I just arrived at an epiphany: No discussion about Newburyport (re)development or chain store bans is complete without talking about Plum Island Coffee Roasters.
Say what?
First, you have to admit that PI Coffee Roasters is a successful business and is part of the "buy local" movement.
Second, you have to understand that PI Coffee Roasters would not be here if it wasn't for Starbucks. More on that later.
I previously wrote about the 18 or so establishments around downtown Newburyport that either market themselves as coffeehouses or sell cups of Joe. Considering Starbucks arrived here nearly 10 years ago, and most of their competitors are still around, something's going right.
The answer is tourism. Newburyport is not just a place to live, work, and play, but it's a destination for historical preservation, ecotourism, land and marine conservation, art studios and author readings, and, yes, shopping. Who's shopping? No one knows for sure but clearly a mix of residents and tourists, coming here by bus or train or car. Once the bike trail is complete, they'll arrive by bike.
Local blogger Tom Salemi recently wrote this about Starbucks' arrival causing "a bit of a furor."
I wasn't around here 10 years ago, but while I can understand initial disagreement, why is there still fury? In the wake of a Daily News article about the alleged arrival of an Upper Crust pizzeria chain, some comments consider this is an invasion of the once quaint Newburyport into Anytown USA.
That's not a fair description because if it wasn't for tourists, we'd have no vibrant downtown. The businesses make it vibrant, and the tourists come to shop when they're killing time between whale watches, Plum Island refuge hikes, and High Street mansion drive-bys.
It's already been proven that the majority of Port residents don't do their holiday shopping downtown or at the Tannery, but go outlet shopping in Kittery or head to Wal-Mart or Target. No?
Which brings me back to the 3-year-old Plum Island Coffee Roasters, in particular to this printed profile of the business two years ago.
"If there wasn’t a Starbucks here, we wouldn’t have done it," says [owner Joyce] Coady. "Wherever there’s a Starbucks location, there is a select clientele for specialty coffee."I'll paraphrase that again. If Starbucks wasn't here, PI Coffee Roasters wouldn't be here either. Nor would many other independent retailers over the past 10 years it is fair to surmise.
Do you disagree?
3 comments:
Wrong you Are - I buy everything downtown. I buy toys for Christmas and Birthdays at Eureka and Dragon's Nest depending on what kind of mood I'm in. I buy all my books from Jabberwocky. I buy most of my clothes from Mary Jane's, and if Lively kids had a larger collection I wouldn't augment with stuff from stores elsewhere. It's a little more boutiquey, so maybe you can't afford as much stuff, so we end up buying only what we love, but less of it, in contrast to the junk buying you get into on the sale rack at the Gap. Huge generalization about the folks who live in Newburyport not buying local. Everyone I talk to who lives here say they're equally challenged for time to drive all the way to the malls. You get really used to the personal service, when you buy local.
Thanks for your comment. Don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting no residents buy local but that not everybody does. I do for most things but not everything.
An unscientific online poll from last December shows 1/5 of local residents don't buy their holiday gifts downtown. That number may or may not increase based on more participants. I don't know.
But let's go back to my office supply argument from a day or two ago...
Of every retail location in the city, not only is there no office supply store but there is nowhere one can buy a legal-sized pad of paper. With the preponderance of writers and artists in the city, it's very obvious that an office supply store is needed, no?
I was chatting with a fellow writer earlier this week and we agreed the nearest place to buy paper, pens, and drafting supplies is Staples up in Seabrook. So not only are we not buying local but to save on gas and not drive to Haverhill, we're not even buying Massachusetts.
Yes, we could order our office supplies online but when something is needed NOW and not LATER, there's no choice. I'm not suggesting a Staples open up in Newburyport, but look at the mom-and-pop office supply store in Portsmouth.
There's always KMART. Or CVS. Or Rite Aid. KMART has a very long aisle of school/office supplies. They might even sell them at Market Basket or Shaws. Lots of folks need it, so if it wasn't there I bet those nice folks at Shaws would order it for you. They now order my fave brand of Haagen Daaz at my request.
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