Rawson calculated that about seven new national chain stores, including Banana Republic, are scheduled to open on the Promenade within the next year. Two sporting goods retailers, Adidas and Puma, have chosen the Promenade as the location for their first United States stores. Both she and Rawson say that the chain stores choosing to locate to the Promenade are hardly nails in the coffin of its demise. Instead, they say the threat is that the whole area is expanding too rapidly for the infrastructure to handle. Rawson has been on a crusade to get the nearby parking structures' creaking elevators and aging bathrooms restored.
City officials are beginning to do that slowly, they say due to competing financial concerns.
City spokeswoman Judy Rambeau said mechanical repairs have been made to two elevators, with the interiors scheduled to be cleaned up within the next couple weeks. Renovations to two bathrooms are set to begin soon. With all its concerns, the strain on the infrastructure seems to represent a commercial success story larger than many thought possible. City Manager John Jalili helped raise the Promenade to its current level of success. This task was supported across political party lines, and nudged forward by former council members including former Mayor Dennis Zane.