The New Retail Thread

fattony said:
Does it bother anyone that the "affordable" meal in the food court costs the same today as it did 15 years ago? Doesn't that say something awful about the food and/or the companies providing it? Maybe food shouldn't be so cheap. It didn't used to be.

You don't really want to think about how McDonald's (et al) has maintained the same items at the same $1 price point for the last 20 years. You also probably don't like to think about the reality of how McDonald's (et al) has gotten away without wages increasing much over the same time period. I'm not a "super organic food nut" nor am I a "raise the minimum wage to infinity" nut, but let's just consider that these issues are interrelated.

Bottom-end wages are static, but so too are bottom-end prices. In a healthy economy they move upward slowly in lockstep. It is a chicken/egg problem - pressure has to come from one side or the other to get both moving. Demanding a $7 lunch is, more or less, demanding a $7/hour minimum wage. You can't have it both ways.
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I remember 29 cent hamburger tuesdays and 39 cent cheeseburger wedensdas at Mcdonalds growing up.

Prices have gone up drastically.
 
fattony said:
Does it bother anyone that the "affordable" meal in the food court costs the same today as it did 15 years ago? Doesn't that say something awful about the food and/or the companies providing it? Maybe food shouldn't be so cheap. It didn't used to be.

You don't really want to think about how McDonald's (et al) has maintained the same items at the same $1 price point for the last 20 years. You also probably don't like to think about the reality of how McDonald's (et al) has gotten away without wages increasing much over the same time period. I'm not a "super organic food nut" nor am I a "raise the minimum wage to infinity" nut, but let's just consider that these issues are interrelated.

Bottom-end wages are static, but so too are bottom-end prices. In a healthy economy they move upward slowly in lockstep. It is a chicken/egg problem - pressure has to come from one side or the other to get both moving. Demanding a $7 lunch is, more or less, demanding a $7/hour minimum wage. You can't have it both ways.
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+1. FWIW, I understand where you're coming from and agree with you completely.

Justin7 said:
I'll bet panini sandwiches would be good made with the pane bread sold at Wegman's.

Mi dispiace.
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To each their own. It'll only be a year or two after Eataly opens that Wegman's opens their Fenway store <1 mile away.

Hooray for NEW RETAIL in Boston! :jahvon_face:
 
fattony said:
Does it bother anyone that the "affordable" meal in the food court costs the same today as it did 15 years ago? Doesn't that say something awful about the food and/or the companies providing it? Maybe food shouldn't be so cheap. It didn't used to be.

You don't really want to think about how McDonald's (et al) has maintained the same items at the same $1 price point for the last 20 years. You also probably don't like to think about the reality of how McDonald's (et al) has gotten away without wages increasing much over the same time period. I'm not a "super organic food nut" nor am I a "raise the minimum wage to infinity" nut, but let's just consider that these issues are interrelated.

Bottom-end wages are static, but so too are bottom-end prices. In a healthy economy they move upward slowly in lockstep. It is a chicken/egg problem - pressure has to come from one side or the other to get both moving. Demanding a $7 lunch is, more or less, demanding a $7/hour minimum wage. You can't have it both ways.
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Fattony -- occasionally technology even touches these pedestrian level enterprises -- the net result is that costs do not have to inexorably increase uniformly

For example Easy Jet will test the use of drones to inspect aircraft taken out of service due to a bird strike in UK -- they claim that if the plane is undamaged it will return to service the next day instead of typically 3 to 5 with humans having to clamber all over the aircraft
 
Work is being done on a retail spot at City Place next to the Charles street entrance, opposite Starbucks. I think that's the Emack and Bolio's space and it looks like they combined it with the other retail space closer to PF Chang's. Any idea what's slated for this spot? I feel like it'll probably be a pharmacy since it's a few blocks to the next closest.
 
Lrfox said:
Work is being done on a retail spot at City Place next to the Charles street entrance, opposite Starbucks. I think that's the Emack and Bolio's space and it looks like they combined it with the other retail space closer to PF Chang's. Any idea what's slated for this spot? I feel like it'll probably be a pharmacy since it's a few blocks to the next closest.
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I hope so, I go to that building almost daily a CVS would be awesome!
 
Boston02124 said:
I hope so, I go to that building almost daily a CVS would be awesome!
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I'm in there a few times per week. I wanted to ask a worker yesterday but nobody was outside when I walked by. I'll try again tomorrow.
 
CVS and Walgreens are a whole city block away from City Place. Do they really need to put another pharmacy here?
 
dshoost88 said:
CVS and Walgreens are a whole city block away from City Place. Do they really need to put another pharmacy here?
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Agreed, but to be fair, it's not exactly a direct walk to either of those. 7 minutes according to Google maps. Not a hike by any stretch, but there are smaller gaps between pharmacies of the same brand in the city. Rite Aid is a dark horse that might be looking to get a foothold in the area too.

I'm hopeful for something better, but my money is on Pharmacy or bank branch.
 
Chinatown McDonalds (at Kneeland and Washington) has closed its doors. Any guesses what's going to replace it?

So far the track record for redeveloping former fast food sites are pretty good. The Mass Ave McD's became the new Berkeley dorm, the Boylston Fenway one became the Viridian (hundreds of apartments), and Skanska's redeveloping the Boylston Burger King into more housing soon.
 
dshoost88 said:
Chinatown McDonalds (at Kneeland and Washington) has closed its doors. Any guesses what's going to replace it?

So far the track record for redeveloping former fast food sites are pretty good. The Mass Ave McD's became the new Berkeley dorm, the Boylston Fenway one became the Viridian (hundreds of apartments), and Skanska's redeveloping the Boylston Burger King into more housing soon.
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Hope the West Broadway Burger King isn't too far down the road. Quite the sketchy crowd around there.
 
So, does anyone (else) remember the proposal to replace the Chinatown McDonald's with housing? It would either have been a new building or use the existing facade? I did a search on the board but can't find anything. I don't think it went beyond "proposal", no actual BRA documents filed or anything, but I dunno?
 
(Sorry to jump in mid-McD's convo)

Real construction is beginning on the Newbury St side of Hynes T stop (the graffiti wall). Last we knew, this was meant to be a Clover location. In fact, Eater Boston reports it will be a semi-permanent Clover foodtruck space, thanks to some technical restrictions on the site.

http://boston.eater.com/2015/7/21/9008631/the-elusive-newbury-street-clover-is-imminent

The job listing that popped up last week says the site will now host a plug-in truck, the first of its kind in Boston. The truck will have "long and consistent" hours plugged in at the site, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner service, but it will pack it in and drive away every night, Muir said via email.

"We made a deal with [the MBTA] to bring a really cool container-box restaurant to the site, but the State of MA wouldn't allow it to happen," Muir told Eater this week. "Then we shifted gears to a truck. It needs to be all electric because the MBTA doesn't allow propane on their property. So there's this massive power supply we'll be plugged into," he explained.
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You know, I hate when people say, "Nothing can ever get done in this town," ... except when I say it.

How long does it take to open a food truck at a location??! Apparently, two years, plus. I believe the proposal to put a food truck in that location was discussed back when Mike Ross was a city councilor, which puts it in 2013 at the latest.

Reminds me of the proposal to have the D Street traffic lights synchronized so that the Silver Line buses get priority. We'll be waiting til the ocean rises so high it floods the entire Seaport District, is my prediction.
 
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Eataly was APPROVED by the BRA tonight.

Dunno if this was known before but Eataly will have an outdoor rooftop patio and a green roof.

Landsmark asked about affordability & family-friendly dining in the Pru. Eataly replied that slices of pizza will be priced at $2.60 and up. (Not bad, same as other places downtown)
 
Earls coming to the Pru with a 3-story restaurant w/ retractable rooftop bar:

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https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/634417326662807552
 
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