The New Retail Thread

The previous business in this space, after The Boston Globe Store closed, was a jeweler - Ultra Diamonds.
 
bbfen said:
I can't tell you how many times I walk to the library and hear a tourist happily exclaim, "Oooh!! Pizzaria Uno's! Let's go there!" It just kills me.
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Well, Uno's actually being a local company now, makes this not so awful.

That and I actually love Uno's, and am still pissed that the one in my town closed.

I go to the one in Harvard Sq. half the times I'm over there for a site visit, and I'll go to the one at Northeastern after class from time to time.
 
underground said:
My question still is why isn't Chipotle ideal as you put it? The answers so far seem to be "it's not unique," "something better could go there," and "because it's a historic building," which are all emotional responses. If I'm going to hate on Chipotle in the Old Corner Bookstore, I'm going to need a solid reason. Show me the harm and don't just tell me it's "because."
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My personal issue with it is they grabbed a chipotle sign out of the warehouse, slapped on the outside of the building, took some measurements of the inside and sent it over to whoever it is that makes their generic design package to cut some fixtures to fit. Even the McDonalds in times square has a unique exterior and puts some effort into the inside
 
^ Interesting. I had a summer job counting pedestrians for Pret around Boston one summer. Was even stationed on Boylston one day. They passed on the city then...wonder what brought them back?
 
Pru:
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I wonder what celebrity(ies) they'll have to celebrate the grand opening. Weezer just played a show for the grand opening of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. M$ has a partnership with the MLS too... maybe the NE Revs or something...
 
Microsoft's first new logo in 25 years, unveiled right here in Boston:

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Everyone was swarming and taking pictures. This was the best one I could snap of the span. The party was pretty epic yesterday, complete with a DJ blasting tunes in Center Court and the Boylston Arcade:

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“We want to be a part of the community,” said Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. To prove that, they presented more than one million dollars in software grants to local chapters of Junior Achievement, The Boston Foundation and the Rodman Ride for Kids.

“Having the store open here in Boston, in the Prudential Tower, is phenomenal,” said Emily Neill, president of Junior Achievement of Northern New England.

Neill claimed this money will go toward program impact and will help deliver more programs to young people. When working for a nonprofit, new software typically isn’t in the budget, according to Neill, who admitted, “What this will do is allow us to have more cutting edge technology.”

...

When asked, “Why move to Boston?” he simply responded, “This is the center of innovation; the center of higher education.”

With Apple right across the street, Hodges admitted this new store “makes a statement.” What it proves, however, is that Microsoft is dedicated to the city.

http://bostinno.com/2012/08/23/microsoft-store-opens-in-boston/#ss__207831_1_0__ss
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Here's Microsoft's photo that they posted on Facebook:
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The store frontage and openness is absolutely incredible. It feels almost like a natural part of the mall. The one thing that disappointed me was that it does NOT open to Center Court. The wall along Center Court is a feature wall. It can only be accessed from the Boylston Arcade, but with that said the store only has 3 walls and they're covered in video screens.

Center Court:
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Paul Pierce playing Kinect with fans:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Y9QHhFr0I&feature=g-all
 
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datadyne007 said:
You can play with a bunch of cool Windows 8 stuff there too.

Btw, I can't agree more. I'm totally ditching my Droid next cycle.
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I hate my Droid for Motoblur, but I don't want to root it. The thought of getting a windows phone makes me shudder, but I've been steered well by you guys so far... Ugh, I feel dirty.

To make this OT: has anyone put any thought into the fact that Apple put their store on a physical street while Microsoft chose to put theirs in a mall (granted a very urban mall... if that's possible) as to speak to their culture? I could imagine google putting one on a floating platform on the Charles if thats the case.
 
All the Apple fanboys have been saying "Apple builds architectural landmark on Boylston St, Microsoft builds store in old Ann Taylor"

But this mall location is FAR better than outside on Boylston, imho.
 
Apple's new giant suburban office park HQ erodes their commitment to urban locations and marketing.
 
My HTC Droid phone is a POS so I'm in the market for something new. Hadn't considered a Windows 7 phone before, but am curious to hear these rave reviews. Will have to look into it.
 
datadyne007 said:
All the Apple fanboys have been saying "Apple builds architectural landmark on Boylston St, Microsoft builds store in old Ann Taylor"

But this mall location is FAR better than outside on Boylston, imho.
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I agree. All the imbeciles who use MS products can drive their gas-guzzling SUVs into Boston, park in the garage, get out their Hummer-sized double stroller for their toy Labra-poodle and 9-year old overweight diabetic brat, take the elevator from Orange up to the mall, waddle over to the MS store and never clog up Boylston St with their torpor. They never even have to go outside, god forbid they be in a unconditioned environment.

//outed myself..... fanboy
 
davem said:
I hate my Droid for Motoblur, but I don't want to root it. The thought of getting a windows phone makes me shudder, but I've been steered well by you guys so far... Ugh, I feel dirty.

To make this OT: has anyone put any thought into the fact that Apple put their store on a physical street while Microsoft chose to put theirs in a mall (granted a very urban mall... if that's possible) as to speak to their culture? I could imagine google putting one on a floating platform on the Charles if thats the case.
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Get yourself a Galaxy Nexus. Pure Google, no annoying OEM skin. I've had my Galaxy Nexus since Verizon finally launched it back in December and it's the best phone I've ever owned.
 
What happened to all the Capital One's that were supposed to open in Boston?

The one across from the Park Street station hasn't progressed since they took down the old signage.

The one in the financial district on Summer St ended up becoming a b.good.

The one in Coolidge Corner is the same situation as Park Street.

Did they pull the plug on moving into retail banking in Boston?
 
Are you complaining? Like Boston needs more once-lively retail space taken up by oversized ATM lobbies.
 
The expensive settlement with the government likely put the brakes on Capital One stifling more streetscapes with dead ATMs and bank branches.
 
AdamBC said:
The one in Coolidge Corner is the same situation as Park Street.
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I live somewhat close to this location and hope it's canned and the space is used for something more likely to improve the neighborhood instead like a restaurant, a cafe, or whatever. There are already at least four bank branches within a two block distance.
 
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