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The newest entry on the list of Trader Joe's openings (USC Village) is a new college construction located in a depressed area of LA, which construction has been a source of battle over "gentrification" for years. Opening a Trader Joe's in the new Metro North station area of Parkchester would (will?) be a close equivalent of opening it in USC Village. In addition to 30,000 potential customers living in Parkchester only, plus the easy access to Parkchester from all areas of the Bronx, plus commuters that might stop for shopping between the trains... the greatest problem the Parkchester Metro North Trader Joe's could have would be handling the number of potential customers, which could be in hundreds of thousands.
Somerville MA (another new Trader Joe's location on that list) is predominantly white, but until very recently dirt-poor and intensely criminal. It has gotten better, but is still not considered a "better" part of Boston (I think average income levels would be comparable to Parkchester).
The Archie Bunker neighborhoods have definitely dwindled though, the Archie Bunkers have largely left South Brooklyn.
Glendale doesn't have subway service so I can see why it may have remained an Archie Bunker neighborhood. But Ridgewood I would think has too many Hispanics and Hipsters to still be like that.
Urban NYC in my opinion, is largely incompatible with what the average Trump supporter wants.
The newest entry on the list of Trader Joe's openings (USC Village) is a new college construction located in a depressed area of LA, which construction has been a source of battle over "gentrification" for years. Opening a Trader Joe's in the new Metro North station area of Parkchester would (will?) be a close equivalent of opening it in USC Village. In addition to 30,000 potential customers living in Parkchester only, plus the easy access to Parkchester from all areas of the Bronx, plus commuters that might stop for shopping between the trains... the greatest problem the Parkchester Metro North Trader Joe's could have would be handling the number of potential customers, which could be in hundreds of thousands.
Somerville MA (another new Trader Joe's location on that list) is predominantly white, but until very recently dirt-poor and intensely criminal. It has gotten better, but is still not considered a "better" part of Boston (I think average income levels would be comparable to Parkchester).
Somerville, MA was never dirt-poor; it has always traditionally been a working class area. However, in the last 25 years or so it has gentrified considerably and is now basically "hipster central", and is therefore a prime location for a Trader Joe's.
You seriously don't know all those things exist in the area between the courthouses and the Stadium?
No they don't because I've walked that area minus a side streets. I will be walking the side streets once we move in I saw a bunch of cleaners by the C-Town that is down the block from Carroll Place but that definitely isn't "between the courthouse and the Stadium". To me the area between the courthouse and the Stadium should be a somewhat of a straight line(because of the park) and not involve the side streets. Once you go past the courthouse and get closer to the 4 train the shops there just are food, cellphone, beauty supply stores and some bs clothing.
Not really, Boston doesn't have any hipster central. It does have the largest college student population in the world, so it has always catered to their interests, some of which you could call hipster. Somerville was still the car theft capital of the US in the 90s when I moved to Boston. Yes, it is much improved, but residential streets are still working class, and the median income is only about $10,000 higher than Parkchester (I just checked).
If anything is noticeable about Trader Joe's, it is that it does not have a particular pattern of location relative to "social class" of the neighborhood, only relative to the amount of traffic and likely number of customers. In Parkchester, that likelihood would be astronomical. The Bronx is starved for something like Trader Joe's (high quality + low price), and with the previously mentioned Parkchester accessibility, the likelihood of consumer frenzy over a Parkchester Trader Joe's would be very, very high. For the times they are a-changin.
PS Though I am not a US native, I travelled a lot for work, and have at least a cursory knowledge of most areas in the nation, so can compare and predict fairly accurately where the things are going. Have been right most of the time.
I already quoted this post, and noticed that Aquarius subsequently commented how this thread had become damn boring :-) (admittedly, his problems are bigger than the absence of Trader Joe's in Parkchester). I am getting back to it because I find it mind blowing that a young dude who is working cannot find a decent place to live BECAUSE HE IS WORKING, as opposed to somebody who can live on Section 8 in a relatively high-priced apartment because he is not working?? I mean ?!?!? Where is logic, where is sanity??? Aquarius, you should send your post to de Blasio, to Albany, AND to New York Times. I am serious. This simply cannot be.
de Blasio and Albany wont care till the media shine a light on them and the practices of housing in this city.
And knowing the Trader Joe's slightly risque sense of humor, maybe they'd call the Parkchester store Gangsta Joe's? Okay, too risque, maybe :-). Rapper Joe's? Can you imagine the limitless popularity of such a store in the Bronx?
Like any retail business with more than 1 location, TJs has certain parameters for opening new locations. They most certainly do have parameters for income level and demographics among other targets.
Although their parameters obviously don't have to do with ethnicity because a dollar is a dollar no matter where it comes from, in America ethnicity and income levels are correlated, especially in large metro areas.
Since TJs , like any business, doesn't have unlimited amounts of capital and ROI targets, every new location is an opportunity cost of not opening somewhere else.
Take a look at their openings, especially in large metro areas, and you'll see a trend (ie their business model).
Also want to mention that Trader Joe's will be opening later this year in Stuyvesant Town. Now, Stuyvesant Town and Parkchester are EXACTLY the same condo complexes (same design and construction), except that the former is in Manhattan and the latter in the Bronx. Otherwise, we are talking about twin complexes, nothing different between them except the borough where they are located (if anything, Parkchester has some decorative elements on the building facade that Stuy Town doesn't). So, yes, if TJs is to open in the Bronx, you may indeed see a trend in their business model :-).
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