417 replies to this topic

[runawayjim]

Mothra, on Aug 9 2007, 02:51 PM, said:

People who live in Rising Sun and Eagle Square Condos need to eat too, you know. Even Yuppy Scum Carpet Baggers working at the local Universities and Hospitals have to grocery shop.

right... but they're by far the minority population in that area, yet they're the ones that eagle square was trying to cater to. i can probably be considered a yuppie by some... but i'm a poor yuppie.

are yuppies not allowed in pricerite?

[Mothra]

The Eagle Square Shaws was upscale? Huh?

[Cotuit]

Was Eagle Square supposed to be upscale, and what did that mean exactly? Was there to be a Neiman Marcus or a Landrover dealership or something? What is downscale about Price Rite. Isn't a box of Raisin Bran at Shaw's the same as the one at Price Rite?

My concern is what happens to their current shoppers. Sure, its good news for me, but are their options for their current customers?

[oak]

Cotuit, on Aug 9 2007, 03:22 PM, said:

Was Eagle Square supposed to be upscale, and what did that mean exactly? Was there to be a Neiman Marcus or a Landrover dealership or something? What is downscale about Price Rite. Isn't a box of Raisin Bran at Shaw's the same as the one at Price Rite?

I was repeating what I'd heard from a resident of the Eagle Square condo, but what I understood him to mean was that the retail mix was becoming mostly, but not all, geared for the lower income residents of the neighborhood. This guy is an artist and his wife is a mid-level professional - no kids. I'd guess their household income is higher than many in Olneyville and Valley, but I'd describe them as solidly middle class. I don't think he's looking for upscale e.g. Land Rover or Neiman Marcus, but was hoping for something more inspiring than Price Rite, a nail salon, a mattress discounter and a fried chicken fast food place when he moved into the building.

My guess is that a lot of West Side residents think they are underserved by West Side retail. The stereotype is always yuppies and long-time, low-income residents, but there are a lot of middle class people. Other than restaurants, there isn't much for the middle income consumer on the West Side.

[Cotuit]

I can't imagine who would have thought it would have been anymore than a stripmall. For the right price I'd live there and not have a problem with it. But what I saw for prices there was far from right. There's a laundromat, a Staples, a grocery store (maybe)... I guess Kennedy Fried Chicken and a nail salon are slightly downscale, but middle class people eat chicken and get their nails done too.

I guess I'm having trouble imagining what falls between catering to low-income people and Neiman Marcus. Instead of Kennedy Fried Chicken, Panera Bread, instead of a Nail Salon, a Bath and Body Works, instead of Mattress Discounters, an Alperts?

I personally think that Staples is an answer to my prayers. I'm there all the time.

[Mothra]

I would like to point out that Young Urban Professional and Middle Class are not mutually exclusive. Most people I know who live on the West Side, who didn't grow up on the West Side, are lower middle class people. Teachers, middle managers, nurses, office personnel, non-profit employees, etc.

That said, the Price Rite in Olneyville is not the best neighbor. Their parking lot is filthy and is constantly overflowing trash into the river, and while they may serve a population down there, it doesn't mean they should be absolved of their sins. Things like beeper stores, check cashing joints, nail salons and Price Rites may be a necessary and perhaps important part of the urban fabric, but honestly, would you live there? Would you make a major investment?

[basachs]

All I want to know is...will Price-Rite be carrying organic goat cheese?

[Cotuit]

basachs, on Aug 10 2007, 09:53 AM, said:

All I want to know is...will Price-Rite be carrying organic goat cheese?

Yes, but I'm going to go there every morning and pee on it.

[Liamlunchtray]

Mothra, on Aug 9 2007, 04:05 PM, said:

That said, the Price Rite in Olneyville is not the best neighbor. Their parking lot is filthy and is constantly overflowing trash into the river, and while they may serve a population down there, it doesn't mean they should be absolved of their sins.

The Price Rite in Warwick however is much much cleaner, has wider ailes and is overall nicer despite having the same product mix. Perhaps moving to Eagle Square would allow for more investment in the store? I assume they will be breaking it up - it is a giant footprint for a pricerite. I'm pretty sure when Almacs was in Olneyville they occupied that entire building unlike pricerite does. It will probably be the same kind of think in Eagle Sq.

[Mothra]

Terrific. A giant building with a small grubby store somewhere inside it. What's not to love?

[Liamlunchtray]

Mothra, on Aug 10 2007, 02:02 PM, said:

Terrific. A giant building with a small grubby store somewhere inside it. What's not to love?

Yeah, in this location theyre going to split the building front and back rather than left and right. You'll have to enter through the loading dock.

[jencoleslaw]

POSTPONED. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR EXACT RESCHEDULE DATE


Promenade District Neighborhood Meeting

Forum for a community dialogue

When: August 23rd 2007. 7PM
Where: Providence Public Safety Complex, Auditorium (1st Fl.)
325 Washington St.
(Please park in garage directly across Dean St. from entrance)

"What is the neighborhood impact of the Shaw's Supermarket departure from Eagle Square?

What does the community want in its place and what role can we have as stakeholders to influence Super Value in its choice of a replacement tenant?"

Five years ago, the Providence City Council supported the Eagle Square development because of a commitment to bring a Shaw's Supermarket to our neighborhood and the belief that this would improve the standards and quality of life for the local community. It is clear by the recent concerns that have been raised over its departure, that the presence of Shaw's has indeed been an important face and venue for those who live in our community. The fact that the long-term commitment of this supermarket has not manifested itself means that the neighborhood and all of its improvements stand a real chance of being compromised by the outcome. Please join neighborhood residents, businesses, City Councilwoman Joan DiRuzzo and representatives from New England Expedition & Shaw's Supermarket for a community discussion of the impact this has on our neighborhood and how we can play a role in its outcome.



· Would you make an effort to shop at Shaw's if it stayed open on a trial basis?

· What would you like to see in the place of a Shaw's supermarket?

· How will the loss of a Shaw's anchor tenant affect the other Eagle Sq. tenants...the residential market, local businesses and the RIPTA services to Eagle Square?

· Why did this happen and what can we do to support the existing businesses in the Eagle Square Shopping Center?

· How can the venues at Eagle Square serve you better?

· What kinds of shops, services and businesses would you like to have in the Promenade District and how can we encourage developers to seek them out?

· How can we as a neighborhood community organize ourselves to be better connected with the local businesses so that we are aware of financial difficulties from the onset?



Please bring your thoughts to the table on August 23rd. We will try to treat this as a preliminary dialogue and hope to organize the interested parties through a contact email list so we can act in a timely manner to the situation. In order to have a productive discussion, please keep your thoughts brief and focused on the immediate situation and not the controversy that has been associated with Eagle Square.

Please RSVP to pdneighborhood@gmail.com For questions or directions: (401) 338-1714

Edited by jencoleslaw, 20 August 2007 - 06:05 PM.

[Liamlunchtray]

I have come up with the perfect scenario - being that neither PriceRite nor Trader Joes are full sized they could split the building and yuppies and low income folks can join together and frolic in peace and love and drygood harmony.

[runawayjim]

Liamlunchtray, on Aug 20 2007, 04:45 PM, said:

I have come up with the perfect scenario - being that neither PriceRite nor Trader Joes are full sized they could split the building and yuppies and low income folks can join together and frolic in peace and love and drygood harmony.

you know... that might be the best solution. trader joes will have even have their required parking.

[Mothra]

Trader Joe's would never move there. They like a more upscale and well-heeled demographic. Which is strange since much of what they brand as their own is cheaper than a regular grocery store.

[misterchlo]

Mothra, on Aug 20 2007, 05:20 PM, said:

Trader Joe's would never move there. They like a more upscale and well-heeled demographic. Which is strange since much of what they brand as their own is cheaper than a regular grocery store.

I agree that Trader Joe's would not move there. They're not gonna be able to fill that space with anything geared higher upscale than Shaw's. And there's a Price Rite about 5 mins away over in Olneyville. Maybe a different low-priced chain, like...isn't there something called Price Chopper?

[runawayjim]

Mothra, on Aug 20 2007, 05:20 PM, said:

Trader Joe's would never move there. They like a more upscale and well-heeled demographic. Which is strange since much of what they brand as their own is cheaper than a regular grocery store.

i'm not so sure about that. it's an upscale development with some other upscale developments not far. plus it's easily accessed from the highway with plenty of parking. i've been to 2 trader joe's. one was in milford, CT in strip mall hell on rt 1 there (the equivalent of putting a TJ's on bald hill rd). the other was in arlington, MA on mass ave. it was pretty far out there, not near a super dense population.

i think it's a possibility with the available parking and the "up-and-coming-ness" of the area. they'd be almost stupid not to at least consider it. their stuff is pretty affordable (in some cases, more affordable than shaws; and way more affordable than whole foods).

[misterchlo]

runawayjim, on Aug 20 2007, 05:33 PM, said:

i'm not so sure about that. it's an upscale development with some other upscale developments not far. plus it's easily accessed from the highway with plenty of parking. i've been to 2 trader joe's. one was in milford, CT in strip mall hell on rt 1 there (the equivalent of putting a TJ's on bald hill rd). the other was in arlington, MA on mass ave. it was pretty far out there, not near a super dense population.

i think it's a possibility with the available parking and the "up-and-coming-ness" of the area. they'd be almost stupid not to at least consider it. their stuff is pretty affordable (in some cases, more affordable than shaws; and way more affordable than whole foods).

the area around shaws may be dense, but it ranges from incredibly poor to some lower middle class-not the target for Trader Joe's. I don't think the up-and-coming factor is far enough along to draw a trendy place like Trader Joe's. Those other suburban places mentioned in CT and Arlington may be in strip mall hell but I'm sure they were areas filled with people having disposable income and an interest in the natural healthy eating trend. I don't think I could tackle the plethora of reasons for this, but low income people tend to eat less healthy..prob because its sadly cheaper and maybe for other add'l reasons.. thats a whole nother complex topic for some other message board.. so i digress..

i would be shocked if something like a trader joe's moved in there.

[Mothra]

If that Eagle Square shopping center was "up and coming" it wouldn't be going out of business.

[runawayjim]

i think they tend to eat less healthy because it's generally considered expensive to eat healthy. trader joe's could possibly change that as their prices are pretty low. while the area around it might be lower class and lower middle class, the people living in eagle square, while not being many, and the people in rising sun and calendar mills are middle class to upper middle class.

sure, they might not come, but i still say they'd be stupid not to consider it, especially if the space is divided. someone had said that price rite is considering moving anyways, if they take half the space and TJ's takes the other half, it could work out quite well for both. regardless of the income of the people in the neighborhood, you have to take into account that people will make the 30-45 min trip to somewhere in MA just to go to TJ's. if they're willing to do that, i think it's a safe bet that they'd do well almost anywhere in providence, especially somewhere like eagle square where they have a guaranteed huge parking lot with all the spaces they could ever want.

the only thing going out of business in eagle square right now is shaw's. the other stores seem to be doing just fine (as did the shaw's, but they obviously don't give a crap about the neighborhood or providence in general).