No Love for Chain Stores in Fort Greene
What do Fort Greene shoppers want? Not chain stores, that’s for sure. According to a survey just released by the Fort Greene Association, 81 percent of the 380 respondents said that they either “strongly” or “somewhat” preferred shopping at independent stores over chain. Another interesting stat: Only about two-thirds of those polled said that they…

What do Fort Greene shoppers want? Not chain stores, that’s for sure. According to a survey just released by the Fort Greene Association, 81 percent of the 380 respondents said that they either “strongly” or “somewhat” preferred shopping at independent stores over chain. Another interesting stat: Only about two-thirds of those polled said that they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to have their daily shopping needs met by stores in Fort Greene; the satisfaction rate was a much-higher 86 percent when it came to restaurants and bars.
You could “have” fooled me…please hold off on writing me that ticket, grammar cops.
There are people working at Home Depot? You could of fooled me!
Amen, 1:34. I live near Leopoldi’s on 5th and while they can’t beat Lowe’s or Home Depot pricewise, if I need any–and I mean ANY–expertise at all, I go to Leopoldi’s. The people who work at Lowe’s and Home Depot are either clueless or don’t give a frog’s fat ass.
I don’t see this as an “either/or” issue. For example, when I food shop, I go to Sahadis, a local greengrocer, and perelandra’s health food store. But when I need household items, like cleaning products and toothpaste, I shop at Target. I think a combination of chains and independents is ideal.
The lines at Target and Old Navy are due mostly to understaffing the cash registers. Same as they do at Pathmark.
You’re right 1:14. I’m sure NOBODY here has ever shopped at an independent. Hell, before Target finally came I used to drive all the way out to Long Island to buy toilet paper.
The problem is that many of us have tried to and found that the selection is lacking or the prices to be ridiculous. More people would accept the higher prices if they either found everything they needed or received service above and beyond what is found in a chain. For the most part, I find the service is horrible at both.
One example of an independent run correctly is Sister’s hardware on Fulton. Although they may not have everything you can find at Home Depot they have most of what you need for everyday projects. Yes, they are a bit more expensive but when I go in there I know I can find somebody to help me, ask them a question and get a helpful reply.
11:13, certainly you’re not so dense as to not understand that what 10:45 meant was the same BRANDS of stuff, not “items.” No one tires of soap, shampoo, milk, bread, prescriptions, but ppl eventually tire of not being able to find anything beyond the same 2-3 limited brands of soap, shampoo, milk, bread, etc that chains often come stocked with.
BTW, I have nothing against chain stores, but by the same token, I find the praise of them at the expense of independents ridiculous. It makes me wonder if the people who hate independents so much *really* have any experience shopping at these places.
I’m surprised there’s not a bit more sympathy for the moms and pops and recognition WHY they have to charge higher prices by not having the purchasing power of the Wal-Marts of the world. Thus, they are easy targets (pun intended) for being undercut and driven out of business. I found this film interesting….
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price
10:49 –
It is ALL about the price and convenience. The hypocacry is that given the choice of making one stop do get all one’s goods or three to purchase the same – 81% of the people are not making the 3 stops.
I’m sure you drive to all those other neighborhoods to shop unlike most.
Just because you can’t get your sweet cherry flavored anal lube in Clinton Hill doesn’t mean that they local pharmacies are doing a poor job of knowing their clientele. You are the exception not the rule.