Rosie's is closed again

Nearly two months after Newburyport Irish pub Rosie O'Shea's was closed for half a day due to seizure by the state Department of Revenue for failure to pay their taxes (see here and here), the bar is closed again.

I just walked by it, trailing two other guys, and we noticed the lights were out with no signs indicating a reason. Maybe an extended Mother's Day holiday?

Related, the bar's website domain, rosieosheas.com, expired on May 9 and was not renewed.

Buy Local awareness is needed

I entered a local bookstore today and asked if they stocked a new nonfiction essay book I'd taken out from the library and enjoyed so much I wanted to add to my own library.

The bookstore clerk typed in the title and author and informed me the store did not have any copies but she could order me one. I told her I'd think about it.

Amazon.com can sell me the same book at a 32% discount off the local bookstore's list price. If I buy two more books with a similar online discount, I'd be eligible for free shipping.

Bottom line: With the financially tight economy we're in, and observant that independent bookstores are trying to make ends meet as much as me, do I buy three books at the bookstore and theoretically pump money into the community or do I buy the books online and save $12? Why bicker over $12?

The notion of shopping locally does not require 100% of one's disposable income to be spent on local procurement options. All that's required, if anything, is a mindset. How one uses that mind is up to each person.

Perhaps Newburyport should organize a Buy Local Day to build awareness.

Best in Country?

After reading Gillian Swart's love of lattes at Greta's Great Grains on her blog here and here, I realized I didn't have this link to the bakery on my online restaurant list over on the right. I'll add that shortly.

Last updated two years ago, Greta's website claims, After 14 years in business, three generations of Austrian and German bakers now make this family-owned bakery one of the best in the country.

Best in the country? I never knew this. Maybe I should visit the downtown bakery more often.

It's all about tourism and Starbucks

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?

On chain stores

Local blogger Tom Salemi wrote about chain stores 25 times over the past seven months. (And I only refer to those times he labeled his post "chain store.") Click here to read them in reverse chronological order.

Salemi cites the rise of chain stores in Portsmouth as a success story and one that Newburyport should emulate. On the flip side, he doesn't want Newburyport to follow the way of a Newington, Kittery, or Danvers.

I couldn't agree more.

But there's an angle Salemi is missing in his 25 posts, and that's something written in this January 2008 article in the liberal Reason Magazine about the clash between independent retailers and big box retailers.

Take independent retailer Newbury Comics, for instance, which 20 years ago stocked about 12,000 CDs and 13,000 cassettes at its flagship Newbury Street location in Boston's Back Bay when behemoth big box retailer Tower Records opened down the block with 50,000 CDs and 60,000 cassettes.

The market believed that Newbury Comics would fold under pressure from Tower, Virgin, HMV, Strawberries, Coconuts, Recordtown, Sam Goody, etc.

Fast forward to today, and only Newbury Comics remains.

While big-box retailers have enormous competitive advantages—sui generis leverage with distributors and manufacturers, unparalleled capital resources, immense political influence—they also face a distinct disadvantage in adjusting themselves to local preferences.

Or, look at Starbucks which opened in Newburyport about 10 years ago amid pressure that the downtown area couldn't handle another coffeehouse, let alone a chain!

But within a 5-minute walk from Starbucks today, you can buy coffee at Greta's Great Grains, Pralines Bake Shop, Abraham's Bagels, Souffle's, Caffe di Sienna, Plum Island Coffee Roasters, and Dunkin Donuts (inside Richdale's, which has its own as well) and I'm not including coffee that can be had at traditional restaurants like Fowle's, Angie's, Stella's, the Rockfish, and the Grog.

Sounds to me that Starbucks is not posing any more competition than what already exists.

I'm all for buying local, but what happens when a product is not available?

Look at office supplies, for instance.

Zip code 01950 has no store devoted to office supplies. The nearest location to buy a dry erase whiteboard, envelope moistener sticks, and a legal-sized notepad in a single purchase is Staples across the state line in Seabrook. Even Salemi's downtown Portsmouth has an independent office supply store.

Continuing this line of thought to its logical conclusion, I'd like to see an office supply store downtown. I don't care if it's a chain or not, but I can guess which would come first if presented the opportunity. I know... how about one is incorporated into the mixed residential and retail development slated for the so-called Waterside West?

Green consumerism

How green are Newburyport consumers?

That is, not how green are their lifestyles but how green are their spending habits? How green are our spending habits?

Let's look at five sample products: compact fluorescent light bulbs, organic baby food and formula, organic milk, extended life paper products, and concentrated/reduced-packaging liquid laundry detergents.

I can't think of a Newburyport retailer that sells all five. K-Mart doesn't sell organic milk for sure, let alone organic baby food. Do Market Basket or Shaws?

Wal-Mart, once the mark of all things capitalistic, sells all five categories and according to a April 21 press release about their Live Better Index, nationwide green consumerism increased 66 percent in just one year.

How can we track this locally? For those who rally against chain stores, are there "buy local" statistics that can be correlated against the domestic Wal-Mart average?

Vectored via Green Daily

Senior center on Pond Street?

While looking at this 2006 Daily News story about New England Development's purchase of properties in and around downtown Newburyport, I remembered that the company owns 13 1/2 Pond Street.

13 1/2 Pond Street is the home of CVS, the White Hen, Panda's Cleaners, and an ATM. (Apparently, Express Video is at 13 Pond Street and I don't know if Stephen Karp's company also owns that.)

Presuming NED owns both the front and rear of that footprint, I am reminded of a January 10, 2008 post on the AroundTheNorthShore.com forum (see link on right of this page) by "bafergus68" who wrote the following:

I think we need a public private partnership for the senior center sited at the Pond st mall (which Karp owns).

Tear it down and rebuild with retail on the first floor and senior center above. Retain the White Hen and CVS so seniors can simply go downstairs to get their meds, cigs, and lottery tickets.

....it is a nice location - across from the Bartlett Mall, walking distance to downtown and across from the fire station.

Did the senior center site selection committee consider this as an option?

Is it an option? Should it be one? The idea clearly has merit.

Starbucks to close

Starbucks in downtown Newburyport will close on May 12 for renovations. It's expected to re-open on May 22.

According to a barista I spoke to today while ordering a chai, improvements include the removal of the wall cabinets by the State Street door, installation of a counter top and stools for sitting at the counter, and general space maximization.

The farmers return

The farmers are back in Newburyport.

A mere six days after a farmer's market was held at Bartlet Mall as part of a Earth Day weekend celebration (read this and this) that attracted nearly 600 to 1,000 people to buy herbs, plants, and CSA shares, the market returns for what is planned to be a weekly event.

No more trekking down to Gloucester's weekly farmer's market.

The Bartlet Mall Commission is apparently behind this Newburyport initiative, spearheaded by Arrowhead Farm owner Dick Chase, whom Mayor John Moak praised at Tuesday night's green awards ceremony. A website will be launched in the near future, and a 501(c)3 designation is in the works.

So if you'd like to take a break this weekend from Newburyport's Literary Festival (where I'll be volunteering; see if you can spot me), head up to the Mall on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hooray for The Upper Crust

Ever since moving to Newburyport and eyeing the various pizza joints around town, I've secretly wanted a shop like the Upper Crust Pizzeria to arrive.

The Daily News reports my wish may come true.

For the record, I'm not a big pizza eater. In fact, I rarely eat the doughy fixture. With my healthy, low-carb diet, I treat pizza as a, err, treat. But, after trying pizzas from Abe's and Pizza Factory II (the closest to my apartment), I prefer to order pies these days from Angelina's over the bridge. I feel the Salisbury joint offers thinner pies with less grease.

Emily H., a Yelp reviewer, suggested last year that Nick's Pizza is better than Angelina's. I suppose I'll have to try Nick's.

In terms of comparisons to the Upper Crust's pies, I'd offer up Amesbury's Flatbread Pizza Co.

To no surprise, an anonymous commenter at the bottom of the above linked Daily News page is unhappy with the potential of the Upper Crust coming here:

I think if we keep going in this direction, Newburyport will cease to have the quaint charm that is what attracts most of our visitors. If we continue allowing chain restaurants/stores to take over downtown, Newburyport will just end up being "Anytown, USA."

I disagree. When you compare the tourism and commercial appeal of downtown Newburyport with Brookline's Coolidge Corner, Boston's Charles Street, and Waltham's Moody Street, you can see many common elements. Besides, Domino's and Pizza Hut are more like a chain than the UC. They may have numerous locations, but it's still Made in Massachusetts with only Mass. locations.

Tom Salemi, on his blog, agrees:

If we are going to get a chain, Upper Crust seems like the kind of chain store folks would prefer: a niche, Massachusetts-based company with locations in a number somewhat upscale locations. Newburyport does seem like a nice fit.

I've only eaten at the Upper Crust's Beacon Hill and Coolidge Corner locations, but after hearing of last year's opening in Salem, I figured it was only time before a franchise would come farther north... and if it's successful here, I would think it's very likely they'd cross the border, in a reverse role of Sal's southern crossing.

The Puberty of Talking Books

You know that stage in human puberty when the body changes and people react differently?

I just came across the Jabberwocky BookShop's blog, Talking Books.

Take a look at the blog in Internet Explorer and it looks like any other blog. But if you plug in the address in Mozilla Firefox, it looks horrendously misaligned.

Seized

Rosie O'Shea's, an Irish pub steps from the public library, is closed.

A large red sign is posted over the door, proclaiming, "SEIZED!"

Apparently, the owners were delinquent on paying state taxes, so the state now owns the property.

Forbes and Karp

Stephen Karp, chairman of New England Development, may be the wealthiest land owner in Newburyport, but he's not top of the chart rich.

Forbes Magazine's 2008 ranking of 1,125 billionaires in the world places Karp's net worth of $1 billion at #1062, compared to #891 in last year's list of 946.

He doesn't even make the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans. His net worth hasn't changed in two years, so while he was ranked #374 then, he didn't make the cut in last year's list.

I bring this up in reference to next week's public forum when King Karp will appear beside the mayor and other city officials to talk about the so-called Waterside West development.

It is typical for Forbes to list corporate chairs and presidents and while they can speak at length about vision statements, it is usually up to their managers to delve into singular issues.

I'd be surprised if Karp says a lot next week that isn't already known.

Lacking in the tech department

Over on my other blog, I wrote about a new printer I bought today.

I agonized over location, going back and forth between websites for Target, Walmart, Costco, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Best Buy--which appear to be the only places in a 30-mile radius to purchase computers and printers--before settling on Best Buy in Salem, New Hampshire.

I suppose I'm biased, living the past two years in Somerville and frequently buying computer equipment at Microcenter, the badass warehouse on Memorial Drive.

Is there no comparative independent bulk reseller in the Merrimack Valley? Where do locals buy CompUSA-like equipment without paying jacked-up prices?

Online restaurants

Considering it costs $10 to purchase a domain, $50-100 for a decent annual hosting plan, and minimal effort to create some HTML and upload pictures or scan PDF files, why isn't every restaurant and bakery online?

Take a look at the blogroll to the right; there's a simple explanation why the Thirsty Whale, Stella's, Park Lunch, and the Finest Kind are missing: no website. I'm all for restaurants thriving from word-of-mouth, but how would a tourist know of the delicious food at Stella's if there is no online menu?

Surely, service industry venues have the capital so if it comes down to finding that time and effort, I'll bet many high school students can do the work for cash or for free. If not, I will.

Maybe the solution is the Chamber of Commerce, if not an ad-hoc business association, should create a sub-folder on their website for this purpose. Call it chamberofcommerce.org/restaurants and list every restaurant with PDF menu.

Old News at Daily News

Dr. Mitchell Bamberger joined the staff of Anna Jaques Hospital in November 2007, yet his smiling face continues to bless the advertising space of The Daily News' website.



Moreover, clicking the ad returns an invalid link.

Vodka brewery: far-fetched?

About 95 miles south of Newburyport, in the seaside community of Westport, located about halfway between New Bedford and Fall River, lie Buzzards Bay Brewing and Westport Rivers Winery. Sister community organizations, both entities were conceptualized about 15 years ago with the inspiration of big sky meeting blue water and hoping a brewery and a winery would benefit South Coast residents and tourists.

Here is the joint mission statement:
In 1982 the Russell Family purchased the historic, 140 acre "Long Acre Farm." Following a family discussion, a stewardship statement was drafted. At the heart of this statement is the Russell Family’s belief that they are stewards of both land and possessions; that these are not truly owned, but rather are temporarily gifted and to be used in a fashion honoring those who came before and those who follow afterward. The family declared they would use this South Coast farmland both for agricultural products (including food, wine and beer) and for education (about the value of working natural resources). The Russell's founded both Buzzards Bay Brewing and Westport Rivers Winery upon this deep regard for local agriculture and education. As of 2006 over 300 acres of working farmland has been permanently preserved by the companies.

Land stewardship and natural resource conservation and education. We already have that in Newburyport...but we don't have a brewery or a winery. The winery idea is unlikely due to the limitation of available land that could be used for such a purpose, not to mention the existing competition in the winery industry.

To the north, just over the state line in South Hampton, is the large Jewel Towne Vineyards, built up in the 1970s and now has nearly 100 vintages. To the south, in Ipswich, is the Russell Orchards and Winery, which has produced fruit wines and ciders since 1988. And on the other side of I-95, in Middleton, is the Red Oak Winery, formed in 2002 with the sole purpose of purchasing Napa Valley grapes and producing red and white vintages.

What about a brewery? Don't go frothing at the mouth yet. Sure, it could be a beer brewery, manufacturing bottles with names like Port Ale, Yeat IPA, or Newburyport Nectar. But after chatting today with one of SEED's activists, the idea arose to brew, err distill, a local variety of vodka.

For information, read this article from "Taste of the Seacoast" and this article from Boston Magazine which talk about vodka distilleries in Maine, New Hampshire, and comparable Nantucket.

Think about it.

Signs

An ugly sight lies at the corner of Water Street and Ocean Avenue.



I acknowledge that everyone wants free advertisement, especially to point tourists to Plum Island, but this is city land and I believe that only the DPW has the right to post signs here. A-frames and other non-city signs should be removed and violating business owners ought to be fined. There's an easy way to boost the city coffers.

More to the point, the haphazard sign placement does more harm than good as the visual line of sight is skewed looking all over the place. A better and more enterprising solution would be a larger billboard-like sign, similar to at the entry to Port Plaza, that lists every business (or those who choose to pay for the service) and has arrows to the left and arrows to the right.

USPS in NBPT

Pop quiz: Not including mail boxes, how many buildings does the United States Postal Service own in Newburyport?

Everyone knows the US Post Office downtown at 61 Pleasant Street, diagonally across from City Hall.

Few people realize there is another USPS building on the other side of Newburyport, within the Lord Timothy Dexter Industrial Park, located at 12 Malcolm Hoyt Drive and marked on the assessor's map as 82A-14.

Once owned by the Newburyport Area Industrial Development Corporation, the USPS bought the 232,610 square-foot lot in May 1992 for the tune of $306,000. Two years later, they built a 29,376 square-foot structure that has a fiscal 2008 assessed value of $3.9 million. You do the math.

Try googling for the address; no results found.

Beats me what goes on inside, though I presume a mail sorting distribution center. The USPS isn't a member of the Newburyport Chamber, and there isn't a formal industrual park association. I wonder if they give free tours.

Pedal power

A recent transplant to Newburyport, I hadn't realized the Newburyport Pedicab organization only started operating in May 2007. The Daily News reported on one of their first rides.

I remember seeing these three-wheeled cycles last fall, and I anticipate seeing them again after the winter thaw. Did you know the company doesn't charge for rides, but operates on tips only, with proceeds going to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute? That's so cool.

Here's a video they produced last fall:



I recently shared a story with Molly Ettenborough, the city's recycling coordinator, about Pedal People, a year-long cooperative business in Northampton that hauls up to 300 pounds of trash and recycling material from point A to point B. Another cool service, and something I'd love to see here in Newburyport.