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And what I'm saying is that this is unique to America, because if you go to Paris, Milan, London, Buenos Aires right now, you will see human beings chatting away with other human beings in shops and restaurants and yes, buying books at full price! On my street in Paris, you have an indie hardware store where there's always throngs of people asking for advice about paint, mosquitoes, etc. Yes this store is more expensive. But to find a Home Depot you have to go an hour or more out of the city. And people in Paris are not as enamored with e-commerce as Americans. They like walking, going to the store, meeting new people, seeing the item up close, etc. I thought that cities like NYC were still full of walkers who want to socialize, see their bananas in person. But we have lost this desire completely in America it seems!
Either we are becoming anti-social, or too cheap, or both. But all of it is bad for retail and bad for our cities, IMHO. And likely it's bad for our society as well.
People have to work longer hours and commute farther in NYC, nobody feels like stopping at the store after work anymore for 1 thing, it's convenience that is actually killing the convenience store! LoL
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Haha right yeah, and in places like Milan the whole town takes Siesta. That means every afternoon all business' close and they take 2 hours off work to eat great food, drink wine, have sex, take a nap, then return back to work all chilled out and relaxed.
It has been sustained for a decade or more now. And it's expanding. Amazon is setting up it's own shipping company. This is not so much to compete with USPS, UPS and Fedex, but because those are not enough to deal with all the deliveries Amazon generates. They're actually building their own cargo airline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sinatras
It's completely unsustainable to ship goods to individual consumers (and all of the greenhouse gases as a result), rather than have consumers shop at one centralized store. Who thought this was a good idea? I shudder at the thought of all the emissions that e-commerce has wrought upon our planet. Someone should do a study on this.
We thought water bottles and plastic bags were bad? Amazon boxes will bury us instead!
mainly driven by commercial rents, im sure other expenses as well
makes it unprofitable for small business owners and they have to close down.
only the big retail chains are able to withstand loss leading stores
Yes and no to an extent.
Plenty of large businesses/franchises have pulled back from NYC retail space.
Walgreens/Duane Reade has closed a good number of stores in Manhattan.
Crate and Barrel along with many others as well have either closed all or some retail in the city as well.
Starbucks has closed and or scaled back many stores. If you notice many of the new SB locations are smaller more intimate than the huge shops they once were famous for having.
Go down to Bleecker Street/West Village/Little Italy/SoHo area and you'll find plenty of luxury brands have closed their stores down in that part of town.
For some business models they simply cannot make money because sales per square foot just don't make the numbers compared to what the land is worth for residential redevelopment. Case in point the drastic decline of parking garages and gas stations in Manhattan and other parts of NYC. The Hertz garage on East 76th is now gone, and it joins another long line of places such as the former garage/Bowlmor Lanes down on West 12th which is now a high end/luxury condo redevelopment.
Plenty of large businesses/franchises have pulled back from NYC retail space.
Walgreens/Duane Reade has closed a good number of stores in Manhattan.
Crate and Barrel along with many others as well have either closed all or some retail in the city as well.
Starbucks has closed and or scaled back many stores. If you notice many of the new SB locations are smaller more intimate than the huge shops they once were famous for having.
Go down to Bleecker Street/West Village/Little Italy/SoHo area and you'll find plenty of luxury brands have closed their stores down in that part of town.
For some business models they simply cannot make money because sales per square foot just don't make the numbers compared to what the land is worth for residential redevelopment. Case in point the drastic decline of parking garages and gas stations in Manhattan and other parts of NYC. The Hertz garage on East 76th is now gone, and it joins another long line of places such as the former garage/Bowlmor Lanes down on West 12th which is now a high end/luxury condo redevelopment.
To my knowledge, there are only a dozen gas stations in Manhattan South of 96th st, and the ones that are there are have inflated prices. I wonder if there will be zero gas stations left there in the near future.
I noticed that even on the fringes of Queens and Brooklyn, a lot of gas stations are really tiny and cramped looking. Even Rosedale, which borders Nassau County.
To my knowledge, there are only a dozen gas stations in Manhattan South of 96th st, and the ones that are there are have inflated prices. I wonder if there will be zero gas stations left there in the near future.
I noticed that even on the fringes of Queens and Brooklyn, a lot of gas stations are really tiny and cramped looking. Even Rosedale, which borders Nassau County.
Don't even think there are a dozen left; as more have closed recently.
Miss that gas station just off the East 61st street exit from FDR Drive. Now only place left on the UES is that (often) packed place on 96th and First.
Usually get gas either in NJ. Staten Island or anyplace else *before* getting back into NYC, but sometimes you've got no other choice.
Don't know what's up; but past year or so am always given rental cars that are a hair away from running on fumes. On the good side rates are discounted because of that fact. OTOH have to now drive around Manhattan to find a gas station as don't dare attempt to make it into NJ.
Miss that gas station just off the East 61st street exit from FDR Drive. Now only place left on the UES is that (often) packed place on 96th and First.
Usually get gas either in NJ. Staten Island or anyplace else *before* getting back into NYC, but sometimes you've got no other choice.
Don't know what's up; but past year or so am always given rental cars that are a hair away from running on fumes. On the good side rates are discounted because of that fact. OTOH have to now drive around Manhattan to find a gas station as don't dare attempt to make it into NJ.
It's probably worth it to go far uptown, it seems like the places below 96th st inflate their prices by at least $1 per gallon
"Many neighbors are happy to see the station, which they see as an eyesore, go, including members of Community Board 2, which approved the new building"
"Not all see that vision as bad. In the West Village, where Athanasios Hondros, who goes by Tommy, runs a six-pump Mobil station, business has been booming, and though people have come with envelopes of cash, he said, the station is not for sale.
“Doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I plan on being the last gas station left.”"
Wow, that's so wholesome!
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