Bowling & movies at Macy's

[osirus226]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

ZingBasket offers free grocery delivery if your order is >$50, which is very easy to do if you're stocking up for the week, even as just one person. You'd just have to account for tipping your driver (or not tipping, as is the case with our new no-tipping UBER/Postmates entitled East End Millennial sort of culture, but I digress).

As far as "too far to walk" is concerned given how many morbidly obese chain-smokers I see Downtown daily on my walking commute home from my office I'd wager a bet to say if more people would walk places we'd have a healthier city in many ways. My walking commute each way is only 40-45 minutes, and it puts me in such a good mood when I arrive at the office for what is a very stressful job with lots of mandatory overtime.

I see no reason why someone living Downtown couldn't walk to the Allegheny East Giant Eagle, the Lower Hill Shop 'n Save, or the Strip for groceries.

I'm in Dormont, and tried zingbasket recently. It was really nice, the delivery person came faster than expected, even brought all the bags up my stairs to the porch. I would highly recommend it to anyone if available in your area. I hear they're going to eventually go 24/7 which is very convenient. The prices seemed reasonable and on par with everywhere else and they had a huge selection of items. I'm usually an Aldi's girl, but since I moved to Dormont I haven't had much of a chance to get there.


I have to agree with you on the "too far to walk" concern since I see unbelievable laziness every day with my own eyes. I know people who will drive 2 blocks down the road to go to a meeting or lunch, and that is not an exaggeration. I usually bike or jog on my lunch hour and have had a few people threaten to join me, but nobody ever has. I seem to be the anomaly for getting even a small amount of exercise in every day. That said, I still think I'd love to see a Target downtown with a big grocery section.


I'm pretty excited to see this bowling and movie theater come to life downtown and see how it does. I would gladly take the T from Dormont into town to catch a movie and do some bowling. Would be nice to be able to enjoy a drink or 2 and not have to worry about driving home.

[Mr.BadGuy]

Will it fail for sure though? Even if it's promoted, particularly among the college/20-something crowd, who, I keep hearing, comprise a growing share of the urban core's populace? Besides the obvious captive youth market, another thing I like about this idea is the central location. Downtown Pittsburgh has the advantage of being served by all major bus-lines that also serve the urban university campuses, so no car = no problem, for those who don't drive (and there are many, especially undergraduate students, commuters excepted). The Homestead Waterfront and South Side Works are not nearly as well-served, and that's critical for young people, not all of whom attend university, or do so in a nice, easy central location like Pitt, CMU, or Point Park.

In any case, Macy's was not a good move for that space. Aside from the flagship store in Herald Square, which is more like an "experience" (*cough* tourist trap) than a place to shop, the typical Macy's branch does not offer much, let alone much special to the brand. Far from it, and that goes double for the outlet locations in malls across America. The clothing is cheaply made, poorly cut, and horribly overpriced, and an increasing number of pieces and lines are made in third-world countries with fatally lax worker safety provisions. Now, losing Kaufmann's? THAT was a shame — but of course, now THAT was a STORE! Macy's was a damn joke compared to its predecessor, much like "Lazarus" couldn't hold a CANDLE to Joseph Horne and Co. So maybe the specific TYPE of entertainment complex isn't quite right for that block of properties, but I can't think of much that's worse for Smithfield St. than the umpteenth middle-of-the-road branch of Macy's.

Frankly, even the NYC flagship location of Macy's is worth a miss. This brand is so terrible that I guarantee tourism is the major reason the flagship location survives. And lucky for the Macy's execs that this is so, because less costly outlets and chains of comparable to superior quality keep popping up nearby. Also, the Fashion District boutiques — which CANNOT be beat, not for quality, not for uniqueness, and not for cost-savings — are just 1/4th a mile north to NW of Herald Square. Then, we have the hoards of Korean- and Chinese-owned handbag and accessories stores in the West 30s and 20s selling a better variety than Macy's for 1/3 of the price, and I'm sure you can see why no New Yorker bothers with the place. I keep repeating myself re: how truly TERRIBLE this store/brand is because I believe the fact of Macy's being Macy's doomed the Smithfield St. branch more than the fact of Downtown Pittsburgh being Downtown doomed that branch of Macy's. I visited the Lazarus downtown in the 90s and was appalled by the prices they were asking for the goods: absolute highway robbery. Macy's is much the same...except it's even worse.

[gg]

Kaufmann