[Tilt11]

I was at the Big Y yesterday for the fourth or so time. I've never seen it busy there. And it was a Saturday. A lot of the places along that main road dont appear very busy. In Big Y, there were easily more store employees than customers. It just made me wonder how in earth they stay in business. That's a big store with a lot if low shelf life items.

I'm not really complaining. In fact. Mi didn't mind . I hate the busyness' of my Hamden grocery stores. Every day those stores are busy and it makes shopping a bad experience.

[NewJeffCT]

I don't go there very often, but the Barnes & Noble in North Haven seems to do a pretty good business the times I've stopped in.

[AntonioR]

There are several possibilities, but the few that comes to mind are:

1 Operating costs might be lower than average and this gives those stores a higher profit margin that might help compensate the lower customer traffic.

2 Many stores might be money laundering operations...

3 The stores might have a typical business cycle which usually means that most months of the year they end with red numbers, but then the holiday season arrives and customer traffic picks up considerably and to levels that helps push the companies to end the year with blue numbers. Most businesses tend to be like this, at least in the USA. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if Christmas/Hannukah/other holiday season shopping was to disappear.

4 If they are national chains, they might me using the lower sales sites to reduce their tax liabilities; its a sort of accounting trick.

5 The town might be offering tax breaks for businesses that settle there.

There might be other possible reasons, but these are the one's that come to my mind at this very moment. Another possibility is that perhaps everytime you notice the customer traffic among those stores is whenever they are low or perhaps you happen to coincide you shopping times with low customer times completely missing the more active hours.

[JayCT]

I am not any stores are busy this time of year. I was in Stop & Shop on Saturday and the place was dead. The cashier said it is vacations. Still North Haven stores are not quite as busy as Hamden because they draw upon a smaller pool of people. Rents in North Haven are generally less because of this so it sort of balances out. Jay

[clutchrider]

I've heard since Quinnipiac opened the North haven campus rents have gone way up and people are leaving. Head just north down 5 and Wallingford businesses are thriving, plus you don't have the same stupid traffic as Hamden. Plus the area around Universal Drive is where a lot of the shopping takes place now.

I would also point out that the owners of the plazas along 5/Washington Ave in North Haven are either lazy, broke, or just plain don't care about appearance. They are all degraded and dated and in desperate need of refacing, landscaping, and paving. Save for the newer ones like Big Y and Leon's.

[NewJeffCT]

I actually thought about this post as I was driving on 91 past North Haven yesterday. It was almost 6pm last night and what I could see from the highway looked very busy - the Sports Authority parking lot seemed packed, and then a bit further up, the lot by BJ's wholesale club did as well. I couldn't make out other parking lots at the time from 91.

[clutchrider]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

I actually thought about this post as I was driving on 91 past North Haven yesterday. It was almost 6pm last night and what I could see from the highway looked very busy - the Sports Authority parking lot seemed packed, and then a bit further up, the lot by BJ's wholesale club did as well. I couldn't make out other parking lots at the time from 91.

Year ago when I was a kid that area was nothing more than a movie theater and a Home Depot. Then the plaza expanded with BJ's and all those other stores, then the big development of Target, Best Buy, etc. on the other side.

The only bottleneck there is right by PC Richard's, they really should have thought through the traffic flow better to get onto and off of 91 there. It would have made worlds more sense to redesign there.

[Tilt11]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

I actually thought about this post as I was driving on 91 past North Haven yesterday. It was almost 6pm last night and what I could see from the highway looked very busy - the Sports Authority parking lot seemed packed, and then a bit further up, the lot by BJ's wholesale club did as well. I couldn't make out other parking lots at the time from 91.

That may be a different area. The area I was talking of is Route 22 I believe. I was just stunned how a grocery store was so quiet and empty on a Saturday. That area near Universal Dr is a different story. Usually busy when I've been there.

I'm doing most of my grocery shopping now at the Big Y on 22. So much more pleasant than Stop and Shop or Shop Rite in Hamden.

[Csiko]

Originally Posted by Tilt11

That may be a different area. The area I was talking of is Route 22 I believe. I was just stunned how a grocery store was so quiet and empty on a Saturday. That area near Universal Dr is a different story. Usually busy when I've been there.

I'm doing most of my grocery shopping now at the Big Y on 22. So much more pleasant than Stop and Shop or Shop Rite in Hamden.

Big Y is on 5, not 22.


That part of Rt 5 is generally more quiet during the weekends. It's strange.

Also Jay, rents in North Haven were always way more than Hamden, and also far fewer. That could have changed in the past couple years but that strikes me as odd.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by clutchrider

I've heard since Quinnipiac opened the North haven campus rents have gone way up and people are leaving. Head just north down 5 and Wallingford businesses are thriving, plus you don't have the same stupid traffic as Hamden. Plus the area around Universal Drive is where a lot of the shopping takes place now.

I would also point out that the owners of the plazas along 5/Washington Ave in North Haven are either lazy, broke, or just plain don't care about appearance. They are all degraded and dated and in desperate need of refacing, landscaping, and paving. Save for the newer ones like Big Y and Leon's.

The section of Washington Avenue in North Haven, north of I-91 has always been slower with less people than the area to the south. I am not sure why Big Y located there but it was probably the only site they could find. Even with Quinnipiac coming in, I do not think a lot has changed over the past few years.

Also about 9 years ago the owners of Washington Center (Stop & Shop) bought and rebuilt the adjacent North Haven Plaza, combining the two centers into one. Several new out buildings were built (Walgreens, DQ) were added so not all of the centers there are old and tired. I will say that not much was done to make the centers more attractive (they are still basic strip centers) but they do serve their purpose and cannot be called old and neglected. Jay