Echelon Seaport | 133-135 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

atlantaden said:
Was pleasantly surprised at the number of retail stores that have opened in Echelon, particularly in the interior courtyard area.
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Went through here recently too...couldn't afford a single shop😭
 
DAVE said:
Went through here recently too...couldn't afford a single shop😭
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I'm looking forward to the udon noodle place opening so I don't have to go to the one in Porter sq
 
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chrisbrat said:
I get that it's a workday, and super-hot outside, and most kids are back in school, and some people are still extending the recent long weekend into a full week of vacation, but that's a sad lack of humanity in those pix.

It's been absolutely hoppin whenever I've visited the Seaport this summer, but this scene is bleak.

Perhaps it was early AM?
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I've been to visit friends at Echelon and yeah, the commercial courtyards are quiet. I think it's a combo of a) these areas are tucked away from the action, and b) many visitors to Echelon think these are private areas, and the residents don't work to discourage this notion. Something akin to a street or art fair tucked into these areas would juice up foot traffic and hopefully increase awareness.
 
I think the problem is that it's still essentially on the outskirts of the Seaport, owing to the fact that it's still mostly surrounded by construction sites. The completions of Seaport Square and the arch building should help.
 
HarvardP said:
I've been to visit friends at Echelon and yeah, the commercial courtyards are quiet. I think it's a combo of a) these areas are tucked away from the action, and b) many visitors to Echelon think these are private areas, and the residents don't work to discourage this notion. Something akin to a street or art fair tucked into these areas would juice up foot traffic and hopefully increase awareness.
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I'd add that the shops are prohibitively expensive for the average person.
 
LexSEDotVille said:
I'd add that the shops are prohibitively expensive for the average person.
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This area is not for average people. Next door, Amazon is loading up around 3,000 workers engaged in A.I., robotics, and cloud computing work. They aren't processing orders--far from it. I would think that most are making at least 100K, and some a lot more. And then there are the neighboring big pharma companies. Vertex markets the most expensive drug in the world at $97K for a treatment (Hepatitis C). I'll bet the employees have a nice lunchroom. I notice a lot of younger people in the bigger cities walking around with Louis Vuitton or Burberry on or attached to their bodies. It's wear it or be square, I guess.
 
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The first time I walked through that courtyard it was so quiet that when we came in, a hostess outside one of the restaurants jerked to attention, grabbed some menus, and stared at us smiling. We shook our heads and she sat back down.

It's been like that anytime I've peeked in. I hope there are some usual busy hours, but there can't be many. (I was nearby yesterday and thought I'd check again, since you all were talking about it. I showed up exactly as the downpour started, so I'll grant that wasn't a fair test)

A couple other things that might be a problem: It's hard to even see there's anything back there from the street. From any entrance you can only see a small portion of the stores back there. Also, most of the streets a pedestrian might spot the courtyard from are pretty boring and empty themselves. B St. and Autumn Ln. especially are mostly big office lobbies, blank walls, and parking garage entrances. They're not inviting for people walking by. Seaport Blvd always has a lot more foot traffic, but from there, it's hard to see the courtyard even exists.

There are ways the stores in that courtyard could make themselves more conspicuous and drag in foot traffic. But big bright signs might be against their whole vibe (and be illegal in most of the United States)

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TC_zoid said:
This area is not for average people. Next door, Amazon is loading up around 3,000 workers engaged in A.I., robotics, and cloud computing work. They aren't processing orders--far from it. I would think that most are making at least 100K, and some a lot more. And then there are the neighboring big pharma companies. Vertex markets the most expensive drug in the world at $97K for a treatment (Hepatitis C). I'll bet the employees have a nice lunchroom. I notice a lot of younger people in the bigger cities walking around with Louis Vuitton or Burberry on or attached to their bodies. It's wear it or be square, I guess.
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Vertex’s only approvals are for cystic fibrosis, with prices around $300k. You’re probably thinking of Gilead’s Hep C drugs. Fun anecdote, the Vertex drugs work so well that Make a Wish removed CF patients from their eligibility list since the kids are living such better and longer lives. :)

On topic, I think the biggest issue with the Superette area is just being below a critical threshold of shops. There’s only one real restaurant with plans for a few more, and I think all of the 2nd floor spaces have yet to name tenants other than the furniture place on Seaport Blvd. Sure the shops are on the more expensive end but there’s a Levi’s store and Faherty as well. Last time I went through there one of the shops, Scotch and Soda I think, seemed to be shut down or maybe under renovation, so hopefully it’s not a sign that things are drying up.

Hoping the Japanese place is good once it’s open!
 
ritchiew said:
A couple other things that might be a problem: It's hard to even see there's anything back there from the street. From any entrance you can only see a small portion of the stores back there. Also, most of the streets a pedestrian might spot the courtyard from are pretty boring and empty themselves. B St. and Autumn Ln. especially are mostly big office lobbies, blank walls, and parking garage entrances. They're not inviting for people walking by. Seaport Blvd always has a lot more foot traffic, but from there, it's hard to see the courtyard even exists.
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The original layout had the this going between NW and SE. Currently, with the activity in the area right now, that would be better.
However, long term, when Harbor Way becomes more of a destination, the layout between SW and NE will work better and provide a way between convention center/summer st steps and the world trade center pier.
 
Echelon really lit up it’s courtyard beautifully! But the big crowds literally across the street at the Christmas Market/Snowport just didn’t make it across the street to check out the Echelon courtyard which was sad to see. All the Echelon retail stores were open, festively decorated, yet were mostly empty. Hate to see this but I do think the courtyard entrances are just not wide enough to effectively draw pedestrians in and because of this, Echelon retail management needs to up it’s events to draw people in.
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atlantaden said:
Echelon really lit up it’s courtyard beautifully! But the big crowds literally across the street at the Christmas Market/Snowport just didn’t make it across the street to check out the Echelon courtyard which was sad to see. All the Echelon retail stores were open, festively decorated, yet were mostly empty. Hate to see this but I do think the courtyard entrances are just not wide enough to effectively draw pedestrians in and because of this, Echelon retail management needs to up it’s events to draw people in.
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I think Ritchiew in Post #910 hit the nail on the head.

It's obvious they really could up their game on exterior signage. The stores look nice, but there doesn't seem to be much communication to the public on their fronts. Maybe also a few video screens etc. There are tools that can be used. It's obvious at thios point, they can't be ignorant of the fact. Someone is choosing this to be the way it is.
 
We walked through on New Year's Eve. There were quite a few people taking photos with the holiday decorations. I thought there was a cafe or restaurant somewhere, but all the stores seemed like clothing stores. I walked through twice and couldn't find any food. I'm sure I missed it, but boy...........it was NOT obvious.
 
Java King said:
We walked through on New Year's Eve. There were quite a few people taking photos with the holiday decorations. I thought there was a cafe or restaurant somewhere, but all the stores seemed like clothing stores. I walked through twice and couldn't find any food. I'm sure I missed it, but boy...........it was NOT obvious.
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I think some sort of dessert shop is opening up soon. I remember seeing a sign for it, but forget the name and can't find anything online.
 
Java King said:
We walked through on New Year's Eve. There were quite a few people taking photos with the holiday decorations. I thought there was a cafe or restaurant somewhere, but all the stores seemed like clothing stores. I walked through twice and couldn't find any food. I'm sure I missed it, but boy...........it was NOT obvious.
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The foot traffic was way, way up with the decorations apparent from before the holidays which was nice to see. There's one restaurant (bodega mexican speak easy type) in Echelon and that's it. I think once the harbor way across the street is fully open and people can cut thru to Congress street the foot traffic will increase more Northeast to Southwest where now its mostly along Seaport Blvd. There's almost a perceived wall south of Seaport Blvd as it is now
 
Suffolk 83 said:
The foot traffic was way, way up with the decorations apparent from before the holidays which was nice to see. There's one restaurant (bodega mexican speak easy type) in Echelon and that's it. I think once the harbor way across the street is fully open and people can cut thru to Congress street the foot traffic will increase more Northeast to Southwest where now its mostly along Seaport Blvd. There's almost a perceived wall south of Seaport Blvd as it is now
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Thanks! I guess I missed the one restaurant. I was thinking there would be some kind of food marketplace from the stuff I had read opening. Anyway, we were hungry, and I completely missed the Mexican place. I walked around looking for someplace to eat! We ended up having food from the Snowport food trucks, which was really good.
 
Java King said:
Thanks! I guess I missed the one restaurant. I was thinking there would be some kind of food marketplace from the stuff I had read opening. Anyway, we were hungry, and I completely missed the Mexican place. I walked around looking for someplace to eat! We ended up having food from the Snowport food trucks, which was really good.
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I'm pretty sure there used to be one other restaurant in there that had disappeared by the last time I walked through. Anyone remember?

And the Mexican place is easy to miss. It's not in the square, but tucked away in one of the pedestrian ways to B Street. And that pedestrian way isn't particularly nice. You walk along loud vents for the building. It's not a very inviting path.
 
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