This article was forwarded to me by a friend--- thought it was appropriate
under the topic of discussion

-Heidi
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"Big retailers find downtown home"
Friday, February 26, 1999
The Record -- Hackensack, NJ

By LAUREN COLEMAN-LOCHNER
Staff Writer

Like England, this was once a nation of shopkeepers, its
commercial streets a collection of mom-and-pops, punctuated
by the occasional Sears or Woolworth's.

But now that the big retailers have populated the malls, they are
turning back to do battle on the independents'  home turf. For
retailers, downtown shopping areas and the dense, often
time-pressed population living around them represent a new
frontier. Time spent at malls has declined over the years, and
many shoppers say they avoid malls when possible.

"I like things that make life easier," said Mel Ebenstein of
Ridgewood, who says he prefers to shop in downtown stores.

"Customers like to have the stores close to them . . . which
means that the best location is Main Street," said Todd Andrews,
a spokesman for CVS, which is opening more of its new stores
in downtowns.

The Gap has storefronts in Westwood and Ridgewood;
Gymboree, Williams-Sonoma, and Laura Ashley are
side-by-side with local boutiques in Ridgewood's downtown;
K-B Toys and Ann Taylor do business in Englewood, and
CVS and Starbucks are just about everywhere.

Even some larger-format retailers such as Home Depot are
opening small versions of their stores in or near town centers.

Local merchants are of two minds about the influx of chains. The
nationals often take over what would be empty space and can
attract customers to the area. But they also push up rents by
making improvements and signaling, by choosing a town, that it
is desirable. And, of course, they present competition for the
mom-and-pop stores.

"It's great to have them in here. It's better than having empty
stores," said Angela Cautillo, the executive director of
Ridgewood's Chamber of Commerce and owner of Charta's
Cards and Gifts.

But others say too many chains make a town center too much
like a mall, providing no incentive to shop there.

Although the presence of the national stores can take away from
the small-town feeling, Cautillo said, some of the smaller
retailers "should take their cues" from the chains, which often
have longer hours than the independents.

Love it or loathe it, the arrival of chains on local main streets
forms part of a national trend that will only accelerate, said
James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of
Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

Now that the big chains have exhausted many possibilities in
and around malls, they are looking for new opportunities,
including downtowns, Hughes said.

Retailers say they are moving in or near Main Street to get closer
to busy customers, who can swoop in and out of smaller,
centrally located stores more easily.

Home Depot plans to test four prototypes of a small store called
Villager Hardware in New Jersey this year. The first is scheduled
to open midyear on Route18 in East Brunswick. The other
locations have not been determined, said Katrina Blauvelt, a
spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based company.

The Villager Hardware stores, at 30,000 to 40,000 square feet,
will be about one-third the size of typical Home Depot stores and
will appear more similar to downtown hardware stores. Blauvelt
said they will be geared toward different customers, stocking
items for small home-improvement projects.

Sears, once a Main Street fixture before it fled to malls, has
reopened a handful of stores in downtown shopping areas, said
Jan Drummond, a Sears spokeswoman. The downtown stores
are among its best performers, she added.

Wal-Mart has tested four "Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market stores"
in Arkansas and plans to open a fifth this spring, said Daphne
Davis, a company spokeswoman. At 40,000 square feet, they
range from about one-third to one-fifth the size of the Bentonville,
Ark., chain's typical superstores.

For independent merchants now facing the new competitors
next door, the outlook is bleak, Hughes said. National chains
"can undercut the pricing of the mom-and-pops," he said.

But without chain retailers, "the small stores can't survive," said
Melanie Willoughby, president of the New Jersey Retail
Merchants Association in Trenton. Chain stores draw shoppers,
have the capital to maintain themselves nicely, and give people
a reason to avoid the malls, Willoughby said.

Not that malls are sweating it out. They offer easy, free parking
and are "more conducive to convenient one-stop shopping,"
said Noreen Boyle, general manager of Bergen Mall in
Paramus.

Still, chains in downtown Westwood have drawn more shoppers
eager to stay close to home, particularly since construction on
the Routes 4 and 17 intersection began, said Tim Hampton,
president of the Westwood Chamber of Commerce. Although he
does not keep statistics on the number of shoppers,
he said Westwood has had to add parking meters and expand
three shoppers' parking lots in the past 10 years.

But many merchants insist that something is lost when chains
come calling.

Beverly Adler, the owner of Arts & Ends, a Westwood women's
boutique, said higher employee turnover at chains has affected
customer service, and "that's really what a small town is about."

Corrine Krachtus, owner of Conrad's Confectionary in
Westwood, doesn't like chains in town, either. "It takes away the
real purpose of a small town," she said.

Merchants also complain that chain stores drive up rents.
Hampton said rents do indeed climb as national chains move
in. Most spend considerable time refurbishing their stores and
buildings before they open, he said, which can push up rents in
neighboring buildings.

"I think landlords get greedy and prices go high and
independents have a hard time with the high cost of rents," said
Lorraine Weaver, the owner of Specialty Cup, a Ridgewood cafe.

When a Starbucks replaced the Coffee Connection in 1995,
Weaver immediately saw an effect on her business.

"Starbucks is a known entity, so it's an automatic draw," she
said.

Willoughby thinks independents must adapt when chain stores
come to town, because they can't otherwise compete with the
nationals.

Weaver, who has operated her store since 1990, did just that.

"You make adjustments in order to stay competitive and to keep
your name out there," she said. After Starbucks came to town,
Weaver extended store hours and added Friday-night
entertainment.

And, like every successful independent, she said, she focuses
on service:
"You learn to know your customers and call your customers by
name."