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CBD, What businesses do we need/want?

(67 posts)
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  1. KimJ
    Member

    I was at a party on Saturday night. One topic of conversation was "What services/stores would one want/need in order to consider our CBD "vibrant."

    During the election, a big part of both parties platforms was a "more vibrant" CBD.
    I think that if we define what that means, we could better find what we are looking for.

    For me, a CBD that would meet my EVERY day needs...
    I would like a coffee shop, lunch joint, cleaner, grocer, bank, and a florist. (AND a fabulous restaurant or two, although I will use them less frequently than every day.)

    I think my needs are met? Is our CBD already vibrant?

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 16:59 #

  2. Catherine
    Member

    Well, at the risk of boring, I will again point out the only data we have on this topic: the 2005 NIU survey posted to the homepage here:

    http://www.riversideinfo.org/niu-riverside-survey-2005/

    What it showed was that folks wanted food, food and more food, whether it be stores, restaurants, or take-outs. I know the economy has altered, business might be down for a while, but I think these will remain the desires.

    Pizzeria, Asian take-out, breakfast joint, health/gourmet niche grocer would be my thoughts and wishes. And a pub.

    But it is true that all of the elements are represented now.

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 17:06 #

  3. spatny
    Member

    A bakery that made good things would probably work, and perhaps food packaged to go - like a caterer's outlet.

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 17:21 #

  4. KimJ
    Member

    "EricSundstrom
    Member
    Actually Catherine I was not referencing you in particular, and I do not recall insulting you or any elected officals, then again maybe you were not refering to me specifically Hmmm? Wether you like it or not there is a general perception in the Riverside business community that past village boards and a substantial portion of the Riverside populace do not support Riverside business(s). You won't get many, or any of them for that matter, to publically say this for fear of a reaction as seen in your vitrolic responce to my reply."

    Eric had this post on another thread, and I thought it should be here especially regarding his comment that the Riverside populace does not support it's CBD.
    If that is true, why?

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 18:20 #

  5. Catherine
    Member

    I am amongst those you reference, you are amongst those I reference. I agree that past boards and a substantial portion of the Riverside populace have not supported businesses. I have had nearly every business owner in town tell me that, all the years I have been here, so apparently they do not fear my vitriol! But a million dollar parking lot is not going to fix that problem.

    As to the people, they go where they feel they get the best goods and services at the best price. This is a problem for small downtowns everywhere. The way to overcome it is by presenting a compelling reason to purchase goods and services here, whether by presenting a charming experience or better goods and services at better prices. Appealing to civic duty is not capitalism, competition is. In the meantime, people vote with their feet.

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 22:49 #

  6. mdsa
    Member

    In today's day and age, I would consider the presence of "chain" stores/restaurants to be a contributing factor to a town's CBD vibrancy.

    It is entirely possible to incorporate chain facilities in an aesthetically pleasing manner that doesn't hurt the image of the town; I believe LaGrange and Oak Park are nice examples of having done this.

    As sad as it may somewhat seem, that's the way the world is going. And today's youths thrive on chain eateries and such; a demographic that is almost non-existent from Riverside's CBD, or at least pales in comparison to the two other aforementioned towns.

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 23:17 #

  7. mrt
    Member

    lagrange and OP have big streets that bring traffic/people to their cbd's, Lagrange RD, and Lake-Harlem for OP. Chains can only live w/ a certain minimum of traffic. We have to stick with the idiosyncratic, the charming, the different. I say we can open a pancake house and-or Italian restaurent with goats grazing on a thatched roof ala Door County.

    http://www.aljohnsons.com/

    For example, we have a coffee shop named Grumpys and a restuarant called Chew Chew.

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 23:23 #

  8. spatny
    Member

    I love it, Mike. A chain operation would never locate an outlet in the CBD. They need TRAFFIC, new people, new faces, new suckers every day. All day. Now we have people that want to make tranquil Riverside into an "attraction" for teenagers. GREAT! Maybe the two cars that were drag racing side by side on Fairbank Road the other night and then on Woodside and finally got caught in N. Riverside were scouting for locations. Can't wait to have the Culver's cups and bags in the CBD the way they are showing up on Fairbank and Barrypoint. We can have them even now if their customers will just eat slower and wait until they hit Guthrie Park before they flip them out the window. If you want to have real success, we could put a recreation of Skip's Drive In on the lot, pave and stripe it, and get car hops on roller skates. That would bring the new demographic to the CBD. Maybe Catherine could get a checkered flag and a set of Christmas Tree lights and run the drag races on Burlington. Hey - It'sa Hemi!

    Posted Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 07:52 #

  9. KimJ
    Member

    I remember the Starbucks conversation some time ago.
    A chain like that is kind of a status thing as well, isn't it? (thus the teen attraction.)

    Remember when Starbucks was going to take over Sara Lee on Harlem, and needed some variances and came before Zoning/Plan (I don't remember which) anyhow, he was asked why he was not in downtown Riverside, he said there was not enough thru traffic. There is a formula,
    a # cars plus + b # pedistrians = not our CBD.

    Also, should vibrancy denote chains, (and if we could attract any with our crazy street patterns) than are we not forcing our current businesses out?

    Posted Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 08:11 #

  10. JohnM
    Member

    As Kim points out, the CBD does have the businesses to meet every day needs. You can go grocery shopping, buy flowers (twice!!), bank, buy insurance, get a cup of coffee, get your dry cleaning and have lunch or dinner at one of 4 restaurants. This is fine, but it would be nice, I think, to have a bit more.

    SO what else is needed. I'd like a drug store/general store, but I don't think that's likely. I doubt the days of local drugstores will ever come back, as even the big ones now face competition from mail-order prescriptions. A hardware store would be nice--I'd much prefer to shop at a locally owned Ace or Tru Value than a Home Depot or Menards, but I'm not sure there's the market for that either. A card shop/stationary store as well, but again, I don't know that this would do enough business. Of course, Riverside used to have all of these businesses, but they couldn't survive.

    I suggest the best option is to leverage what we have. Bear in mind, this is a best case scenario--I don't know if it is even feasible, and my suggestions go from reasonable (restaurants) to unlikely (sports outfitters):

    1) Restaurants. We have 2 moderately upscale onea (Chew Chew and Jem), a hot dog joint, and a Bohemian restaurant. A couple more places would bring more customers and help the existing establishments. As has been suggested, a moderately priced pizza/Italian restaurant and a Thai place would likely do well. I'd also like to see a decent bar (and--before I'm again accused of corrupting the morals of our youth--it can serve food).

    2) Retail. Food. As suggested, a bakery and a catering type place. But what about a good butcher shop/deli? Casey's in Western Springs does blockbuster business in a downtown quite similar to ours, and I'd love to have this in our own backyard. How about an upscale cooking store--something that not only seels kitchen supplies and some foodstuffs, but maybe offers cooking classes? If anyone is fmailiar with the Chopping Block in CHicago, this is the model I have in mind.

    3) Art. We have a small, but viable, art district on Quincy. Higgins Glass and the Riverside Arts center do good business and provide someting of a cachet to the Village. I'd like to see us encourage some more businesses and entities like this. Maybe the Arcade could serve as a focal point for this kind of development, if a buyer can be found.

    4) Sporting goods/biking/paddling. Riverside is a lovely place to ride a bike around or jog through. A bike shop/sporting goods store would be great (and, I realize there was a bike shop here at one time). I'm also intrigued by the idea of a canoe outfitter. There's a boat launch at the Plank Road woods off of Ogden which would allow paddlers to head upstream on the Desplaines. Maybe this hypothetical outfitter could drive folks and their rentals up there.

    The key, I think is speciality shops. Stuff that you can't get everywhere else. Riverside will never compete with larger shopping areas--and we should not want to. However, we could have a downtown that's a destination spot, and then provides some other interesting places to browse and eat afterward.

    Posted Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 09:11 #

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