Au Bon Pain, Ben & Jerry's in Mt. Greenwood (Pulaski: neighborhood, high school)

[ajolotl]

Was I hallucinating or did I see "coming soon" signs for Ben & Jerry's and an Au Bon Pain in the new mixed-use development across from that nice Park on 111th in Mt. Greenwood (around 3600 W)? I'm all for Rainbow Cone, Lumes, and whatever other locally owned business in theory but the truth is the mom and pop places around these parts just suck. Rather have a good chain that a sucky local place. This is good news ...

[long101]

where as Im all for good chain food, I think I would rather go to a subpar local place. Of course if the local place sucks then thats a different story. But say if the local place is a 6 or 6.5 I would go there rather then another place thats a 7.

[ajolotl]

Me too. Unfortunately it's often 7 vs. 2.

[prairiestate]

These companies must be hallucinating. Apparently no one told them that Mt. Greenwood is a working class neighborhood, and that 111th is not a particularly busy street (compared to say, 95th). Hopefully Ben & Jerry's will earn enough in the summer from the crowds at Mt. Greenwood Park to keep them afloat the rest of the year.

[ajolotl]

I tend to agree. Supposedly though they have marketing people who do these studies in depth. They obviously didn't just guess at a good location and I'm sure they have data on the traffic volume, etc. Maybe the raw income numbers support it but the character of the neighborhood (which is harder to quantify) doesn't.

[cdc3217]

Hmmm...between Pulaski and Kedzie? This is an odd location - especially because all the newer development on 95th is pulling the same crowd. I'll be interested to see how it goes. I can see B&J's surviving due to the larger than normal at-home family base and uniqueness, but Au Bon Pain seems kinda odd. There are a lot of small businesses - maybe they'll market to them successfully.

[ajolotl]

thinking about it prairie has a good point that the park makes it a bit unique. Add to that the high school (Ag) and it might make a little more sense. I've been hanging out there quite a bit recently with the kids and have to say that I'm extremely impressed. Being able to cross a small street and get some lunch and ice cream is a pretty cool proposition, gives it something unique compared to the businesses on the main thoroughfares.