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Thinking Manchester will be losing population the quickest in NH. Don't see any allure of residing in a place like that.
It now has at least four large building/store vacancies including Shaws, two stop and shops and Lowes. There are also countless other vacant store buildings that have been vacant for quite some time. The business climate apparently stinks there. Doesn't seem like very many start up businesses that are successful there.
I see a lot of large Gatsas signs for the mayor voting. Can anyone tell me what is appealing about this mayor and what he does to help the city? It seems to be a 'secret' ( Don't worry I won't tell anyone).
So what is it about the place that makes it so lousy for business? Why so many vacant stores? Is it just the companies themselves fault for failure to provide viable products and services?
Thinking Manchester will be losing population the quickest in NH. Don't see any allure of residing in a place like that.
It now has at least four large building/store vacancies including Shaws, two stop and shops and Lowes. There are also countless other vacant store buildings that have been vacant for quite some time. The business climate apparently stinks there. Doesn't seem like very many start up businesses that are successful there.
I see a lot of large Gatsas signs for the mayor voting. Can anyone tell me what is appealing about this mayor and what he does to help the city? It seems to be a 'secret' ( Don't worry I won't tell anyone).
So what is it about the place that makes it so lousy for business? Why so many vacant stores? Is it just the companies themselves fault for failure to provide viable products and services?
I really like Manchester. I worked there for a while and still visit the area when I can.
I don't think that a few vacant stores means that the city is falling. Realistically, it was just a "correction" of the local market. Those companies thought that the area could support it, but in fact they were not needed, or could not run their businesses efficiently.
The area is no major hub like Boston, but there certainly seem to be some successful businesses in the area.
As far as the housing goes, nothing can truly be overpriced for very long. This is all a matter of supply and demand. If nobody wanted to live there, the prices would be low. If the prices are too high, there will be little demand. Manchester is within a commuting distance to the Boston-area (if you can't find work in Manchester-area), is a comfortable drive to the lakes, mountains, and ocean.
Let the numbers speak for themselves (taken from BeanGroup, likely taken from elsewhere):
Berlin:
Median Price : $69,170
Days on Market(avg.) : 252
Manchester
Median Price : $176,108
Days on Market(avg.) : 81
Salem
Median Price : $264,036
Days on Market(avg.) : 102
Boston
Median Price : $586,281
Days on Market(avg.) : 105
Notice a trend here? Homes in Manchester are moving in a third of the time that homes in Berlin are. Extreme example? Maybe, but people are buying homes in Manchester for some reason!
Yeah, the OP just posted some of the chain bussiness's that are failing, im not so sure how this means manchester is failing..
lowes, stop and shop, shaws, failing bussiness everywhere, not just manchester.. Manchester looks pretty alive and active to me. Drive through Berlin or any other medium sized mill city in new england and tell me manchester is failing...
Manchester has some very neat neighborhoods like the north end of Elm Street. It also has the west side near Catholic Medical Center. The Old Mill buildings are full of service and industrial tenants and the surrounding industrial tracts are nearly full and more are being developed. The failure of the big retail stores were caused by national corporate misjudgment than the local market. Manchester even has its own rush hour.
You know, I'm surprised at the OP's take on Manchester. I'm by no means a big fan, and I'm disturbed by what appears to be an increase in crime. That said, though, the Elm Street area and Amoskeag mill area are absolutely thriving compared to just 5 years ago when I lived there. I chose to rent there when I first moved to NH and didn't know where to live, so I just picked the biggest city. I'm now in a very different area, but part of me would really like to return to Manchester - despite the crime in parts of the city - because the downtown is actually now bordering on "cool." (And I say that having lived in a couple very large and "cool" cities. I know Manchester is nothing like those cities, but it now does have a small pocket of niceness - nice shops, stuff to do.)
I don't think failure of chain stores based far outside of Manchester (or NH) is indicative of some sort of problem in Manchester. There are too many Lowe's and similar stores in the area, and I think that the new Market Basket (a store which I personally can't stand, but people seem to love) drove business away from both Shaw's and Stop & Shop. A city the size of Manchester can only support so many empty big box buildings... they're built new for a specific store, the store goes out of business, what else can you put in? We already have all the major chains. The Circuit City space in Concord has been vacant for probably 4+ years.
You know, I'm surprised at the OP's take on Manchester. I'm by no means a big fan, and I'm disturbed by what appears to be an increase in crime. That said, though, the Elm Street area and Amoskeag mill area are absolutely thriving compared to just 5 years ago when I lived there. I chose to rent there when I first moved to NH and didn't know where to live, so I just picked the biggest city. I'm now in a very different area, but part of me would really like to return to Manchester - despite the crime in parts of the city - because the downtown is actually now bordering on "cool." (And I say that having lived in a couple very large and "cool" cities. I know Manchester is nothing like those cities, but it now does have a small pocket of niceness - nice shops, stuff to do.)
I don't think failure of chain stores based far outside of Manchester (or NH) is indicative of some sort of problem in Manchester. There are too many Lowe's and similar stores in the area, and I think that the new Market Basket (a store which I personally can't stand, but people seem to love) drove business away from both Shaw's and Stop & Shop. A city the size of Manchester can only support so many empty big box buildings... they're built new for a specific store, the store goes out of business, what else can you put in? We already have all the major chains. The Circuit City space in Concord has been vacant for probably 4+ years.
I agree 100%, i like you comment on "bordering cool" i agree, go down elm street on a summer night around 8pm, its a pretty happening scene! (for what its worth)
Fortunatly the lowes that opened and closed in all of what a year in hooksett? is now being turned into a bass-pro shops. I hate when these large chain companies feel the need to completely bulldoze forest to build new buildings while there is an empty suitable building nearby that could be re-worked to meet their needs.
That is good to know about the empty Lowes! It drove me crazy that they developed the area only to almost immediately go out of business and leave the building sitting empty.
I'd like it if owners of stand-alone retail buildings had a contract that said they had to level the building if it stays empty for 2+ years. These cheap steel/concrete buildings are disposable and usually get torn down or massively re-done when a new chain moves in anyway. I'm not saying a park should be built, just remove the building so it doesn't become a graffiti billboard until they next store moves in.
Yeah, the OP just posted some of the chain bussiness's that are failing, im not so sure how this means manchester is failing..
lowes, stop and shop, shaws, failing bussiness everywhere, not just manchester.. Manchester looks pretty alive and active to me. Drive through Berlin or any other medium sized mill city in new england and tell me manchester is failing...
Agreed! A couple of years ago Lowes closed their Haverhill, MA store. It did not mean Haverhill is failing, it meant Lowes miscalculated and put that store too close to their nearby store in Salem, NH.
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