Invasion of the Chain Stores?
The New York Times on Sunday proclaimed that, having already conquered Manhattan, chain stores were preparing to take over the boroughs and lay waste to the charming neighborhood feel of mom-and-pop stores in the process. The boroughs are all going down like bowling pins, says urban planner Jeanne Giordano. From where we sit, it’s a…
The New York Times on Sunday proclaimed that, having already conquered Manhattan, chain stores were preparing to take over the boroughs and lay waste to the charming neighborhood feel of mom-and-pop stores in the process. The boroughs are all going down like bowling pins, says urban planner Jeanne Giordano. From where we sit, it’s a little simplistic to generalize like that. Like architecture, the answer has a lot to do with context. While we’d hate to see places like Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Smith Street in Cobble Hill or Fifth Avenue in Park Slope get Soho-ized, at this point we think a Starbucks or a Gap would have a positive impact on the stretch of Fulton in Clinton Hill. Of course, we’d prefer a local boutique or gourmet store, but they’ve been a long time coming.
Big-Name Retail Chains Will Take the Other Boroughs [NY Times]
when malmart came to a predominantly black neigborhood in philadelphia the local businesses FLOURISHED.the local fabric store–an eighty year old instituation, did better because more people came to the community. the west indian restaurant–same thing. the tacky furniture store–took off! the only business to suffer was a sally’s beaty supply. it employed few pwoplw. huge net job gain.walmart also revitalized the almost dead mall in the area. the positive impact on the community has been unreal and i was the biggest walmart basher around. so walmart does suck. it pays low wages–but other better paying stores followed. lots of ’em!
bed-stuy is really huge. saying support local business is a great idea but impractical. when you crawl out of bed you are not trying to go 11 blocks for a cup of coffee. that would be nuts.
i don’t disagree about supporting local business but i guess we need to define local in a community as large as bed-stuy.
the importance of starbucks for bed-stuy boprder–it says the neighborhood is a safe money maker. more business will follow.
starbucks is expensive because they pay their workers a living wage and provide health care. this is seriously important.
if you live on greene and franklin where do you get coffee? this section is so under served.the needs are great. i know that it is not starbucks ready but it’s a tough situation. going to restoration is a non starter. it’s really far. much closer to clinton hill yet not close enough.
if Starbucks and the Gap is what your heart desires..the BH and PS is the place to be. Please don’t wish that on us 🙂
Larry, please share with us the location of your dollar store in Soho, i can’t seem to find it.
Soho on the weekends is especially unbearable. Wall to wall very rich people, wearing very expensive and strikingly ugly clothes. Blech.
I thought the city council had passed some sort of resolution to keep Walmart out of NYC, due mostly to the terrible way they treat their employees.
And I really don’t get the Starbucks thing, either — No-one of any race creed or color needs to pay $5 for a gussied-up cup of coffee. I had a moment when I fell for it too — but when I realized that my two latte a day habit was costing me almost $10 a day I realized I needed help.
I agree — they’re great when you need a bathroom, but now I buy only regular coffee there (still higher than in a local deli) or a “tall” (which is actually a small) hot chocolate if I want to splurge.
oh come on larry … i don’t think this thread is about ‘architecture’ … soho used to be nice … it’s still nice. but it’s a big ‘ol shopping mall now. get real.
SOHO-IZED?
Soho is the one of the most beautiful, architecually unique neighborhoods in the world. You can’t compare Spring or Wooster Street in Soho to Bedford Avenue or 5th Avenue in Brooklyn. There’s no comparison whatsoever.
I’ve lived in Soho for years and have no problem with Soho having become one of the most high end shopping districts in the world.
Just because some chain stores have opened in Brooklyn and more are on there way, you can’t even begin to justify a comparison to Soho.
Instead you should say Brooklyn is becoming Jersey-ized or shopping mall-ized. Soho is unique and only comparable to the highest end shopping districts of the world.