- I would imagine that Shaws signed a long term lease. In other words the landlord is getting paid so what impetus is there for the landlord to even bother looking for a tenant. This happens all the time, can you say Price Chopper on Mill Street.
- It is much better idea then an indoor skating rink.
- It would be wildly more successful then a Super 88 Supermarket on Portland Street. What research did anyone do on this?
The location has no walking traffic and no parking. To top it off there are two very successful and very busy Oriental markets on Main Street and one on Green Street, all less then one mile away. Not to mention a brand new Price Rite going on Southbridge Street, although this was only added recently to the equation. Hey lets not for the old Mart location. Who the hell would ever shop here?? Evidently Super 88 realized the same thing, thus they are not coming to Worcester.
Bottom line is that we need truly "out of the box" ideas like these, versus the same old same old.
16 comments:
Bancroft Commons has 200 units, most of which are full of young proffesionals and students. The same can be said of the 2 buildings closest to the corner of Franklin and Salem. The tower at the corner of Franklin and Main definitely has a pajama people element to it but a market would draw from there also. The people that live in the condos on the corner of Main and Federal also need a place to shop.
There's no foot traffic in the area because there is nothing to walk to. If I want anything that I can't buy at White Hen, CVS, Dunks or Woosta Pizza I need to get in my car to go get it as do the other 300 or so people currently living on these two city blocks.
The residents of the Bancroft are practically begging for things like a grocery market, a lunch counter, a coffee shop, a (decent) package store, a good bar. All that retail space, all those people LIVING there, and no takers. It's a shame. Hopefully once the spaces start filling up the synergy isn't off from Bancroft residents getting fed up from being sold a bill of goods about downtown.
Super 88 f'd this one up for sure. They would have made a bundle.
Another reason to draw in Whole Foods...
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=WFMI&t=my
Look at their stock history, the are absolute WINNERS!
Like the great Louis De Palma used to tell his cabbies on the sit com Taxi... "If you want to be a winner in life, stop hanging around LOSERS!"
Whole Foods at Grafton Street in Worcester would give the city instant credibility. Anything GREEN related, whether it's energy, cars , alternative fuels, supermarkets, etc is set up for big growth in the next few years. If having a Whole Foods at that location brings in 6 figure earners from a good 30 mile radius consistantly into the city, then eventually they will want to invest in the city, too. Especially keep an eye on the whole commuter rail issue. If trains start running to/from Boston every hour then Boston money will want to move out this way for cheaper housing. Having a Whole Foods market right off the train stop will spark downtown, the Canal District ,Water Street and even more Shrewsbury Street development. Don't think the owners of KP Barrons wouldn't love a Whole Foods downtown? What about Bocado, Block 5 , Dzian , etc? More upscale type conventions/events would be booked at the DCU to cater to 'that element' :-)
You now have an investment in the 'urban core' (sorry Paulie for stealing your line)and you make it that much easier to jumpstart CitySquare develpoment.
Just my 2 organic, grass fed, pesticide free cents.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
PS
Now you also have a draw in the downtown area for all the biotechies on Plantation Street and college students to go shopping at.
Harry:
Again I am starting to see some very good points in your arguement.
Gabe, a Super 88 would need to draw alot more then from the residents that you identified. The overhead on the size of the proposed market would need to do some big numbers and draw from outside the circle that you identify.
Not saying that retail can not be supported in this area but they would need to be small retail stores with a low overhead and cheap rent from the Mayo Group.
FedEx Kinkos across the street from you and McFaddens are barely surviving. In your block alone Common Grounds and Bancroft Liquors in this past 6 months have both closed.
Bill
Bill
Has anyone dimed up the Whole foods folks and caught their ear?
I see the likes of a Whole Foods drawing the right kind of people.........but I dont think Worc now has the threshold economic demographics to support a more pricey, upscale food market......anyone seen teh news or the prices in a Shaws or Stop & Shop lately???.........maybe Shaws s/b dimed up, too.........see if we can get their take on that location....always helps to ask the batter who just struck out what the opposing pitcher has been throwing.........even though a Shaws & a Whole Foods may well be diff businesses/models
If you were Whole Foods would you step up to the plate, given that City Sq. is 1 1/2 years behind schedule just on demolition alone.......then there's always the actual new constr.......and a current re-write of the original agreement.....
BTW...good too see the Union Station parking garage seems to be coming in on time and will open in July, per Julie J.
I agree with gabe. A Super 88 would have been a fabulous addition to the downtown market. Even the Mayo Group in last week's T&G was quoted as saying they want to attract retail that will generate foot traffic. And If I remember correctly, the original plans for City Square included a Whole Foods Market. Either a Super 88 or a Whole Foods Market (& dare I say both) would generate foot traffic downtown with the emphasis on "foot". In all of the incarnations over the years, most downtown development projects never emphasized housing as a key component of the projects. Go into any city center and the successful ones are a neighborhood. I’m originally from Pittsburgh and their downtown retail core was dying a slow painful death. Guess what, they now have a full service market downtown (just recently opened) due to the present development projects that are underway that are concentrating on housing. Add along with this a major presence of Point Park University and a growing student population and other retailers are beginning to follow. And the long standing retailers that survived through the years are beginning to stabilize. I’m not saying that Worcester’s downtown is on par with Pittsburgh but it is a microcosm of it. The Mayo group has housing, the tower at Main & Chatham St has housing, City Square will have housing, and the Mass. College of Pharmacy has a student population, all of which will need a market to shop at, services and other retail options. I live on Elm Street and if I didn’t have a car, I could take an easy walk downtown to shop at a supermarket and/or specialty food market. Although a Whole Foods Market on Grafton Street would probably be a success, is it really the right place for generating foot traffic? I think everyone that regularly reads and/or contributes to this blog would agree that critical mass in our downtown area will drive success in New England’s 2nd largest city that will benefit the entire area. As one last aside to my diatribe, my hometown of Pittsburgh is the 2nd largest city in Pennsylvania. The similarities are striking.
Dave & Gabe:
Maybe you guys are right? The bottom line, however, is that after Super 88 looked into they walked.
Why? Seriously, I am not being a wise guy, why do you think Super 88 changed their mind?
Bill
One thing.
Super 88 Market is an Asian Market specializing in Asian food. If there were not the two Asian Markets on Main Street and one on Green Street.
I think Super 88 saw this and punted.
Bill
Bill, I don't think the presence of the two Asian Markets on Main Street and one on Green Street had anything thing to do with the Super 88 pulling out. If anything, the presence (and success) of those markets probably was one of the contributing factors for considering Worcester in the first place. The way I read the article in the T&G, it seemed to me that the Super 88 project never really secured the proper financing before signing a letter of intent with the Mayo group. It was a soft economy that derailed the project, not the concept. .
WOW! I really know how to stir up a debate, eh?
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
PS
If you don't have anything to do over the next few days, take a ride out to Whole Foods in Framingham (on Route 9) and walk around and check the place out, after that...envision it on Grafton Street in Worcester...makes you get all warm, fuzzy and hungry now doesn't it?!?!?
My first thought would be that Super 88 saw how close we are, TO NOT to having a downtown population that lives in their nice condo..........and then punted................but might still be in the game if they see City Sq rising????
I mean what else can Mayo do with that property at this point in time or even in the immediate future....absent a City Sq??
my buddy is the head baker for Whole Foods bakery in Malden...they ship the baked goods all over the country from there...I lived around the cornah from Bread Circus for years near Fresh Pond in Cambridge..bought out by Whole Foods which is out of Austin, TX..cool company from a cool town..this town couldn't possibly go wrong with this presence in the city anywhere..people move to locations where these kind of business are..
Just back from Providence..that is a wonderful little city....
Harry you should be sitting on the City Council instead of that brain dead Germain...
LOL !!!! Vote for Harry ! ...my wife calls me Mayor McCheesy from all my rants...
Next on my wish list is a Halfway Cafe for the old Barber's Crossing on West Boylston Street...
http://thehalfwaycafe.com
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Whole Foods, number 16 in Fortune Magazine's Best Companies to work for, 2008:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/snapshots/16.html
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
With the Duke coming to Worcester for a rail summit...
Dukakis speaker
WORCESTER — Former governor Michael S. Dukakis will be the keynote speaker at a rail summit to be held from 8:30 to 11 a.m. May 9 at the DCU Center, 50 Foster St. The panel will discuss the needs and challenges of rail service in the region. For information, call Pattie Kennedy at (508) 799-1175.
...should we also bring up the subject of "Good Jobs at Good Wages"? Did you see that ranking of Whole Foods? Salaries in the $29,000 -$70,000+ range plus fully paid health insurance!
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Harry, when looking at retail salaries/wages you should always ask how many hours to make your gross annual salary. $29,000 may be a $10/hr cashier working 50 hours a week.
Will The Duke be coming to town in a 1988 Military Tank?
I must the Duke was the only pol I ever heard of who talked the talk and walked the walk as re: using massing transit.
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