Honesdale/Hawley...What do we "need"? (Pittsburgh, Scranton: Home Depot, wedding)

[donnahonesdale]

So, I see in Honesdale that there are several empty stores on main street. What do you think we "need" in the area? I know we are a touristy place and we have several stores to meet that side of the economy :0). But is there a small town type store that could work to add to the lives of those of us that live here full time?
We have a nice fish store...a few great bakeries...book store for "better" books, some little clothing shops and PLENTY of the best "eats" in town...a natural food store...even a WONDERFUL appliance store ( We will NEVER buy from Home Depot again!!!)!!!
But what else would work in a small store???

[Riverside4ever]

Honesdale Needs a Burger King

[beckycat]

Aldi, Family Dollar, Ross, TJ Maxx and more!

[highfallslover]

I don't think we need too much, the more that comes the more traffic there is. If we need to really shop we go to Dickson City, keep the traffic there. I know one thing Honesdale doesn't need, another eating place or another hair or nail place. I do wish the health food store would expand.

[donnahonesdale]

OH! I would LOVE an Aldi's....only place I can afford to feed my family :0). But I would not want more traffic! BK---YUCK---no offense unless the get rid of Arby's :0).
Truth is I was thinking of a smal toen mom and pop type of place on Main Street. I hate seeing empty store fronts! SOMETHING needs to be in the stores, I am just trying to think of what???

[SteelCityRising]

Well, what do you folks in Wayne County absolutely HATE being forced to drive to the Scranton Area for? More than likely your frustrations with driving 30-35 minutes all the time to "______" are being shared by most others in your community. Honesdale is only a mid-range income town, so any frou-frou stores as you'd find in the immediate Scranton area (Lavish, Talbot's, Everything Natural, etc.) probably wouldn't do so well unless the summer tourist traffic can sustain them.

What about an Irish pub? In Pittsburgh they had a neat store in the trendy Strip District that exclusively sold all sorts of different flavored popcorn. They also had a store that specialized ONLY in chocolate. Is there a candy store in Downtown Honesdale? What about a place to buy DVDs/CDs/video games (new and used?)

[okaydorothy]

I would love a small irish pub with the little nooks and all in it. Liek a smaller version of Siamsa (stroudsburg). Maybe with an open fireplace.
Somewhere that the locals could come to and chat/gossip/get to know eachother and also the tourists could get to know the locals.

d

[highfallslover]

Honesdale has the Limerick Bar, they paint the line green every St. Patrick's Day! There is a Blockbuster and we have Gertie Hawk but you have to go out of downtown to get to them. There is an electronics place on Main St. There used to be a real nice candy shop on the Main St. the candy was really good. I think she's gone, not sure if she closed before or after Gertie Hawke came. There was a specialized coffee shop, that closed. Some places have been there for years, some come and go so fast. If the local people know and trust you then you have a better chance. There are some more upscale shops, I guess that's what you'd call them, Arts, The Wallflower, The Cottage, Morning Glory Gifts. One shop opened and really only wanted to deal with tourists, she would pretty much snub the local people, she'd talk to us if nobody else was in the shop but if a city person came in she'd fall all over them leaving us mid sentence. We stopped going in there and I used to buy alot but when she did that to me twice I just stopped going since I figured she could let her tourist friends keep her in business. She didn't seem like she appreciated my money. She wasn't in business long since other people said she did the same thing to them so they stopped going too. I know one person who opened a business in town and said she'd be open 7 days a week, 12 hrs a day since she felt like Honesdale really needed what she has to offer. Guess not. She's hardly ever open, so many times we've wanted to go in there and there's a big old CLOSED sign on the door. Even on a Sat. afternoon when people are out shopping. You have to deal with the local people because they are going to be the ones who keep you in business during the winter. I don't think the people of the area like trendy, if you look at the eating places that are most successful they are the ones that serve regular food at reasonable prices. High end places have tried and failed. I've heard people say "Honesdale is a Meat and Potatoes town". Trendy would be pretty much for tourists and you can't survive by tourists alone.

I've seen so many of the big places go, Newman's, Katz's, Murrey's, McCrory's [sp]. It is sad, we used to do all of our shopping in Honesdale, we still have our favorite places in and around town and we go to them and honestly as much as I complain if you really look and aren't fussy you can still do pretty good in Honesdale, we have places we like for flowers, gifts, pet food, our birds, eating places, baked goods. There is a market on a back street my husband will stop to get supper from, it's always good and it's not expensive. We use Stephen's Pharmacy since they are a family owned and run place. I'm trying to think of something that could come and stay in business. I'm not sure what it would be since so many things have been tried and failed for one reason or another.

Since all the stores came to Dickson City I think more people just enjoy going over there and making a day of it and they don't have to pay to park. The new highway makes the trip faster. I don't think fancy stores would do that well in town. The $ store on Main St. didn't even last and everyone loves $ stores! So many people I know clothes shop in Sullums or Agway so we don't have fancy needs! We have a Home Depot and people still go to the one in Dickson City! Ours is usually pretty empty when we go in. K-mart always looks like it's going out of business. Walmart is booming but I avoid that place unless I can't help it. I hate to see the downtown dying too, I hope it doesn't but I can't think of anything that might open and stay open. Everyone seems to have a hard time making a go of it even the people who have been there for years. Country Dawn is still in business! I'm not quite sure how she is in business but the place has been there for yrs with stuff all over the inside and sidewalk but I never see too many people shopping. I do like the little Antique shop on that block but normally only go in there if I need something. I think it's still open, they have nice clean things.

I mail order so much, it saves stress over traffic and I don't have to stand in line since most stores think it's OK to have a bunch of checkouts but only have 2 open. I don't "do" lines so I sit here and order.

[donnahonesdale]

Thanks highfalls for that lengthy response!

i LOVE to go to the local places and can 100% agree that what is the heart of Honesdale is meat and potatoes! I REALLY hate seeing so many closed stores on Main! Breaks my heart. I hate to say it, but I hope K-Mart does close down and they put a Target there instead. They treat their employers better, have better stuff, etc. And if it does better business, they will need more workers.

I hate to admit this, but I do go to Wal-Mart WAY more than I want to. The sad truth is, with a family of 4 kids and my hubby working so hard to support us, we need to breaks on the every day things! I am a "volunteer" stay at home mom and LOVE being there with and for my kids at any moment, so the cut backs I can get from going to Wally world helps immensely. I even found that Dave's Super Duper is SOOOO much more for everything that the only thing I buy there is cold cuts these days and maybe a loss leader item---going on Wednesdays of course :0).

I really do not think Honesdale needs yet anothe bar. Sheesh, there are dozens of 'em from Hawley to Waymart! I did see some people hanging out at Bean's Cafe' the other night---it was pretty late for Honesdale---around 9-ish??? I have never been in but it looked like a nice place.

Hawley does have Penny Lane which is the BEST candy store and any other would be hard pressed to do as well as she does :0). But perhaps a "gourmet" candy store that is not astronomically priced?? I find Gert Hawks stupid expensive for mediocre chocolates!

A linen store? Like the one in Milford, PA???


A fabric store that sells more than quilting fabric???

A "Children's" book store??? THAT would be a dream of mine! To have an awesome children;s book store that STILL could give a discount plus have a place for serious reading to go on---a little bit more than at the library but I don;t know much about the kids around here and if there would be a need?

A five and dime in that bigger store---oh what corner is that??? It has been empty for years and last summer they were trying to "de-smell" it with HUGE fans???

I don;t like video Express....the guy that owns it is quite rude!

Sullums....is that a decent place? My 17 YO daughter went in there once and they treated her like she was going to rob the place??? For the record, my daughter is 4 foot not much, 100 pounds and dresses/behaves like the sweetest thing she is! I find many stores treat young people poorly---I guess if some are obnoxious all must be???

Ever get to the Kitchen Center on Rte 191? I have been meaning to go.

Well, thanks again everyone for your thoughts!

[highfallslover]

Yeah Sullums aren't known for their warm and fuzzy personalities, never have been. They treat everyone the same way. I haven't been in there for awhile, we used to shop there all the time [They used to have the best prices for jeans etc but I don't know about now since Walmart came] but since we got internet yrs ago I buy things on line, it's less stressful for me, if I need bedding I order it on line when it's on sale. I don't shop alot in regular stores unless I have no other choice. I was in the Kitchen shop once, I don't really cook so I don't need much, we went there because someone we know was registered there for a wedding. The prices were unreal but then maybe that's what kitchen stuff costs everywhere. There was a 5 & Dime type store on the corner, it was McCory's, it went out of business awhile ago, Katz's was like a big dept. store, that's been gone for yrs too. I truly don't know what the answer is. I hate to see the down town dying but I think since the new highway it's just easier to go to Dickson City and you don't have to pay to park or sit in traffic forever and a day plus the stores are open longer hours. When most places close at 5 or 6 people who have jobs are just getting out of their jobs when the stores are closing. Friday nights are the only nights they stay open but yet it doesn't pay for them to stay open when not many people shop there anyway. It's a no win situation. My husband's family has been here forever and has always said Honesdale is set in it's ways and they don't accept change well and it's true.

So many things have tried and failed, there was a fabric shop that sold everything, they closed too. There was a movie theater on main st but it just went to ruin, the last time I remember being in there it was raining inside the theater because the roof leaked. I've never been in the other one down in the K-mart area. There were a couple woman's clothes shops and a baby shop, they're gone. The Ford garage on the corner is gone, I remember what it was like when I moved here when I got married and what it's like now, it's sad to see. I see someone opened up a shop that sells dog stuff, I hope they make a go of it. It would be nice if something could come and it works . The eating places seem to do OK but there are so many of them and the only ones that do OK are the ones that serve regular food.