Retail coming to Philadelphia (Folcroft, California: income, property taxes, live)

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

I'm appalled at how Center City is littered with chain drugstores, not unlike the suburbs. But I see an opportunity in this: several chain drugstores in Center City could be closed via eminent domain and be replaced by Wine & Spirits stores.
.

So you would rather people in Center City be drunk instead of healthy?

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

This is what appalls you? About 90% of New York City seems to be Duane Reade. Fact is, they sell a lot of useful stuff, and there aren't a whole lot of alternatives.

There are waay more independent bodegas in NYC than there are Duane Reades. But DR does outnumber other chain pharmacies in Manhattan (though not so much the other boroughs). At least it's a local chain, so I guess that's good.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by rotodome

There are waay more independent bodegas in NYC than there are Duane Reades. But DR does outnumber other chain pharmacies in Manhattan (though not so much the other boroughs). At least it's a local chain, so I guess that's good.

Yeah. I'm aware of that. I'm from one of the few neighborhoods without a Duane Reade. It was just hyperbole.

There are a ridiculous amount of chain pharmacies in most decent urban neighborhoods. There are some things that people need - and in the absence of a healthy entrepreneur class willing to sell those things, the big chains will.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

Actually, Duane Reade has been owned by Walgreens since 2010, so it's not exactly a local chain anymore. Hey at least Walgreens started in Chicago, a city with the same social mores as NYC. But that brings up a philosophical question... can any business in a huge city such as NYC truly be "local"?

[phillies2011]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

I'm appalled at how Center City is littered with chain drugstores, not unlike the suburbs. But I see an opportunity in this: several chain drugstores in Center City could be closed via eminent domain and be replaced by Wine & Spirits stores. Currently, these Wine & Spirits stores are in the Center City area:

1. a small one on Chestnut

2. a so-called "superstore" on Chestnut which isn't that big

3. a very small store on JFK Boulevard

4. a very small one on South Street near the mosaic gardens

5. a bigger one on South Street close to 95

6. one on Fairmount Ave by the post office

7. a small one on South Street close to 76

8. a small one on 5th Street in Society Hill, across from the Super Fresh

Also, these drugstores are in Center City:

1. a CVS on Spruce (it was an Acme long ago)

2. a Walgreens on JFK Boulevard

3. a Rite Aid (was Eckerd) on a side street that I forget the name of, off South Street near 95

4. a Rite Aid (also was Eckerd) on Walnut

5. a Rite Aid (yet also was Eckerd) near the Franklin Institute, though I forget the street

But also, the Thriftway on South Street near 76 will probably be closing sooner than later, along with the two small Super Fresh stores on South Street and on 5th Street.

I think they should turn city hall into the world's largest radio shack and liberty one into a spaceship!

^that is what I feel like I'm reading whenever I see one of your posts. None of this is happening.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

OK whatever, but I think Wine & Spirits stores contribute something to culture, in the form of our culinary heritage. Chain drugstores are a blight on the landscape. We have so many of them that sometimes they are feet away from one another. For example, on Spring Garden Street near 5th Street, a CVS is only separated from a Rite Aid by a small side street. And a Dollar General, which is like a drugstore without a pharmacy or medical products, is a block away. I wasn't proposing to double the number of Wine & Spirits stores in the city, but replace many existing ones, which the fact is are very dingy.

Also, Center City is without a decent-sized supermarket, and I wish the Kmart at the Gallery could be a Giant or ShopRite instead. Ideally a Wegmans would be nice, but while a Wegmans with all your basic grocery needs could fit where the Kmart is, a store up to the standards many people have come to expect from Wegmans wouldn't fit. Perhaps the Kmart could become a Giant and the Burlington Coat Factory close by (it was a JCPenney years ago) could become a ShopRite. There certainly are enough people to support both of them. What are Kmart and Burlington doing in Center City in the first place? Both of them are a disgrace. And the Kmart used to be a Gimbels, a decent department store, then a Stern's, similar to Gimbels, then a Clover, which at least was like a cross between Target and Kohl's, and was owned by Strawbridge's.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

. . . a CVS is only separated from a Rite Aid by a small side street. And a Dollar General, which is like a drugstore without a pharmacy or medical products, is a block away.

Yes, let's do away with the free market, confiscate people's businesses and replace them with state-run stores stocked with a limited selection of items chosen by an unelected bureaucracy. Last I heard, that business model didn't fare too well for the former communist states.

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

I think Wine & Spirits stores contribute something to culture, in the form of our culinary heritage.

Thanks for providing the chuckle of the day!

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

OK whatever, but I think Wine & Spirits stores contribute something to culture, in the form of our culinary heritage. Chain drugstores are a blight on the landscape. We have so many of them that sometimes they are feet away from one another. For example, on Spring Garden Street near 5th Street, a CVS is only separated from a Rite Aid by a small side street. And a Dollar General, which is like a drugstore without a pharmacy or medical products, is a block away. I wasn't proposing to double the number of Wine & Spirits stores in the city, but replace many existing ones, which the fact is are very dingy.

Also, Center City is without a decent-sized supermarket, and I wish the Kmart at the Gallery could be a Giant or ShopRite instead. Ideally a Wegmans would be nice, but while a Wegmans with all your basic grocery needs could fit where the Kmart is, a store up to the standards many people have come to expect from Wegmans wouldn't fit. Perhaps the Kmart could become a Giant and the Burlington Coat Factory close by (it was a JCPenney years ago) could become a ShopRite. There certainly are enough people to support both of them. What are Kmart and Burlington doing in Center City in the first place? Both of them are a disgrace. And the Kmart used to be a Gimbels, a decent department store, then a Stern's, similar to Gimbels, then a Clover, which at least was like a cross between Target and Kohl's, and was owned by Strawbridge's.

Not gonna happen, though I am very anxious to see what will become of the gallery over the next 5 years or so. It really at this point is an eyesore, both the clientele and the stores as well as the gross 1970s architecture. I would hope for a Target somewhere in there, probably your best bet.

Center City also desperately needs another upscale department store. Really crossing my fingers for a Bloomingdales, that would be a huge addition to the improving retail scene in center city.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

Why is the Japanese monkey laughing? Well anyway a store full of wines/spirits (and condiments/accessories) would be more interesting than a store full of drugstore items, eh?

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

What about a Sam's Club where either the Kmart or Burlington is? And what about a Dillard's (a great California department store chain) in the space occupied by many small stores at the Gallery right now? I also would like to see the smaller Wine & Spirits stores in the city become Metro PCS cell phone stores. Also perhaps the awful Ace Hardware on Fairmount could end up as a Jo-Ann Fabrics.