Borders closing its doors

[R. Laevinus]

I was thinking today about making a trip to Toronto soon. The EX is coming up in August. I have been going to TO since 1976 and have never seen a city change so often and so fast in many ways. I had a four year span recently without going to TO and was amazed at all the changes in that time. However, crossing the border is a real pain anymore. There is a mega 2 floor Wal-Mart in the Square One Mall in Mississauga I have been in. If I come up, I will have to PM you.

Please do!

 

[LSquared]

Victim of low demand. Ask yourself: when was the last time you stepped into one? Many of you will say "recently" but many, many more will answer "not in months, years, or never."
It's really just that simple. Most people don't want it anymore.

More important than "Stepped Into" is "spent money at".

I'm sorry to see them go, But when I think about it, I doubt I've spent $100 there in the past year.

 

[GregC]

Are any of the locales that are claiming tons of mom and pop indie style shops big metro areas (that are easily exploited by huge stores), OR, are they little nook towns that can sustain such small shops and thrive within smaller communites / college areas?

I'm just curious. Because if any of these areas were to have a renaissance and get all hip to be at, then the big stores will notice and move right in.

For instance, this exact scenario is happening right now in Killingly, CT, and just happened 5 years ago in Millbury, MA. Little almost nothing towns that are now shopping meccas.

Most of the big-box stores happen in the suburbs up here; most people in the city tend to prefer smaller shops.

The story is similar in Chicago. The higher-density neighborhoods (like mine) have more small shops.

One reason is preference, as I said, but of course it's also tougher for the big boys to get enough land at one time to plop down one of their stores. You have to go a ways to get to one of the big discount stores--Target's probably 5 miles away, and I don't even know where the nearest Walmart is. And while there is a Home Depot and a Best Buy within a mile or so of my place, they're a good deal smaller than their typical stores.