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Old 05-14-2012, 07:20 PM
 
Location: Michigan
29,391 posts, read 55,391,254 times
Reputation: 22042

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CHESTER, Vt. — Almost two decades after the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the entire state of Vermont on its list of endangered sites, citing big-box developments as a threat to its signature greenness, towns like this one are now sizing up a new interloper: the chain dollar store.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/us...?src=me&ref=us
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Old 05-15-2012, 06:01 AM
 
Location: in a cabin overlooking the mountains
3,078 posts, read 4,358,154 times
Reputation: 2275
This has already been posted and is being discussed on a thread in this forum:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/24286258-post68.html
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Old 05-15-2012, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Inis Fada
16,966 posts, read 34,558,902 times
Reputation: 7722
In all fairness it should receive it's own thread as opposed to being lumped into the Vermont Youth Fleeing the State thread. A Dollar Store isn't the panacea needed to keep youth here.
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Old 10-05-2012, 04:50 PM
 
Location: Central Maine
2,866 posts, read 3,611,630 times
Reputation: 4018
The problem that I have with this store and many like it is that when they in move somewhere they cannot seem to move into a pre-existing building. I like dollar stores and shop at them but I dislike it when any store has to go in and "sterilize" the area to put up one of their stores. Then when they close/pull out you have this ugly, empty building remaining that no one wants to move into. I am not necessarily talking about moving into a strip mall or indoor mall. I mean when they have to demolish other historic buildings within a certain radius for their unique building and parking lot. Lost several old historic buildings in the town I grew up in because of this. That said, if there is one in Springfield why do they need another in Chester? Sounds like over-saturation to me.
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:05 PM
 
Location: on a dirt road in Waitsfield,Vermont
2,186 posts, read 6,792,526 times
Reputation: 1148
The big box/ chain store battle as been raging for years in Vermont. When Walmart tried to put 3 stores along the Ct River, the state and local officials fought them off but Walmart simply put them right across the river in NH, so the state and those towns lose tax base and purchases by Vermonters who shop there.

While Chester is making this little box store look more Vermonty, the store that opened recently in Williamstown did have to adhere to those conditions. It's just a steel building with metal siding and lots of windows in the front. Looks kinda strange. Maybe a little steeple or cupola would help. lol
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Old 10-06-2012, 07:13 AM
 
3,463 posts, read 5,628,994 times
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One reason we moved to Vermont when we did was to escape this plague of trash. I think one of Vermont's greatest assets are people who actively fight this stuff. Its a slippery and short slope from the single Dollar General to Trenton New Jersey
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Old 10-08-2012, 05:06 AM
 
Location: Live - VT, Work - MA
819 posts, read 1,489,374 times
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There is a Dollar General in our town in VT, it is what it is. They moved into an existing building. I don't shop there regularly but I have been in there, cheap stuff cheap. As far as Vermont and the culture of fighting off big boxes......I find the thought noble in theory however Vermont is a very conflicted state. People complain about the lack of jobs and the high cost of living, yet they oppose many of the avenues for job creation and lowering of the cost of living.

It is extremely rare to have a low cost of living, available jobs and the "Yankee Magazine" version of Vermont. If people want to fight large scale job creation (ie. larger companies, larger retail outlets etc.) then quit bitching about the lack of jobs and the cost of goods......enjoy the $4/gal gas for your 25 mile trek to the nearest Wal Mart to stock up on things (and we all know the NIMBYS make the treks to the retail centers to stock up).

Unfortunately, an economy sustained by small scale dairy farming and maple syrup is not realistic anymore. As much as we would like to think it is. Some of the new wave agriculture is outstanding however the folks making that work and the whole farm to table movement are highly motivated individuals, not the armchair complainers who sit around waiting for someone else to "fix" things.

Off my small soapbox....
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Old 10-08-2012, 05:52 AM
 
Location: Winter Springs, FL
1,792 posts, read 4,643,213 times
Reputation: 945
Quote:
Originally Posted by Logs and Dogs View Post
There is a Dollar General in our town in VT, it is what it is. They moved into an existing building. I don't shop there regularly but I have been in there, cheap stuff cheap. As far as Vermont and the culture of fighting off big boxes......I find the thought noble in theory however Vermont is a very conflicted state. People complain about the lack of jobs and the high cost of living, yet they oppose many of the avenues for job creation and lowering of the cost of living.

It is extremely rare to have a low cost of living, available jobs and the "Yankee Magazine" version of Vermont. If people want to fight large scale job creation (ie. larger companies, larger retail outlets etc.) then quit bitching about the lack of jobs and the cost of goods......enjoy the $4/gal gas for your 25 mile trek to the nearest Wal Mart to stock up on things (and we all know the NIMBYS make the treks to the retail centers to stock up).

Unfortunately, an economy sustained by small scale dairy farming and maple syrup is not realistic anymore. As much as we would like to think it is. Some of the new wave agriculture is outstanding however the folks making that work and the whole farm to table movement are highly motivated individuals, not the armchair complainers who sit around waiting for someone else to "fix" things.

Off my small soapbox....
True, true, true. The people who complain are doing financially better than the average Vermonter. The stores are opening everywhere. We have had two stores open in town in the last few years. They do well because people shop there. I don't blame anyone who can't afford to make ends meet for getting all they can for their money. We go every once and a while. Name brand cereal is half the price of the average grocery store.
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Old 10-08-2012, 09:02 AM
 
23,517 posts, read 69,907,878 times
Reputation: 48875
"Its a slippery and short slope from the single Dollar General to Trenton New Jersey."

Gawrsh, I hadn't realized the cause and effect was that distinct!

but you are right! Lessee what else...
Its a slippery and short slope from the single Starbucks to Seattle Washington
Its a slippery and short slope from the single Walmart to Benton Arkansas
Its a slippery and short slope from the top of Mount Mansfield to Stowe!
Its a slippery and short slope from the University of Vermont to the bars downtown!
Its a slippery and short slope from the independence of old Vermont to Trust Baby Heaven
Its a slippery and short slope from the beautiful farms of the 1950s to brushland
Its a slippery and short slope from Shelburne to Shelburne

Thank you for your initial insight. I never would have realized...
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Old 10-10-2012, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Inis Fada
16,966 posts, read 34,558,902 times
Reputation: 7722
Quote:
Originally Posted by MRVphotog View Post
The big box/ chain store battle as been raging for years in Vermont. When Walmart tried to put 3 stores along the Ct River, the state and local officials fought them off but Walmart simply put them right across the river in NH, so the state and those towns lose tax base and purchases by Vermonters who shop there.

While Chester is making this little box store look more Vermonty, the store that opened recently in Williamstown did have to adhere to those conditions. It's just a steel building with metal siding and lots of windows in the front. Looks kinda strange. Maybe a little steeple or cupola would help. lol
The proposed Chester DG will be exactly 7.6 miles down route 11 from the existing DG in Springfield -- where there is also a Dollar Tree store. Why such saturation? Why not Bellows Falls or Londonderry if they wished to reach more patrons? As it is, residents in some areas of Chester will be as close, if not closer, to the existing DG in Springfield than the proposed DG in Chester.

There are a number of architectural changes the board made for DG to have more generic vernacular Vermont flourishes. I don't know why they are insisting on a new structure when there had been a buildilng available as one enters town. They could have added to the structure and improved the eyesore it has become. This structure is soon to be the new home for the Chester-Andover Family Center. The preparations for the CAFC to move in have made it look even worse, if that's possible!

Entering Chester from the south end of town (103N) one is now greeted by the ugly CAFC building, the stand alone Heritage Deli (cute, funky), the fairly new, beautiful American Legion building (Chester, VT American Legion Post 67), Gallery 103's quirky barn, Mountain Man's outdoor shops, a small, generic bank, the stone built Stonehouse Antique Mall, the stopped, incompleted diner disaster (someone decided to build without permits, has been placed on hold) a tidy development of modest homes bordering lovely older homes, route 11, an old home/office and a gas station next to the old fashioned, dining car Country Girl diner. Across from that is the partially wooded area which will become a huge yellow and black beacon for cheap, imported junk and adjacent to that, the generic, 1960's era pizza shop. Further along there are more older homes, the PO, the geist stone RC Church and the junciton 103/11E entering Chester Village proper.

Why did I write all that? I am sorry it was long-winded, but it was to give the readers an idea as to the setting this ill proposed DG will wind up in.

Look, I am not thrilled about DG and the choice of sites. I would be less opposed if it had been located on the outskirts of the Main St area (as indicated earlier in the post) instead of in the thick of things. My opinion is that once the Pandora's box has been opened and one major out of state corporation allowed to enter, what precedent has been established? How long before a chain hotel, an Applebees or Hooters shows up to cater to the ski crowd passing through?

Chester, while not right next door to Ludlow, is immediately within Okemo's shadow. We've been told that one reason for the DG to be situated on 103 in Chester is to capture the ski crowd on their way north. If that's the case, why not situate the DG in Ludlow, Cavendish or Mount Holly?
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