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Eastown vacancies

suydam

By suydam
in Grand Rapids

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PR-15 Whistle-Stop

PR-15

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I say we just demo the empty storefronts and remove any bike racks in favor of more parking. It will benefit the existing businesses...thus making them stronger...thus stabilizing the area. All the extra space for vehicles will make it nicer for families coming to the new Chuckie Cheese in the Zondervan building.

The 5/3 Bank across the street from Chuckie's should become a new Friday's (or Smokey Bones or a Crab Shack...we don't have one of those)...and the LEED certified renovation going at CWD's building across the street from that could be a great spot for a Build a Bear Workshop...and there's probably still room for a nice food court on the lower level with a Sbarro's (there's no italian in Eastown...Mangiamo's is all the way in East Hills).

BTW, I drove by Kava House yesterday evening and there was a HUGE line up of scooters along the street...must've been 40 of them lined up...all those scooters were clearly robbing 1 ( or possibly 2) vehicles of precious on street parking space. Hello...that's like 2-3 people in those cars that couldn't find easy parking...those dollars aren't coming back anytime soon.

If Eastown is to survive, it would behoove them to look at more successful retails models along Alpine Ave, Rivertown Crossings and CenterPointe Mall. Even more moderately successful areas like Plainfield Avenue and Northland Drive have an awful lot to offer in terms of great ideas for creating the type of retail mix that today's Eastowner really wants to see in their neighborhood.

WAKE UP, AMERICA...WAKE UP!!!

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GR Jackson Hamlet

GR Jackson

Posted
Posted
I say we just demo the empty storefronts and remove any bike racks in favor of more parking. It will benefit the existing businesses...thus making them stronger...thus stabilizing the area. All the extra space for vehicles will make it nicer for families coming to the new Chuckie Cheese in the Zondervan building.

The 5/3 Bank across the street from Chuckie's should become a new Friday's (or Smokey Bones or a Crab Shack...we don't have one of those)...and the LEED certified renovation going at CWD's building across the street from that could be a great spot for a Build a Bear Workshop...and there's probably still room for a nice food court on the lower level with a Sbarro's (there's no italian in Eastown...Mangiamo's is all the way in East Hills).

BTW, I drove by Kava House yesterday evening and there was a HUGE line up of scooters along the street...must've been 40 of them lined up...all those scooters were clearly robbing 1 ( or possibly 2) vehicles of precious on street parking space. Hello...that's like 2-3 people in those cars that couldn't find easy parking...those dollars aren't coming back anytime soon.

If Eastown is to survive, it would behoove them to look at more successful retails models along Alpine Ave, Rivertown Crossings and CenterPointe Mall. Even more moderately successful areas like Plainfield Avenue and Northland Drive have an awful lot to offer in terms of great ideas for creating the type of retail mix that today's Eastowner really wants to see in their neighborhood.

WAKE UP, AMERICA...WAKE UP!!!

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zenstyle Hamlet

zenstyle

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:rofl: Glad you didn't take it seriously for long...sad part is that there's plenty of that kind of thinking out there! You must be one of "today's Eastowners". :thumbsup:

It's great to see the growing scooter movement...perhaps that would make a good story for Rapid Growth. Who spearheads the meet-ups on thursdays at Kava?

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Par75 Whistle-Stop

Par75

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^ Cory DeMint, of the soon-to-be-opened Electric Cheetah on 1015 Wealthy SE.

PR-15, do you write for Rapid Growth Media? They've done a couple of stories about my dog-walking business! Deborah Johnson Wood and Brian Kelly are supreme. I don't have the faintest idea what such a cool website wants with the likes of D. Schoon on board!

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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They seem to be in East Grand Rapids. I've tailed a few wayward joggers in EGR whose brisk 6 mph meanderings on the roadways is entirely dangerous not only to their person but to other motorists. If I have to drive into oncoming traffic four times each day just to pass a takin-in-the-scenery jogger/biker on my way to work, that unnecessarily increases my risk, the risk of other drivers, and the risk of the too-much-of-a-professional-athlete-to-use-the-sidewalk jogger. And by the way, if they're such a pro-athlete who can't run on the sidewalk because its "too uneven" than how come they don't have their own private training facility?

/end rant

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Veloise City

Veloise

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...

If Eastown is to survive, it would behoove them to look at more successful retails models along Alpine Ave, Rivertown Crossings and CenterPointe Mall. Even more moderately successful areas like Plainfield Avenue and Northland Drive have an awful lot to offer in terms of great ideas for creating the type of retail mix that today's Eastowner really wants to see in their neighborhood. ...

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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^ Cory DeMint, of the soon-to-be-opened Electric Cheetah on 1015 Wealthy SE.

PR-15, do you write for Rapid Growth Media? They've done a couple of stories about my dog-walking business! Deborah Johnson Wood and Brian Kelly are supreme. I don't have the faintest idea what such a cool website wants with the likes of D. Schoon on board!

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Rhino6885 Hamlet

Rhino6885

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I noticed that the Yoga/Thai Massage place has moved out. That makes how many failed businesses there in the last few years???

What can be done to help the businesses who open up in this location? Is it the lease terms that leads to their demise, lack of business knowledge/experience, wrong product/service for the neighborhood?

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canetoad Unincorporated Area

canetoad

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I saw that MetroPCS is moving into the vacant space next to the new(ish) Jimmy John's in Eastown, where the photo shop used to be. It's a pay-as-you-go cell phone company as I gather. They seem to be moving into GR with a vengeance - they've also taken over the former Tanglez hair salon at Franklin and Eastern, and I saw one going in on West Fulton near the zoo. Nice to see some new businesses coming in and taking over these empty spaces, their colors are ORANGE and PURPLE - the Tanglez building has been nicely renovated, but it's screaming orange on the outside. I thought it was a primer at first, but no, that's the color.

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Grandrapidsne Whistle-Stop

Grandrapidsne

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It is good to see those spaces being filled. Metro Pcs is making a heck of a push into this area there is also one coming on Grandville and two along 28th street. I have heard from friends in Florida where they have a large presence they are nicknamed Metro Piece of s**t because of there poor service area. From what id heard id stay away from them.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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According to Facebook, this is now a gallery of sorts.

The Parlor at Cherry Street Market

721 Cherry Street

Area photographers will be displaying their work at The Parlor at Cherry Street Market. Stop in and check out some amazing artwork from Grand Rapids while enjoying an ice cream cone.

The first show will be begin on Saturday, May 2, 2009 and will end on Friday, May 22.

Featured Photographers are:

Katie Weller, Matt Stangis, Chad VanWalsum and Terry Johnston.

Ice Cream Parlor hours:

Saturday & Sunday 2-10pm

Monday-Friday 3-10pm

Special Night with the Artists... Monday, May 4, 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.

If you can't make it May 4, be sure to stop in at another time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope they got the climate control issue fixed.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Thanks for posting this. I exchanged email with Terry and he was going to make sure they had gotten adequate ventilation, because as he told me, a 24x30" print isn't cheap to make!

A bit more on this can be found here ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandrapidsmi...57617277029810/ ) as well. The featured artists will all be from the Grand Rapids Flickr Group and the current photogs get to pick the next photogs, who then have about 2-3 weeks to prepare their featured photos. I think it's a great way to fill up what was a huge blank wall last year.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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No, Terry Johnston is pretty much running this show. He is definitely not a socially conservative person, or anti-nudity ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerbooktran...57604879146137/ warning, photos of scantily clad burlesque dancers await anyone who clicks this link ). I would assume they are trying to keep this very family friendly, since this is an ice cream shop and all.
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