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Conference 7.286::maynard

Title:	Maynard -- Center of the Universe
Notice:	Welcome to our new digs...
Moderator:	PRAGMA::GRIFFIN

Created:	Wed Aug 06 1986
Last Modified:	Thu Feb 20 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	509
Total number of notes:	4062

236.0. "Stores for the MALL" by SENIOR::IGNACHUCK () Wed Jul 25 1990 00:12

    On a suggestion from Jeff Lomicka, I am opening a note for
    suggestions for the long vacant Assabet Village Mall.  As
    we all know, Digital employees represent a large percentage
    of the retail trade in Maynard.  I have to believe that 
    input from Digital employees, delivered to the Chamber of
    Commerce and to the Bank that owns the Mall, will be of
    value to whoever gets the Mall operating.  
    
    The subject of the Mall has been addressed in other notes in 
    this conference, but it has been a long time since this 
    subject has been raised.  Mr. Moderator, if you'd rather refer 
    us back to earlier notes, it's your call, but I'll start this 
    as a new note until you make a ruling.
    
    First off Jeff, the spaces in the Mall are too small for a
    major retailer.  At one time, Sears operated a very successful
    catalog/appliance store in what is now the Fitness Corner on
    the Mall property.  There was once a Brigham's at what is now
    the entrance to the Mall, which did well but was always short
    of help.  There was once a Brooks Drug next door to that.  
    
    In my opinion, the success of the Mall will depend on smaller 
    franchises, like a good men's/women/s clothing store, maybe a 
    Brookstones type gadget shop, a TOY store, a Ticketron type
    outlet, etc.  I dream of a Red Sox Clubhouse Shop in the Mall.
    
    The reason I focus on franchises is that Maynard storefronts
    are vacant because mom and pop operations cannot survive in
    the VERY high rent envirionment in Maynard.  I can't fathom
    what the speculators are waiting for, but the rents are 
    astonomical and only franchises can fund the fit-up costs and
    wait for long term returns on their investments.  
    
    On the downside, eateries will have trouble because the downtown
    area is saturated, and only outstanding new ones will survive.
    Those that do survive will drive out existing shops who are 
    barely making it today which may be free enterprise at its best.
    
    
    Well, that's a start.  Now let's here from you...
    
    Frank

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
236.1	How about an arcade?	ASABET::CUNNIFF		`Wed Jul 25 1990 11:51`	11
	Personally, I know that although arcades are not the rage they have been in the past, and towns sometimes think they're just hangouts, a well-run arcade with three or four pinball machines and a number of video games and other arcade-type games would certainly get plenty of business. Look at 1001 Plays in Cambridge - it's really the techies who crowd around the machines, not the kids, especially at noontime... jack (who'll play pinball over videogames any day)
236.2	arcade, he says...	PARVAX::YANAGI	The Jersey Boy, N2KJM	`Sat Jul 28 1990 00:47`	9
	RE: .1 -< How about an arcade? >- Jack-o, Wonder who you got that idea from? You STILL trying to take credit for my ideas or something?! :-) :-) :-) John
236.3		ASABET::CUNNIFF		`Mon Jul 30 1990 07:47`	6
	for those that don't know it - .2 from John Yanagi is being written from Parsippany, New Jersey. I said it HERE first. jack
236.4		PRNSYS::LOMICKAJ	Jeffrey A. Lomicka	`Mon Jul 30 1990 13:54`	14
	Well - I'd say the best thing that could happen to the rest of Maynard is for the WHOLE mall to be taken over by a "draw" retailer like a Lechmere, Sears, or Jordan Marsh. While the individual stores are quite small, I would think that you could fit a stripped down version of, mayby, a J.C.Penny's into that space. This is the same approached used by the big malls. If you look at it right, that's all the Maynard downtown is, really, a big outdoor Mall, and a rather nice one I might add. With a "draw" store in place, I think it would not be long before the rest of the vacant storefronts were filled up. (I agree, please, no more food places. My favorite choice would be for You-Do-It electronics to move up here from their place on 128.)
236.5	Agree with .4	SENIOR::IGNACHUCK		`Tue Jul 31 1990 00:57`	19
	Jeff, I couldn't agree with you more. If they knocked down a few walls in the Mall and created an "Anchor" tenent as a draw, the whole downtown area would recover. I mentioned the Sears store from a few years ago, which was just such a draw for local businesses. Even after Digital went home, Saturday mornings were very crowded in and around Sears. Right now, the anchor in downtown Maynard is the Outdoor Store which, in a limited floorspace, is proof that a quality retail outlet can prosper. My point about mom and pop stores is that they may be convenient to some, but they just don't draw. They are, at best, oh-by-the-way stores, and need a big ticket draw to survive. Check out the ads in Boston Magazine or the Globe Magazine. There are dozens of shops that would be ideal anchors for the Mall. I agree that Maynard is a big outdoor Mall, and with the right anchor, the vacant stores would fill up. Frank
236.6	One big store, or a health food store	NODEX::DAVILA		`Wed Jan 02 1991 10:03`	8
	I agree that I would love to see a little Sears within walking distance of my house. I belive that maybe a health food store wouldn't be a bad idea. It really wouldn't compete with the other eateries because it would offer different stuff. People can buy stuff there for lunch, but also those of us who go all the way to Bread and Circus in Newton would like to see an affordable health food store (not an expensive, up-scale one) closer to home.
236.7	thoughts	STORIE::KALLIS	Pumpkins -- Nature's greatest gift.	`Thu Jun 13 1991 11:44`	28
	Re .6: >I belive that maybe a health food store wouldn't be a bad idea. It really >wouldn't compete with the other eateries because it would offer different >stuff. People can buy stuff there for lunch, but also those of us who go all >the way to Bread and Circus in Newton would like to see an affordable >health food store (not an expensive, up-scale one) closer to home. The Alchemist, which used to sell health food (plus herbs, metaphysical books, vitamins, and musical stuff), was once located where What's The Scoop later resided. As far as I can tell, it left (many years ago) because of the rent (it's now in Marlboro, across from Mars Bargainland). I doubt that the current rent levels would be conducive for a return or an equivalent health-food shop. Recall also there used to be a Brooks Discount at about where Brigham's appeared (and it was driven out by the rent, I've been told). This suggests that it's hard for a smaller store to survive in the current climate. I've said elsewhere and I repeat here that one of the reasons the minimall stores failed was that there was nothing to induce folk to enter. Many of the stores in the mall were duplicated outside it; those few that weren't were a bit specialized to draw many in (and some have relocated outside Maynard and appear to be doing as well as can be expected these days). I can think of a few stores I'd like to see in Maynard for my convenience; but anybody setting up a store to satisfy my rather specialized preferences would quickly go belly up. Steve Kallis, Jr.