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?

Filmed in Newburyport

According to the Internet Movie Database, Gavin's Way and The House of Usher were the only two movies in its gargantuan inventory filmed in Newburyport.

I say we can do better.

Over the past six months, just a few blockbuster-quality movies that were seen shooting in and around Boston included Pink Panther 2 (starring Steve Martin and John Cleese), My Best Friend's Girl (starring Kate Hudson and Alec Baldwin), and 21 (starring Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne). If it wasn't for the state legislature for passing tax incentives in 2005-06, and to Robin Dawson and her Massachusetts Film Office, these films may have been shot elsewhere.

When Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, and Bette Midler arrived in Georgetown (some 15 miles away from here) on a fall's day in September 2007, the local newspaper reported nobody knew the big stars were in town.

Tom Salemi recently proposed the benefit of a regionally-focused economic development director. While my gut instinct is to say that is the role of the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, even the MVEDC wouldn't necessarily be involved in bringing the next Tom Cruise film to Newburyport. So, who would do the wooing? Not a state representative, for the question would be asked why single out Newburyport and not Amesbury or Salisbury?

My point is when you consider last summer's New York Post ran a story about Plum Island and the boutique hotel, blue, is it really that far-fetched to run some fancy advertising, whether locally or regionally, and proposition that the next time New York celebrities head to Newbury, that they stop off in the Clipper City, stroll the river boardwalk, eat at a Tannery restaurant, gawk at the High Street Federalist houses, and begin spreading the word about the next great place to make a movie?

I never heard of those two IMDb movies previously shot here. We can do better.