The New Retail Thread

I use my laptop for an hour at Panera during my lunch break sometimes and I have a full-time job. My office doesn't let non-execs use the WiFi.
 
The Starbucks with the long tables are great for using laptops. Customers with laptops that take up entire tables (and chairs with their book bags, etc.) should be shot. Or, burned with scalding coffee.

BTW, I didn't know, the old RH Stearns building on Temple Street in Downtown Crossing is elderly housing. Not a new development but something I find interesting. Great re-use of space and badly needed.
 
Never was a fan of Starbucks.

But the layout of Starbucks in Harvard Square damned near changed my mind. Imagine one of those somewhere in DTX, Waterfront or Fort Point.
 
Sicilian said:
Never was a fan of Starbucks.

But the layout of Starbucks in Harvard Square damned near changed my mind. Imagine one of those somewhere in DTX, Waterfront or Fort Point.
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DTX doesn't have a prevalent Sratbucks, which is extremely odd. Target might build a large one if the Filene's proposal goes ahead. Starbucks is Target's partner in business.

Edited: DTX has quite a few smaller SBux shops.
 
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Is the Target possibility still real? Haven't seen any official comments regarding ongoing discussions.
 
datadyne007 said:
DTX is entirely void of a Starbucks, which is extremely odd. Target might build a large one if the Filene's proposal goes ahead. Starbucks is Target's partner in business.
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There is a Starbucks on Winter Street smack in the middle of Downtown Crossing. It is, however, a small location with very limited seating. There is also a Starbucks on Washington Street just after School Street. Another one on School Street next to the old City Hall. Also one on Summer St. in what some consider the outer edge of Downtown Crossing.
 
BosDevelop said:
There is a Starbucks on Winter Street smack in the middle of Downtown Crossing. It is, however, a small location with very limited seating. There is also a Starbucks on Washington Street just after School Street. Another one on School Street next to the old City Hall. Also one on Summer St. in what some consider the outer edge of Downtown Crossing.
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Man, I guess I just haven't looked hard enough. There should be one on the ped stretch of Washington, heck put it in B&N's first floor. That would encourage people to go to DTX and stay instead of shop & flee and it brings life to a dead building.

I guess I tend to forget that DTX is more than Macy*s to Borders.
 
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Yeah, those four Starbucks are small. Very hard to get comfortable for any long period of time. I visited the Winter Street one for the first time this week. A gypsy gave me the evil eye when I asked to sit next to her; fortunately, she fell asleep at the same time. The one on School Street is really narrow and the one on City Hall Plaza is too tiny to be anything but takeout. The Summer Street location is a bit larger, but not necessarily the most comfortable. There is one nearby on State Street near Faneuil Hall that has a bar you can sit at while using your computer. Twice I've confronted people stealing coffee from inside. (But, that's a pretty common occurrence in Starbucks. It happens daily in my travels, pretty much.)

It would benefit DTX to have a store similar to what's in Harvard Square.

They'd have to include huge restrooms to accommodate tourists and homeless people but that's the norm for them.

I think B&N would be the perfect location, although if it was, they would have done it by now. It's probably too big - the store is deep, right?
 
Wegmans is coming to Chestnut Hill yay!

Wegmans plans a supermarket for Newton

Wegmans Food Markets Inc., a New York chain that attempts to transform a humble grocery
store into a chow-hound’s pleasure dome, said it plans to open a supermarket in Newton
directly across from The Mall at Chestnut Hill.
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Full article
 
I love the amount of unnecessary hared people spew in the comments section of any article pertaining to a supermarket. The comments are mainly geared towards Stop & Shop, for some reason most of the posters hate them.
 
Kelly's in Allston is closing in 6 days. It will be replaced in late 2012 by.... wait for it... a bank. TD Bank.
 
TD Bank is moving into the old Unos location across Comm. No word yet about what moves into Kelleys but presumabely they want to find something quick since Kelleys is on the hook for the lease for another 8 years. This according to Boston.com article
 
Shepard said:
TD Bank is moving into the old Unos location across Comm. No word yet about what moves into Kelleys but presumabely they want to find something quick since Kelleys is on the hook for the lease for another 8 years. This according to Boston.com article
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Shep -- pardoxically despite on-line, mbil phone, ATMs -- banks continue to proliferate the people to people bank branch

Some once diverse retail clusters (e.g. Lexington Center) have devolved into just coffee shops, perhaps a Panera or Au Bon Pain, and lots of banks with a CVS or Walgreens thrown in for variety
 
EDIT: Either as a result of it being listed for sale or b/c they found a buyer, FYE, which is in there now, is having a liquidation sale, according to the @sDowntownXing Twitter feed.

The old "Strawberries" building in Downtown Crossing at 407 Washington Street was listed for sale three months ago, $5.6 million. This is good news if it means someone else takes it on to rent out, bad news if it means a new owner buys it and sits on it til One Franklin is completed.
 
JohnAKeith said:
EDIT: Either as a result of it being listed for sale or b/c they found a buyer, FYE, which is in there now, is having a liquidation sale, according to the @sDowntownXing Twitter feed.

The old "Strawberries" building in Downtown Crossing at 407 Washington Street was listed for sale three months ago, $5.6 million. This is good news if it means someone else takes it on to rent out, bad news if it means a new owner buys it and sits on it til One Franklin is completed.
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FYE recently left South Shore Plaza as well. It has been replaced by Newbury Comics.
 
Word on the street is that a Boloco is going into the Kellys space. I for one will be dancing in the streets when this happens, I'm a huge fan.

As for the TD Bank going into Unos, what a fucking waste of space. That store is two floors, the basement had a dining room as well. For such a prominent intersection, it really deserves better then a bank branch that will close up shop. As it is enough foot traffic isn't going up the brookline side of Harvard Ave/St (hence the bankruptcy of the Urban Outfitters building), this will help kill it even more. Also, what happened to Unos liquor licence? I haven't heard of any new bars opening. When they closed I thought there would be a new pub in there the next day. I can only imagine the landlord raised the rents high enough to discourage any sort of food/drink use.
 
^^ Yea TD bank at the Unos is a terrible use of such a vibrant area. The Allston NIMBY group, not sure of their official name, should have been on this one.
 
According to Universal Hub and The Other Side's Facebook page, The Other Side will NOT be closing! Seems like Room and Board never followed through on their promises to the landlord.
 
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