Whatever Happened to The Pussycat? (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: rent, homes, buying)
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I was recently out with my wife in Squirrel Hill to procure some undergarments and discovered that The Pussycat is now closed. We got some coffee at Commonplace across the street and the barista there only knew that the store was up and running fine one day and then very suddenly and without warning was closed. We stopped at Lady Godiva in Penn Hills to see if that shop could suit her needs, asked them about it, and even they were perplexed as to what happened. They stated they called, left a message, and hadn't heard a thing in return. Even looking at The Pussycat's Facebook page reveals nothing. It's as if everything was normal on March 1st and then the store suddenly stopped operating, as if it simply vanished. I think it's obvious something happened very suddenly, but its perplexing that there is no information about what happened. Anyone have any knowledge about this?
A friend who was on their mailing list said that they sent out an email last month about the closing. It was probably a combination of the store getting killed by the interwebs, high rent in Squirrel Hill, and the owners not wanting to mess with it anymore.
A friend who was on their mailing list said that they sent out an email last month about the closing. It was probably a combination of the store getting killed by the interwebs, high rent in Squirrel Hill, and the owners not wanting to mess with it anymore.
I take it that email didn't go into details? There aren't many places like it in Pittsburgh, so given its location and long-time tenancy, I figured it had a decent shot to survive by filling a niche and relying on service over simply being cheap. But, I suppose not.
I take it that email didn't go into details? There aren't many places like it in Pittsburgh, so given its location and long-time tenancy, I figured it had a decent shot to survive by filling a niche and relying on service over simply being cheap. But, I suppose not.
the e-mail did not have any details about why it was closing. it's definitely a shame that it had to close. it's hard to find that kind of customer service these days.
It was probably a combination of the store getting killed by the interwebs...
People who frequently shop online tick me off. Eventually there will be no "need" for the majority of brick-and-mortar retail storefronts because everyone has become too lazy to leave their homes to shop. Now even big-box retailers are grappling with how to account for people walking into a place like Best Buy, playing with things, then going home, logging onto Amazon, and buying it from there instead to save $5. Someday we'll all be reminiscing about how amazing America used to be with charming window-shopping opportunities in pleasantly-refurbished business districts once they become an endangered species. What will we do with all of those vacant storefronts? Does Squirrel Hill's business district really need yet another mediocre Asian restaurant to fill the void of another lost retailer? Look what the former Barnes & Noble in Squirrel Hill has become---a sterile office with zero streetside interest or aesthetic value to passersby.
People who frequently shop online tick me off. Eventually there will be no "need" for the majority of brick-and-mortar retail storefronts because everyone has become too lazy to leave their homes to shop.
In my case, it had nothing to do with laziness (you sure do like to call other people lazy). In the case of bookstores, the internet simply priced physical stores out of existence. And a lot of the stores that were priced out of existence were large retailers who had priced locals out of existence 10-15 years earlier (I'm talking about you, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, etc.)
I simply couldn't fathom paying $10 extra for a book at B&N, compared to the price Amazon was selling it for. Maybe if the local stores had still been in existence, I wouldn't have minded. But the difference in price was/is not small.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising
Now even big-box retailers are grappling with how to account for people walking into a place like Best Buy, playing with things, then going home, logging onto Amazon, and buying it from there instead to save $5.
Best Buy ruined the record/CD store as we knew it. Best Buy can't go out of business soon enough for me. If the Internet is what kills it, then "Yaaaay, Internet."
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising
Someday we'll all be reminiscing about how amazing America used to be with charming window-shopping opportunities in pleasantly-refurbished business districts once they become an endangered species. What will we do with all of those vacant storefronts? Does Squirrel Hill's business district really need yet another mediocre Asian restaurant to fill the void of another lost retailer? Look what the former Barnes & Noble in Squirrel Hill has become---a sterile office with zero streetside interest or aesthetic value to passersby.
I know, I know: yet another Asian restaurant. I've pretty much given Squirrel Hill up as a dining destination. But B&N and its ilk are only getting "what comes around."
Perhaps it can be a bit "rewarding" to think the Internet will be killing big-box-stores that initially killed off the "little guys". However, what will "kill" the Internet?
It just makes me upset, jay. You're older than me and can likely remember the "Bedford Falls/Mayberry" types of days where a vibrant walkable/shoppable Main Street was the norm---not the exception. I never lived in that era and always wish that I had. My hometown's business district was a blighted mess when I left. They are now successfully "improving" it through demolishing historic buildings for parking lots so that the Downtown now resembles a suburb with all of its "gap teeth" on the main drag. I don't foresee Internet shopping slowing down in popularity anytime soon, and I don't foresee how Downtown retail can successfully make a comeback against it. It's extremely frustrating.
It just makes me upset, jay. You're older than me and can likely remember the "Bedford Falls/Mayberry" types of days where a vibrant walkable/shoppable Main Street was the norm---not the exception. I never lived in that era and always wish that I had.
I grew up in a small city in NJ that was originally a place where New Yorkers had summer homes. Eventually, it became a suburb of New York, but not a first-choice suburb, as it required two trains to get to and from the city. And then there were riots. Thanks to Google, I know it's now mostly a bunch of Mexican restaurants.
I was there for the riots, which killed our lovely downtown. People moved away, and there was no longer enough of a population to support the stores there. We had three department stores, two local, and one Bambergers (part of Macy's).
I used to go downtown on Thursday nights and Saturdays, and I worked in one of the department stores my last two years of high school. There were two record stores, two more clothing stores I shopped at in addition to the department stores. And my favorite pizza place of all time. I think you would have loved it where I grew up, when I grew up there. I never participated in mall culture in my entire life. I have resisted big box stores, as well.
Amazon was just more than I could pass up, though. Amazon is what really completed the number Bad Buy and its ilk started, and now I do all but my grocery shopping online. I even get some grocery items on Amazon, through their Subscribe & Save program (currently tea, razor blades, batteries, Q-tips). They got me, which Walmart and Target never could.
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