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.

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?

Questioning a bike rack

This $250 bicycle rack was installed earlier this week outside City Hall. Similar racks are erected along Inn Street and near the library.

According to this 2006 story by Mary Eaton, the Seacoast Energy & Environmental Design (SEED) coalition is collecting funds for the bike rack procurement, and the DPW is volunteering its manpower to install them.

SEED's Liss Campbell informs me that about $2800 has been collected so far.

The master plan for bike rack installations, which Councilor Larry McCavitt helped put together, calls for many more racks.

What gets me is the design.

Eaton quotes a then-Daily News article on the rack design: styles range from modern and streamlined to more historic-looking racks.

Which style does the above picture encapsulate? Shouldn't a historic-looking rack (whatever that really means) be next to City Hall, one of the more historic downtown structures?

I had thought, when hearing of the plan to erect bike racks, they would like more like this with a physical 'place' to keep the front wheel.

And how do I attach my bike to it? By looping my chain around one of the legs, and watching the chain fall to the brick bottom? How is that secure?

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.

Spring tables and flowers

Maybe they sprung up earlier, but I noticed the new Inn Street tables and chairs for the first time today, sitting with a friend over ice cream and enjoying the views of the screaming children at the playground.



Atop each table is a sign, reading:
These tables and chairs
are for public use,
approved by the City of
Newburyport and
Provided by the Purple
Onion

Speaking of pretty weather, how about those flowers adorning the sidewalk flower pots?