Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Store siting decisions aren't about sentiment

As you know, I don't care much for letter writing campaigns to attract retailers, because they don't care about what you want, but about making money.

Trader Joe's is probably one of the retailers that people want the most, maybe even more than Whole Foods, when it comes to attracting retail to their neighborhoods. Apparently the new DC store is the company's absolutely most successful store right now in terms of sales/square foot.

Even so, TJ's shows absolutely no interest, according to a DC Government official, in opening up any more stores in DC.

Presumably, this lack of interest is duplicated when it comes to the consideration of other urban places.

See for example, from the Nashville Tennessean, "Foodies hold out hope for Trader Joe's."

Letters or online petitions don't matter. Dollars do.

You are wasting your time, unless you are prepared to provide an incentive payment of $1.5 million or more, to get them to open a store.

(Flickr photo by Ocean Seafood Campaign.)

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