Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, more than 90% of people that looked into renting my place were the extreme poor, shady, illiterate, Section 8 etc - BUT, I did not end up renting to any of them. My tenant prior to the present one was a young Puerto Rican guy, a manager at a local bank. My present long-term tenant is a late-middle aged Afro-American woman who is not too educated but is rather stylish and life-savvy, and has held a low level healthcare job for more than 15 years. I had also interviewed a very sharp young Afro-American army veteran and part time office worker/part time college student, and almost gave him the lease, but then it emerged that he had a small dog (which would violate the Parkchester no-pet policy). All of these three people, given a choice, would clearly prefer to shop at Trader Joe's to shopping anywhere else, I can tell you that (it even came up directly in conversation with one of them :-). A lot of riff raff tries to get into Parkchester, fewer and fewer succeed.
Based on what you told me in private, I don't think you marketed it properly. I don't know what the inside looks like (great photos really make a difference and do a great job in 'selling' a property), but I wouldn't market it in a Manhattan real estate listing.
This is what the artist rendering of the MetroNorth proposal looks like.
What's "dumb" is assuming that if you are ethnic, that the only food you eat is from your country. BIG FAIL. Do you even have friends or worth with people from other countries. They eat EVERYTHING! Furthermore, this is NEW YORK, it isn't Indiana. Chinese food is one of the most common types of cuisine eaten from take out places. It's not unusual or unexpected to expect a decent one IN ALL NEIGHBORHOODS.
They can. But I find the most unadventurous, non-discerning taste in food, are white ethnics that are third generation NYers. They also have a lot of ideas about people that are based on ideas from 1965 that are not based in reality. Your entire supposition is that a Bangladeshi will only eat Bangladesh food, or a Puerto Rican will only eat PR food, and Chinese will only eat Chinese. And you go on to say that because they only eat that kind of food, their only needs are ethnic grocery stores. Ethnic grocery stores are great for specialty items, but often they are too small to have a wide selection of everything else. If you are a real foodie, then you want selection, a LOT more selection.
I work for a labor union that represents professionals that hold advanced degrees. My office is a microcosm of NY ethnic people. They eat every kind of food witnessed by the food they bring back from outside the office.
And just to finalize the point, some of the most ethnically diverse areas are also meccas for many kinds of food. Astoria for example. It's always been a mecca and now it's taken it to a new level. Woodside and Sunnyside also.
So argument is based on outdated ideas, that people who have enough cojones to move to this country, holding advanced degrees have provincial tastes and never step out of their comfort zone. It's beyond misguided and spreads dangerous stereotypes.
You really should improve your reading comprehension skills. Go back, you're reading far more into what I wrote starting from my first post where you managed to turn my "working class/immigrant" descriptor into "poor" and "low income". Just stop. You continually twist my words and project your own biases. Yet you accuse me of doing that. Seriously, re-read my posts in full and just stop attacking me please. Accusing me of making suppositions of this and that? Stop putting words into my mouth. It's not right.
And you're getting your facts off base. That Trader Joe's in Queens is not considered Woodhaven. It's the border of Forest Hills/Rego Park/Glendale. Woodhaven is further south. I actually mistakenly also thought that was Woodhaven when I first started shopping in the area years ago (I used to go to the Stop & Shop a little further down on Woodhaven Blvd). Also in my previous posts, I mentioned the Queens location a couple of times and how it has good parking (it does even if you have to park over by the Sports Authority lot) which makes it accessible for people from surrounding neighborhoods. I thought that was important and part of the reason why I said that a Trader Joe's location further north or east of Parkchester might make more sense since the area near the 6 train stop seemed congested to me and not amenable for drivers. Making it more accessible to the borough as a whole would increase the chances of success in my opinion.
God, this thread is such a bummer. I can't believe the personal attacks here.
I think Trader Joe's targets more of a middle-class/professional demographic. Isn't Parkchester more working class/immigrant-oriented? Might not be enough demand there. I think the store's appeal is that it sells natural/organic foods at reasonable prices. It's not really cheap. Perhaps cheaper than other traditional supermarkets, but smaller grocers and ethnic markets fill in the gaps in many working class/immigrant neighborhoods.
It might make more sense in another part of the Bronx (perhaps further north or east?) where the surrounding neighborhoods are more middle-class. Also where there is good parking. There is one Trader Joe's in Queens that seems to be very busy. It's located far away from the subways and geared toward drivers.
And I don't know about Whole Foods in Riverdale. For it to make business sense, it probably needs more than just locals to shop there. What are the surrounding neighborhoods like? Are there enough people from outside Riverdale willing to drive there? Queens doesn't even have a Whole Foods and incomes there are higher overall compared to the Bronx. I think some probably drive out to Long Island. Though many supermarkets also have stepped up their game and broadened their organic selections. There really isn't this huge demand for Whole Foods anymore which is why the chain has been struggling to drive growth in recent years.
Okay, am I reading this right? : "I think Trader Joe's targets more of a middle-class/professional demographic. Isn't Parkchester more working class/immigrant oriented? Might not be enough demand there."
But...
1. I think Trader Joe's targets anybody interested in shopping there. They have no policies or advertising that targets any class or profession specifically. They present their products, they send out those "fake Victorian" funny flyers, and anybody can buy what they sell (and literally anybody CAN, because it costs so little). Trader Joe's doesn't have bouncers at the door that demand anybody"s tax return or professional license.
2. Parkchester IS predominantly working class and immigrant. How does it follow, though, that therefore it might not be enough demand there for Trader Joe's, considering that:
(a) Trader Joe's does not have any policies that target any social group
(b) working class folks certainly have enough money to shop at Trader Joe's, and the Trader Joe's food is so good that anybody would have an interest in eating it. The population of Parkchester is over 30,000 (the size of a small city), and the condo complex is to my knowledge the largest one in the world. There is not much demand for food there?
(c) even if TJs specifically targeted professionals (which it doesn't), being an immigrant and professional is far from being mutually exclusive - eg, I am an immigrant and a professional, and, due to the nature of my work, about 90% of all other immigrants that I ever met are professionals.
Can you quote exactly those "personal attacks" on you, the way I quoted your statements which I consider inaccurate? I asked you how much you knew about immigrants. Is that question a personal attack? Is it even as remotely offensive as telling a foreign-born person with a doctoral degree in hard science, with additional years of post-doctoral training, that she is not a Trader Joe"s target customer because Trader Joe's targets professionals, while she is an immigrant??
Okay, am I reading this right? : "I think Trader Joe's targets more of a middle-class/professional demographic. Isn't Parkchester more working class/immigrant oriented? Might not be enough demand there."
But...
1. I think Trader Joe's targets anybody interested in shopping there. They have no policies or advertising that targets any class or profession specifically. They present their products, they send out those "fake Victorian" funny flyers, and anybody can buy what they sell (and literally anybody CAN, because it costs so little). Trader Joe's doesn't have bouncers at the door that demand anybody"s tax return or professional license.
2. Parkchester IS predominantly working class and immigrant. How does it follow, though, that therefore it might not be enough demand there for Trader Joe's, considering that:
(a) Trader Joe's does not have any policies that target any social group
(b) working class folks certainly have enough money to shop at Trader Joe's, and the Trader Joe's food is so good that anybody would have an interest in eating it. The population of Parkchester is over 30,000 (the size of a small city), and the condo complex is to my knowledge the largest one in the world. There is not much demand for food there?
(c) even if TJs specifically targeted professionals (which it doesn't), being an immigrant and professional is far from being mutually exclusive - eg, I am an immigrant and a professional, and, due to the nature of my work, about 90% of all other immigrants that I ever met are professionals.
Can you quote exactly those "personal attacks" on you, the way I quoted your statements which I consider inaccurate? I asked you how much you knew about immigrants. Is that question a personal attack? Is it even as remotely offensive as telling a foreign-born person with a doctoral degree in hard science, with additional years of post-doctoral training, that she is not a Trader Joe"s target customer because Trader Joe's targets professionals, while she is an immigrant??
Please re-read all of my posts for answers. This is getting repetitive. I actually over-explained and am not getting into this anymore.
If you don't think the tones and most recent posts directed to me are personal attacks, then we'll have to disagree. I'm done.
Are you sure you aren't thinking of Richmond Hill? It's not the same area as the crossroad of Woodhaven Blvd and Metropolitan avenue.
There are plenty of Archie Bunker neighborhoods. Up until about 5 years ago, Ridgewood was that way, at least in terms of the people who owned property on the side streets. (I'm moving from there in order to own) My ex-h was telling me about our neighbor (who he was working with) who had a collection of Nazi memorabilia and the whole crew that worked with him, had some pejorative racial epithet about everyone except Germans and Italian people. 10 years ago, it was rare you ever saw an African American in the area. It's still somewhat rare, just less rare. Then there are neighboring hoods, Maspeth and Glendale. They are even worse because unlike Ridgewood, they don't have the eastern European immigrants. I've been to the CB5 meetings! Let's just say true colors came out when there was a proposal about housing a homeless shelter, first in Glendale and then after a boycott in Maspeth. Despite court losses, Glendale group continues its long fight to stop a homeless shelter - QNS.com
Yeah. Those neighborhoods hold little appeal for me.
Okay, am I reading this right? : "I think Trader Joe's targets more of a middle-class/professional demographic. Isn't Parkchester more working class/immigrant oriented? Might not be enough demand there."
But...
1. I think Trader Joe's targets anybody interested in shopping there. They have no policies or advertising that targets any class or profession specifically. They present their products, they send out those "fake Victorian" funny flyers, and anybody can buy what they sell (and literally anybody CAN, because it costs so little). Trader Joe's doesn't have bouncers at the door that demand anybody"s tax return or professional license.
2. Parkchester IS predominantly working class and immigrant. How does it follow, though, that therefore it might not be enough demand there for Trader Joe's, considering that:
(a) Trader Joe's does not have any policies that target any social group
(b) working class folks certainly have enough money to shop at Trader Joe's, and the Trader Joe's food is so good that anybody would have an interest in eating it. The population of Parkchester is over 30,000 (the size of a small city), and the condo complex is to my knowledge the largest one in the world. There is not much demand for food there?
(c) even if TJs specifically targeted professionals (which it doesn't), being an immigrant and professional is far from being mutually exclusive - eg, I am an immigrant and a professional, and, due to the nature of my work, about 90% of all other immigrants that I ever met are professionals.
Can you quote exactly those "personal attacks" on you, the way I quoted your statements which I consider inaccurate? I asked you how much you knew about immigrants. Is that question a personal attack? Is it even as remotely offensive as telling a foreign-born person with a doctoral degree in hard science, with additional years of post-doctoral training, that she is not a Trader Joe"s target customer because Trader Joe's targets professionals, while she is an immigrant??
What in the **** are you going on about?
Like any retail business with more than 1 location, TJs has certain parameters for opening new locations. They most certainly do have parameters for income level and demographics among other targets.
Although their parameters obviously don't have to do with ethnicity because a dollar is a dollar no matter where it comes from, in America ethnicity and income levels are correlated, especially in large metro areas.
Since TJs , like any business, doesn't have unlimited amounts of capital and ROI targets, every new location is an opportunity cost of not opening somewhere else.
Take a look at their openings, especially in large metro areas, and you'll see a trend (ie their business model).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
