem as a player in the urban big leagues.

For all its cultural charm and rich history, Lyon observes, San Antonio has always had a more working-class image than Dallas and Houston, with their heavyweight corporate headquarters and aura of wealth. That has been reflected in shopping.

"Until now, people here had to drive to Houston or Dallas to go to Tiffany and Neiman Marcus (another high-end presence at La Cantera). Now, they're here. Maybe it sounds shallow and materialistic, but it affects a city's pride as a major city, not just in population but also in amenities. Economists look at a city's unemployment rate or net migration or median family income, but that doesn't resonate with people. It's what kind of restaurants do we have? What kind of stores do we have? How many stops on flights to New York?"

Doubtless, this "shallow" shoptalk will drive some urban purists up the wall. After all, great cities are known for their world-class symphonies, fine art museums, significant architecture, major universities, high-tech medical centers and professional sports teams. Good-paying jobs of the kind the new Toyota plant will bring count as well. But does a Nordstrom, Burberry and Anthropologie -three other high-end, new-to-the-city La Cantera shops -make for greatness?

"It's not everything, but it's not nothing either," says Char Miller, professor of history at Trinity University. "It's something, and it does mean the community has changed in a way you couldn't have imagined 10 or 15 years ago. There's a psychological lift for this community in the upscale consumer options that we didn't have before. I think it's huge."

But is it even possible to talk in psychological terms about a city - put it on the couch, so to speak? Michael Katovich, a professor of sociology at Texas Christian University, says it is.

"People have written about cities as dynamic entities, not just a collection of static buildings and bureaucratic processes but as really vibrating, pulsating beings with a personality," Katovich says. "We suspend our disbelief when we talk of cities this way, but it's compelling to do so. You start assigning traits to the city like a person's traits."

Like people, cities are talked about as warm and friendly or cold and austere, and like individuals, they have a sense of themselves. They feel good about their positive attributes and agonize over shortcomings.

"People have a very emotional attachment to their city that can range from pride to shame," Katovich explains. "Each city has a kind of looking-glass self that represents the people's emotions about their city. I always had the impression San Antonio's looking-glass self was very much tied to its pride of heritage and places like the Alamo. Now cities are more tied to consumerism and consumer icons, and people think, we've got to get a Neiman or Nordstrom."

Jerome Krase, a sociologist at the City University of New York at Brooklyn who specializes in community and urban studies, says San Antonio long has garnered attention among cities. In fact, he says, the River Walk was a model for a waterfront development in Brooklyn.

Still, the Shops at La Cantera brings more to the mix. "It's an indication of how the city is beginning to think about itself," Krase thinks. "It's saying, `This is who we are. This is what we have to offer.' It will offer a total experience of not just shopping but a place to go for coffee or lunch or dinner, a destination place." And the name of the whole commercial development -cantera is the Spanish word for quarry, or game -says, this is our cultural identity.

While it's safe to say most San Antonians can't afford to shop till they drop in these citadels of affluence, Lyon thinks some vicariously will bask in the posh glow. "It sounds elitist, but I'm persuaded that even if they can't afford to stay in a luxury hotel and they don't play golf and can't afford to buy a diamond ring at Tiffany's, they still have a certain positive identification with them. They still feel a certain pride that the city has arrived at the upper strata of jewelry stores. And if you want to attract the management of top corporations to the city, it helps to have luxury stores and cultural amenities."

So yes, the cachet of the new upscale stores are a psychological plus, making the city a player with Dallas and Houston and boosting civic self-esteem. But Katovich advises keeping some perspective.

"It seems to me San Antonio had a whole lot to be proud of without these icons of consumerism."

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