The New Retail Thread

sm89 said:
I'm sure a lot of people would rather the doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1IXyujNbVE&t=84
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That video specifically says the residents of that town have no other options for coffee or donuts; Dunkin is literally a store of last resort. It'd be like some podunk town in Kansas losing their Walmart. I'll never understand the pride that Bostonians have for Dunkin.
 
+1. The charms of Dunkin Donuts is completely lost on me--to call it mediocre is an insult to mediocrity. I feel very sad for the north-central PA town for which this was the "only good thing in town." Wow.
 
BostonDrew said:
PF Changs in the Prudential Center is closing http://boston.eater.com/2017/3/13/14908004/pf-changs-boston-prudential-center-closing


AND... Wagamama is opening in the Seaport afterall - at 100 Northern Avenue (Goodwin Procter building) http://bostonrestaurants.blogspot.com/2017/02/wagamama-plans-to-open-in-bostons.html?m=0
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The lord giveth Asian fusion chains and the lord taketh Asian fusion chains away.

For what it's worth Wagamama isn't half bad, although it's a little overpriced. PF Changs, on the other hand, is absolute garbage (that's also overpriced).
 
FenwayResident said:
That video specifically says the residents of that town have no other options for coffee or donuts; Dunkin is literally a store of last resort. It'd be like some podunk town in Kansas losing their Walmart. I'll never understand the pride that Bostonians have for Dunkin.
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I would agree. Dunkin was nice 20 years ago when they had better consistency with their coffee and donuts. Now that we have 18 of them in every town, things have gone completely downhill.
 
Lrfox said:
The lord giveth Asian fusion chains and the lord taketh Asian fusion chains away.

For what it's worth Wagamama isn't half bad, although it's a little overpriced. PF Changs, on the other hand, is absolute garbage (that's also overpriced).
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I would have to disagree with that - Wagamama's ramen is pretty sub par (at best). On that note, I don't think it was mentioned yet that there is a new Ramen pop-up on Tuesday & Wednesday in the Seven Star Bistro restaurant in Rozzie.
 
FenwayResident said:
That video specifically says the residents of that town have no other options for coffee or donuts; Dunkin is literally a store of last resort. It'd be like some podunk town in Kansas losing their Walmart. I'll never understand the pride that Bostonians have for Dunkin.
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These people all say Dough-nits. It's so weird.

I will never forgive dunkin donuts for paying 3 million dollars to buy the local doughnut place when I was a kid, that had amazing doughnuts, just to have the owner sign something saying he'd never make doughnuts again and not sell the recipes. They proceeded to literally burn the place to the ground and built a cheap ass dunkin donuts drive through selling their subpar doughnuts.

Closest I can find to those doughnuts of my childhood are the cake doughnuts offered at kanes.
 
sm89 said:
I'm sure a lot of people would rather the doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1IXyujNbVE&t=84
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WOW I love that video - I used to have lots of family in NE Pennsylvania and it's spot on! First, the implicitly sad undercurrent of "something broke, but nobody here can ever fix it." Then, the cast of characters: the woman who laments that she'll now need to satisfy her (how-many-times-daily?) "dun-nits" cravings at a local gas station, the loudmouthed lady who seems shaky with the concept of iced coffee ("yknow, cold coffee, whatstheycallit?") the local "herbal entrepreneur" who appreciates the classy atmosphere of Dunks to meet with his attorneys on "legal matters," and... let's not forget the real hero here, the young girl who started it all: the 16-year old arsonist who'd recently gone off her meds. All presented on the local news without a single shred of irony.
 
Shepard said:
WOW I love that video - I used to have lots of family in NE Pennsylvania and it's spot on! First, the implicitly sad undercurrent of "something broke, but nobody here can ever fix it." Then, the cast of characters: the woman who laments that she'll now need to satisfy her (how-many-times-daily?) "dun-nits" cravings at a local gas station, the loudmouthed lady who seems shaky with the concept of iced coffee ("yknow, cold coffee, whatstheycallit?") the local "herbal entrepreneur" who appreciates the classy atmosphere of Dunks to meet with his attorneys on "legal matters," and... let's not forget the real hero here, the young girl who started it all: the 16-year old arsonist who'd recently gone off her meds. All presented on the local news without a single shred of irony.
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:D Love this analysis! As someone who went to school in Western PA, this confirms pretty much everything we think about North-Central PA. ;)
 
Harpoon Brewery is opening an outdoor patio for this Spring/Summer according to the Herald
 
mass88 said:
I would agree. Dunkin was nice 20 years ago when they had better consistency with their coffee and donuts. Now that we have 18 of them in every town, things have gone completely downhill.
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I don't get the obsession either. And ever since they moved their roaster operations down south, the coffee is barely drinkable. I will go far out of my way to find something else, although my wife and kids still like that slop so I often get stuck with it. The donuts are lacking too since they stopped making them in store (i know that was a long time ago), but any local shop or honeydew are far superior.
 
falcon42 said:
Harpoon Brewery is opening an outdoor patio for this Spring/Summer according to the Herald
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Such a no-brainer for them. It's surprising to me that they didn't have one already...

It'd be cool if they could build a deck over the eastern half of their parking lot that opens off of their second floor beer hall. Truck traffic stays on the western half of the lot, so I don't think that'd be a problem.

[Link]
 
JumboBuc said:
Such a no-brainer for them. It's surprising to me that they didn't have one already...

It'd be cool if they could build a deck over the eastern half of their parking lot that opens off of their second floor beer hall. Truck traffic stays on the western half of the lot, so I don't think that'd be a problem.

[Link]
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I bet they have been challenged with permitting.

My understanding is that outdoor seating permitting in Boston requires food service in order to be allowed to serve alcohol. Only food service at Harpoon is pretzels.
 
JeffDowntown said:
I bet they have been challenged with permitting.

My understanding is that outdoor seating permitting in Boston requires food service in order to be allowed to serve alcohol. Only food service at Harpoon is pretzels.
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I think that is for sidewalk seating. It may be different if it is on Harpoon property and not fronting a public sidewalk.
 
JeffDowntown said:
My understanding is that outdoor seating permitting in Boston requires food service in order to be allowed to serve alcohol. Only food service at Harpoon is pretzels.
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Is this actually true? I've heard it said a million times, but never seen any documentation of this rule. There's this, for "sidewalk cafes", but that refers to publicly-owned sidewalks, not private decks or patios.

EDIT: fattony beat me to it...
 
I believe Harpoon is leasing from Massport so they may get around some of those city approvals. It says its already been approved for a mere $3k more per month.
 
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