True…but not everywhere there. In my experience of buying kitchen cabinetry, I would have spent nearly the exact same money at Home Depot for their basic, entry level shit. What I got was of much higher quality, anti-slam hardware, more options from a size standpoint, more options for door fronts, etc. In the end I have a kitchen that looks like it cost 5x more than what I paid.
While on the Ikea topic here, I think it would be great to see one in the US for reasons some have mentioned. Def not going to argue that it would have made my life simpler, and could see people from outside of WNY heading this way to make some purchases simply because they don’t have to cross the border. I’ve been in both Boston and Minneapolis on weekends when Ikea opened and the amount of excitement and traffic to just get in the store was crazy long. AS an anchor…I’d put money on Ikea being successfull and being a springboard to get some smaller businesses to prosper.
Part of the problem with IKEA wanting to open a store here is that they have one in relatively close proximity. A good portion of the business which would go to a Buffalo IKEA would be getting taken away from the Burlington store. That’s not to say they still wouldn’t prosper, but it makes their ROI timeframe longer.
IIRC IKEA Canada and IKEA USA are seperate companies, which would explain the pricing differences. The Canadian one is a lot more aggressive with expansion. Not sure how they view cannibalization between the two units, but it’d definitely be an issue. Cheaper prices in USA plus no 15% sales tax = more sales. I think it would actually increase Canadian demand though and see more of them buying here instead of not buying at all.
lol @ the lake being the anchor. Have you ever been down near the lake in January? A friend has a place right on the Hamburg shore. The lake is an awful place in the winter time.
I have my doubts that anything but an anchor store can survive down there. Even after you draw people in with the anchor you still have to convince them they want to walk against the -30 wind chill to go to the small shops.
And love Joe saying, “we might be able to lure Ikea if we give them the Bass Pro treatment”. Which treatment is that? The incentive money or the lawsuits and constant bashing by our media outlets, politicians and local obstructionist mouthpieces? I’m sure large corporations are looking at how the whole Bass Pro thing went down and deciding to not return our calls.
Other than the typical preservationist hippies that don’t want anyone to change anything and will sue to ensure they don’t, all of the bashing came of their demands for more and more, with nothing being good enough.
There is another store just outside of downtown Toronto…which is closer to Burlington than Buffalo would be.
So much truth here.
I grew up in Minneapolis, which makes Buffalo winters look pathetic. Despite the weather, there is always something to do. For the most part I feel Buffalo peeps are fine with being acitive year round, just need more excitement downtown in general. That Powderkeg festival seemed like a step in the right direction…
If only Buffalo was capable of pulling off what Oklahoma City did with the river front. Oddly there is a Bass Pro Shop there now, as well as a bunch of smaller places. But upon moving down south to a couple of them I can’t really see how they sustain themselves. However they are a pretty cool place it, but the political situation in Buffalo would be very unlikely to support it.
However it’s a good example of turning a steaming pile into something quite cool.
I’m gonna go ahead and 100% agree with all of this.
Most waterfront towns are ghost-towns in the winter time…for good reason. With the length of a Buffalo winter, I just don’t think any seasonal shops would survive.
If you’re talking about Bricktown, I fucking love that place. Such a cool spot to hang out but it definitely doesn’t seem to attract too many people. At least not during the summer anyhow.
An anchor store implies something that will bring business year round, regarldess of weather. I.E. Bass Pro. Who has tons of business in the winter due to hunting and whatnot. And with that could come other types of stores to make it a worthy stop for christmas shopping as well.
The one thing that sucks no matter what is that Buffalo gets a shitload of wind, and it’s not exactly fun on the waterfront during all of that. Having an indoor/outdoor complex may not be a bad idea either, but I don’t remember seeing that in any proposals.
“The popular chain is one of 10 potential anchor tenants that will be approached, Jordan Levy, chairman of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., said Monday. He acknowledged IKEA’s identity only because it had been publicly revealed by another board member.”
Bass pro would be a success because people that shop there are not pussies about the weather(they are outdoorsmen).
I was making a joke that people that shop at IKEA are not that tough.
Do I have to spell out every joke on here? LOL
I’ve not been working much today, and talking with some downtown Buff residents here at work about this and some of their comments were rather interesting, and add a slightly different element to this: living on the waterfront. With such little access to common living/grocery needs…the simplest of tasks become a hassle to people living there. Why not a Wegman’s down there (for example)? Even for me living on the outskirts of downtown, I’d benefit from this. Quinn even dropped the comment that you can’t buy an apples after 5pm in downtown…kindof hard to entice people to live there. Anchor stores will bring shopping, sure, but you still need the stores to support living. Not to bring up other cities again…but the successful cold-climate cities like Minneapolis and Chicago both offer these ideas to keep residents living and spending.
Lets start by bulldozing Bethlehem Steel, the ghetto that used to be the suburbs of Bethlehem Steel, and all of the grain elevators, and every other structure within a mile of the shoreline that hasn’t been occupied in 30 years.
Then we’d have half a city’ worth of shovel ready waterfront real estate. :bigtup:
I still think a Great Lakes cruise would be neat. Was the Aquarama the last attempt at one?
Fry I can’t tell you how often I think that everytime I drive down Rt 5. UGH. Going off of Mike’s comments with waterfront residents, the areas just south of the city would be AMAZING for a new community. And the best part is that you can literally start from scratch with all of the land available. Unfortunately the cost of getting rid of most of those buildings is monumental in itself. And the damage that the forgotten industry did to the environment there still makes it a pain in the ass to build. When Hydro-Air (my old company) went to build there, they went through tons of shit because of the “Brown Lands.” (? I think that’s what it is) If not for the building being a model for geothermal energy, it may have taken 10x longer.
If anyone can think of a way to incorporate those shit buildings into a new world, then that would be amazing. Unfortunately, they are far from safe to be made into anything without millions being put into them in the first place, and at that point it’s probably easier to blow them up.
BED - I got the joke, I’m just trying to get actual discussion going.