Kildare's Coming to Downtown Scranton (Wilkes-Barre, Pittston: mortgage, house, movie theater)

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by go phillies

I don't think this is about the Shoppes being a failure as it is the economy being a failure. Stores are hurting everywhere....and part of that is that we have TOO MANY stores and restaurants. All of these chain stores and restaurants that popped up like weeds almost overnight are a result of the so-called "prosperity" of the late 1990's to early 2000's when people were living high on the hog on plastic and other credit. Now that reality is hitting, we're seeing that we have too many stores and restaurants, and some are bound to die off. Kildare's is probably realizing that they'll get more people in the door in downtown Scranton because of all of the bars around there....these bars don't hurt each other, they feed off each other with people going downtown bar hopping.

I was at Kildare's once, and I didn't see what was so special about the place. Overpriced run-of-the-mill food....pretty much like Applebee's or TGI Friday's food, but double the price. They put a few Irish beers on draft and some Irish pictures on the wall and call it an Irish pub. I like the Banshee much better...better food, lower prices, better beer selection, and a much more authentic Irish pub, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

Exactly. There's nothing genuine about the place..it's just another chain restaurant with oversalted food.

Both of you are right!! Just look at Dickson City, every time I drive up to the Wal-mart, I see another overpriced run-of-the-mill food chain. They all sell just about the same kind of food.... And people get so excited over nothing.. Wow a big restaurant moving from the "SHOPS" THE SHOPS!! Give me a break already..

Originally Posted by The Commish

I can't say I'm surprised, and we're really not missing much. Kildares had been dead for the longest time. There's no fun in frequenting bars without other people in them. And it frequently closed at 10pm, nevermind staying open until 2am.

YES, but the move to Scranton will do nothing for them is they close @ 10pm, most of the folks are just coming out at that time..
Just another bar to add to the city for more Fights, and more problems, = more Police to handle it all = more money out of my taxes!!

YES lets all run right down there when they open!! Hey, commishy, now you got a brand new place for you're 2nd date.. If there is one.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by greentown

I read that article in the Scranton Times also and I got the impression that although Kildare's food sales were OK, they weren't getting the after 9 pm crowd and they wanted to draw in more people that would drink alcohol, which they make a bigger profit on. I guess they figure most people in the downtown after 5 p.m. are there for the bars, so hopefully that location will be a better fit. The Montage store won't be vacant, as the owner plans on opening one of his other restaurants in the space.

As for the duplication of stores at the Steamtown Mall and Montage Shoppes, I would much rather go to Montage even though it means driving an extra few miles just to avoid the downtown. The stores seem to be much larger and nicer and I like the atmosphere better (i.e. it doesn't attact all the kids that congregate at the mall just to "hang out").

I agree about the Shoppes. I like them, because you don't get all of the riff-raff and teenagers that you have hanging around the other malls. I don't have to worry about my kids hearing some foul language from yahoos hanging around doing nothing constructive. I'm not crazy about the location up on the mountain, but that location is probably why there's not so much riff-raff there. You're always guaranteed of hearing a few "f-bombs" spoken when you go to the Steamtown Mall.

As far as Kildare's your comment is right, and also probably proves that their food is nothing special. Places that have lousy food tend to focus more on selling alcohol, but local bars that have built up a good reputation for their food tend to be straying away from the bar business to focus more on food. Two places I see this are at the Windsor Inn in Jermyn, although they have a bar, they are rarely open past 11 pm since they focused more on their wings (which are the best in my opinion), and Kelly's in South Side, which seems to be focusing more on the wings and other food and seems more like a family restaurant than a bar these days. Probably good for the owners, they don't have to worry about policing drunks and breaking up fights.

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by go phillies

I Two places I see this are at the Windsor Inn in Jermyn, although they have a bar, they are rarely open past 11 pm since they focused more on their wings (which are the best in my opinion), and Kelly's in South Side, which seems to be focusing mroe on the wings and other food and seems more like a family restaurant than a bar these days. Probably good for the owners, they don't have to worry about policing drunks and breaking up fights.

I go there atleast 2 times a month, love the wings... The only problem seems to be closeing at 11 pm. Seeing as they close early its always hard to get a good seat to watch a game.

[sues1]

We don't need another bar in Scranton, to many of them already and way to many drunks running around the city.

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by sues1

We don't need another bar in Scranton, to many of them already and way to many drunks running around the city.

Yes, but some on here will try and tell you that..."THE CITY IS COMING BACK TO LIFE"!!

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by John From Scranton

Yes, but some on here will try and tell you that..."THE CITY IS COMING BACK TO LIFE"!!

Revitalization around here always seems to mean "more bars." Same with Wilkes-Barre....everybody's saying how their downtown is coming back, when mostly all that happened was a bunch of new bars opened.

And we wonder why there's such a drinking problem in this area....

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Revitalization around here always seems to mean "more bars." Same with Wilkes-Barre....everybody's saying how their downtown is coming back, when mostly all that happened was a bunch of new bars opened.

And we wonder why there's such a drinking problem in this area....

oh yes.... Club 10.... What a great time I had in W-B.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Revitalization around here always seems to mean "more bars." Same with Wilkes-Barre....everybody's saying how their downtown is coming back, when mostly all that happened was a bunch of new bars opened.

And we wonder why there's such a drinking problem in this area....

Do you think most locals have the intellectual capacity to enjoy the fine arts, opera, art galleries, etc.? Entrepreneurs identify what is popular in an area and what could potentially turn them a profit. In this area it just so happens to be BOOZE. Don't blame the local politicians, Chambers of Commerce, business owners, etc. for this since nobody is forcing that Keystone Light down everyone's gullets into their gross hairy beer bellies as they yell "DEFENSE." I've been inebriated four times in my lifetime, and to be quite honest I don't see what's so "alluring" about it. In one circumstance I fell ill enough to vomit in a public garbage can in State College, in another circumstance I almost did something sexually with a female believe it or not (perhaps getting me drunk is the key to altering my sexual orientation after all?), and in the other two I was nearly tagged in some compromising Facebook photos that would bastardize my opportunities with an employer (as employers DO now scope out your MySpace and Facebook accounts as well during the hiring process). Perhaps for some people it is a mere temporary escape from their everyday problems. Perhaps for others it makes them feel as if they can "prove something" by showing off how much alcohol their body can handle before they become intoxicated. Who knows? All I know is that I'd much rather hit up Downtown Scranton for a First Friday or Downtown Wilkes-Barre for the Fine Arts Fiesta than get groped by 40-year-old guys at some bar while I struggle to keep down the tequila. I hate to come off as a snob, but when the majority of you area condones and PROMOTES alcoholism, you know there are issues with "class."

[weluvpa]

Does downtown Scranton need another bar across the street from three and around the corner from three more?

In that immediate area we have ....Traxx, The Side Car, Rocky's, Molly Branigans, Colesseum(sp?), Pj's 1910 Pub and now Kildare's...My pride is retsored....


The new slogan should be ...Come to Scranton, where you can get drunk enough to forget where you are!

[kvysmom]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Speak of the devil! A commercial for the Shoppes at Montage just came onto WNEP. LOL! They've been advertising like mad recently. I don't think their sales are meeting expectations. I say boot out all of the duplicate businesses in that complex, give the "unique" ones an incentive to move downtown, and then tear that place back down to restore it to its natural splendor! I can still remember a time when you could sit at a Red Barons game and see deer behind the outfield. Now you don't see that anymore as the mountain continues to develop all of its open space (thankfully it looks like plans for the Lowe's and Target were scrapped).

I also remembered the rural aspect to the mountain, I used to work there, and we were the very first corporate office that was built on the mountain. There are still deer, turkeys, and bears up on that mountain, they just don't have as much room to roam. But progress isn't going to go away. I think the Shoppes are a nice concept but I agree that the success of the Shoppes seems tepid. I know that I really don't go there now that I don't work on the mountain, and even when I did stop by there it was just for lunch or something from the Christmas Tree Shoppe.
And for all the stores that pulled out of our local malls and headed to Montage thinking we would all follow...we didn't. I know that I won't drive there just for a pair of jeans...I will buy them online instead. My time is precious and the Shoppes are out of the way.

Like you said, aside from Christmas time...you can hear a pin drop. They also promised an "upscale" grouping of stores. We have the same old stores we always did. I remember in the original plans there was a Crate and Barrel, and an Ulta cosmetics store, just to name a few...they never materialized.
You know who I almost feel badly for? The folks who paid 500K + for a home in Glenmaura near nature, skiing, a baseball field and close to the highway. Now it's also close to the corporate office parks, the movie theater, and the mall too....not really the same landscape it was 10 years ago.