Target Closing in Trotwood and Middletown (Cincinnati, Dayton: section 8, sales, credit card)

[SWOH]

Only one word - OUCH. This is painful.

Reports: Target closing in Trotwood, Middletown | www.daytondailynews.com

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by OHKID

Only one word - OUCH. This is painful.

Reports: Target closing in Trotwood, Middletown | www.daytondailynews.com

A few thoughts:

Middletown: I'm wondering what they're doing to leverage their position near I-75 roughly equidistant between Cincinnati and Dayton. The Cincinnati Premium Outlets and Miami Valley racino are just the tip of the iceberg as Lebanon, Monroe, Liberty Township, and Mason in the south, and Miamisburg, Austin Landing, and Springboro in the north pick up the rate of development.

It's going to completely outclass any amount of development and job creation in either core city. So what is Middletown going to do in order to avoid being completely bypassed?

(A good start is to get rid of the damned red light cameras, in order to make the town feel more welcoming.)


Trotwood: This, along with the Sears closing (the last real remnant of the Salem Mall) is really just another nail in the coffin for that whole area. If the problems of west Dayton - the crime, the joblessness, etc. - continue to spill over as they are, it's going to continue going downhill, to be honest.

[SWOH]

I'm wondering the same thing on the Middletown store too. I'm guessing they assume the area will be well canvassed enough by their Tylersville Rd, Bridgewater Falls, South Lebanon, and Dayton Mall locations. But if suburban sprawl continues to happen in the area, undoubtedly it would have benefited the Middletown store. So I'm thinking this was a short-sighted decision based only on the numbers....

Unless Target is betting suburban sprawl is really going to end between Dayton and Cincinnati. I'd say there's a decent shot that will happen, because most of the new development and desirability nowadays seems to be closer in to Cincinnati and Dayton both, not between the two. But if trends revert to what they were 10 years ago, then Target definitely made a bad move on Middletown unless they decide to do something like relocate to the other side of the interchange or wait until the Greentree exchange happens.


On the Trotwood store - I thought that one actually had a good sales volume? I guess that wasn't the case.
Considering that it did not, it makes sense that it closed. The Salem corridor's retail days are long gone. I'm hoping there is still strong enough demand for home repair items to keep Lowe's and Home Depot open for the long term though.

I assume the owners of Consumer Square are going to use the water main breaking as an excuse to level the center. Wouldn't be a bad idea because then it would be easier to re-purpose the site as industrial. And taxes would have to be lower on vacant land than a vacant shopping center.

[CarpathianPeasant]

Target may wind up closing everywhere.

[Ohiogirl81]

^You have anything to back that up?

[CarpathianPeasant]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

^You have anything to back that up?

News from The Associated Press

FYI: The Associated Press is a reliable and long established news source.

However, if you follow something like Google, I'm sure you can find similar stories amid their offerings.

[wrightflyer]

Originally Posted by CarpathianPeasant

Target may wind up closing everywhere.

Doubtful. Hurt? Yes. Dead? No.

Could happen to anyone, even Walmart. Sad state of our internet/card security.

[Ohioan58]

Middletown is a pit/hole on a permanent slope downward. EVERYTHING closes in Middletown. Targets don't saturate regions like Walmarts do, so the relatively-nearby South Lebanon location is probably cannibalizing their business a little. The suits probably assessed the demographics of the region and came up with the obvious conclusion... no reason whatsoever to keep Middletown open.

Target's current single problem is the credit card security breach. They will have to practice glasnost (extreme openness) about their later steps to protect shoppers who use plastic. They may even have to implement some kind of proactive anti-fraud policy, like compensating shoppers who used debit cards who lost real funds.

Myself, Target has never had anything I couldn't get at Walmart, Kroger or other retail. I'd shop there with cash AND if they offered some deals I could not get elsewhere. Target might have to bend over backwards with deals for awhile to rebuild traffic.

If they do it right they will be back on their feet.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by Ohioan58

Middletown is a pit/hole on a permanent slope downward. EVERYTHING closes in Middletown. Targets don't saturate regions like Walmarts do, so the relatively-nearby South Lebanon location is probably cannibalizing their business a little. The suits probably assessed the demographics of the region and came up with the obvious conclusion... no reason whatsoever to keep Middletown open.

Please don't be too quick to consign Middletown to the "dust bin of history."

Most certainly, the arrival of I-75 systematically sucked the life out of the traditional downtown itself eons ago, followed by the demise of Briele Blvd, then Town Center. But Middletown and environs can't so easily be written off quite yet.

Yes, as you mentioned, much has died in the Middletown of old--or has it merely been transformed? Example: "Middletown Regional Hospital," once located so centrally in the "old city," but now located on the other side of I-75 and renamed "Atrium." Is this city dying or merely being transformed into a renewed piece of the fast emerging "CIN-DAY" corridor?

A city dying? Just look at the elite housing on or near Manchester Road or what's happening along Rt 63 west of Monroe (or Monroe itself) to imagine otherwise. Your assessment is both timely and provocative, but it doesn't necessarily assess a city in massive transition between the CIN and the DAY. (or just visit the large, upscale Kroger Marketplace store on Towne Blvd. to appreciate the demise of Target across Rt-22; Target simply cannot compete with Cincinnati's 800-lb. gorilla, credit-cards or not.)

[Ohioan58]

I consider western Turtlecreek Twp to be separate from Middletown, and Middletown itself is being marginalized by new growth even more rapidly now then it was when the steel industry wound down substantially there. You go left of I-75 and it's commercial/industrial nuclear winter. Sure they're trying gentrification of select areas but the entire local economy is flatlined, so a few artsy yuppie attractions aren't enough to bring it back.

And Middletown has a very rough culture and nature. What Middletown substantially is right now counts the most. Lots of bars, extremely redneck people, etc., a very very strong Section 8 culture (look at MUSA forums to get an idea what locals think.) A few days ago I wandered into a thread on Topicks (use an X at the end) that was reminiscences between locals of of how many fights there used to be at local bars in Middletown. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there. The town's tainted IMO. Maybe someone from CIN or DAY without the baggage of knowing about present day M-town could look objectively at any remaining merits, but you have to work with what people presently think of a place.

Years ago I looked at a house there and I cringe to think of the resale I would have had, not to mention the quality of life. I've read about stabbings and homicides very close to the house I looked at. Yet the neighborhood looked OK.

Question, do residents in these newer areas prefer to be identified with Middletown, or with Franklin, Monroe, West Chester, etc? That would indicate how much momentum redevelopment efforts have.