The reason for this decision is a complicated mess of personal and business issues, but here’s the short version: It’s not working. Despite a lot of hard work from many dedicated people, it just seems impossible to make the business successful given the rising rents, increased competition, and decreased sales of the past couple of years. The current rents in Newburyport are simply out of line with the foot traffic in the city. In addition, the arrival of another store in town that carries every single one of our top selling footwear brands has led to decreased sales. The economy hasn’t helped either! We have reinvented Mary Jane a couple of times already but there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do what would need to be done to make it worth all the work.
The posting and decision follows the news that Ashley & Barnes is hightailing to Amesbury (or consolidating at its Elm Street location. I'm still not sure which.) But this isn't good news for Pleasant Street.
It will be interesting to see if and when Mary Jane's prime space is filled. The State Street properties are filling up fast, but Pleasant Street isn't State Street.
But it's clear that Oregano's came in just in time to avoid the appearance of an unpleasant strip of emptiness.
The irony is that the store's owner Lisa Carrigg wrote an impassioned plea in a letter to the Daily News last year, asking for some progress in building a parking garage and hotel downtown.
She still believes they'll help, according to her recent announcement.
I still believe that what Newburyport needs is a hotel and a parking garage. If we could get more people here to fill our shops and restaurants, we could all afford the rent. As it is now, the cart is pulling the horse; the rents are already set for a bustling destination but that is not yet the reality.
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63 comments:
they are putting in a gardening store at that location, work has already begun.
Bravo to Lise for putting a little funk into Newburyport at Mary Jane. Of course, its a losing battle as the khaki tide continues to rise in Newburyport.
Old story -- creative people create a cool place, boring professionals move in, and they drive the funk right out town.
Maybe a North Face outlet will open in Mary Jane's place...
Zzzzzz, oh sorry...I dozed off during yet-another-rant about how newcomers are responsible for a store closing.
Look, I'm a fan too. But according to the announcement she was around for five years, stop talking like this is Angie's.
Why we gotta hate?
You may have some bad info there X.
I'm told there's no tenant.
Anon 10:34, can you elaborate on your "khaki tide" trend you mention above? I never heard that term before.
Mary Jane is right at the top of Inn Street. I can't imagine that she gets much less traffic than State Street.
It never ceases to amaze me, though, that so many stores in town seem to carry the same damn stuff. The same brands and the same inventory. Granted she was here before that other shoe retailer moved in, but it really is perplexing to me.
This is a small city with unpredictable tourism traffic. My advice to anyone opening a store in town is to be unique and find a niche that isn't filled. Another women's boutique? That's just craziness. So how many shops in town sell lingerie now? Do we even need one?
It's not the newcomers or your so-called "khaki tide" (man you just love to lump), it's a combination of things. Creativity, slow economy, high cost of goods and fuel. To survive, the stores in town are going to have to stop cannibalizing one another for starters.
yeah, i must have had it confused with the store next door. clearly, you can tell i never went into mary janes.
also, rather than trying to be unique and finding a creative niche, why not sell stuff locals will buy regularly? they live here year round, and they'd be your most consistent customers.
that is, until the city starts charging us to park downtown.
Check out Solana Beach CA "Cedros Design District". http://www.cedrosdesigndistrict.net/
This small town brings in [not just tourist] business year round, not just during vacation periods or weekends by focusing on anything having to do with 'design' from furniture, interiors, wood working, group shops, antiques, vintage clothes,architects, art galleries -anything with an aesthetic component. It seems like people go there with decorating or home usage intent, not just for a casual ice cream stroll.
It seems like we sort'a- kind'a have that in latent form downtown.
Ron M
X 6.12: Can you be less vague? Are there specific items or niches that you cannot find locally that you'd like a downtown merchant to stock or represent?
I'll begin: I'd like to see a downtown merchant stock office supplies, and I don't mean the miniscule selection of Richdale's and CVS. The creative economy is very strong in 01950 and I'm sure that other writers and artisans would heavily use a local operation; I point you to a similar independent venue in downtown Portsmouth, for instance.
bean, I don't have experience actually starting and running a retail operation, but it seems to me that women's clothing should be one of the more viable niches that a retail store in Newburyport could offer. boutiques don't cannibalize each other: they complement each other. customers come to a destination to shop a category; if they don't find something they like in one store maybe they'll find it in another. the more boutiques the better. I never even noticed Mary Jane's (I am not a woman :-) but I don't think trying to operate yet another women's clothing store in Newburyport is a mistake per se.
In any case, I think the town desperately still needs some kind of anchor hotel accommodation, not that this seems to hurting the value of my real estate here.
Ron,
That's an interesting link. You're right. We already seem to have the bare bones of begin a design district.
In many ways Solano sounds a lot like Newburyport does with a tighter marketing plan.
Ari, you idea works as well and could fit into the niche Ron relayed.
Good stuff.
a hotel isn't the answer to anyone's problems, despite what the chamber of commerce will tell you.
I'm behind you all the way on this one, X. Newburyport is a day-trip destination.
I disagree.
I see conferences. I see weddings.
I'm not sure anyyone will spend a solid week here, but why wouldn't they?
Few days at the beach. Few hikes in the mountains. Few days shopping downtown.
You think you can't walk the entire Portsmouth downtown in a day?
Of course it's a day-trip - there's no place to stay....
It's a day trip from Boston, Portsmouth & Portland - all much more 'exciting' places to stay, have a conference, etc. This place is dead after 10 p.m. (the other night I saw some hapless family literally running around town at 10:01, trying to find someplace that would serve them food). I like the term "bedroom community."
Yes but...
A hotel would bring MORE people to the downtown. Therefore there would be more life, and I'll dispute the 10 pm notion, at least on weekends.
Plus, if Karp builds a hotel here he might request a few of his restaurants stay open to feed the guests.
Tom, It's not so much up to the restaurants. It's the liquor commission. I never really realized that until I was at the hearing for River Merrimack Bar & Grille. They had to practically plead to stay open until, I think, 11:30. The 'winning' argument was that people who work in OTHER restaurants have nowhere to go after they get off work (and they still only got a trial period).
Companies have small scale off-site meetings all the time - usually senior management types and typically mid-week. My wife's employer just had one and said they considered Newburyport but there was no place suitable. Several of them even stopped in town on their way back from Maine.
"If you build it, they will come!"
Moreover, a hotel would bring more people to places BEYOND DOWNTOWN, from Port Plaza to Maudslay and Moseley to SPL properties, etc.
Keep in mind the Route 1A bridge will re-open and the bike trail will be built. Plans are already in progress to extend the bike trail (when complete) across to the wildlife refuge.
One of the ideas we discussed at today's cultural heritage tourism meeting (see my post at www.ariwriter.com) is docking a Clipper Ship at downtown waterfront. It won't happen overnight, but as Newburyport is the Clipper City, why not market that moniker to the very point we have a real live Clipper Ship. Why drive to Plymouth to see a replica of the Mayflower when Newburyport could have a replica of... you catch my drift. And this is very possible in many many areas.
A hotel will boost the city's ecotourism and increase business and municipal coffers. Stores won't open merely to sell products and hope for the best, but they will open as the direct result of people asking for those stores, asking for those products.
Newburyport is still trying to find its niche. Hair salons, day spas, and upscale clothing boutiques work but only to an extent.
I'm very excited at the possibilities that await... but don't take my word for it. What do you think?
A small motel like the one on 110 in Amesbury put at Port Plaza area might work. Because its so close to rt 95 it might be a place where travelers stop on the way back to NY or DC from Maine, sales people traveling to meet clients, etc.
You're right, of course, Gillian. There's no way Karp & Co. can overcome the LIQUOR COMMISSION!!
Dun-dun-duuuuuunnnnn
Seriously, late nights are a small part of the whole equation.
Hey, those people are tough!
Well, all I can say is, I've arranged a few conferences in my time, and there are a lot more factors in there than whether the city is 'cool' or whatever - cost being the most important factor, of course.
Going back to my own blog now; but hey, wouldn't it be super cool if we could get sound effects to insert on the posts and comments?
I've schedule one or two myself.
Cost is a factor, but not for everyone.
Besides, I think we'd be more than competitive with Boston, Portsmouth or Portland.
What the hell were we talking about initially?
I think a medium-sized hotel would work quite well. When my wife and I were getting married, I realized how much of a booming industry the wedding trade is. From the hotels to the caterers to the florists, they all jack up their prices for weddings. With the right facility, I could see weddings alone keeping the hotel busy from April - October.
Add in the business conferences, tourists, day-trippers that get too drunk to drive home or fall in love with the town and it would do well.
I wonder if the Chamber advertises at all up in Montreal? On any Montreal-based websites perhaps? I spend a lot of time up in Rye and Hampton surfing, and they are booming with Canadian tourists right now. We need to pull them down from NH to shop at all of the boutiques. We could use their Loonies. Of course gas prices may be keeping them from driving another 20 miles or so further from home.
how would a hotel be of any benefit to the residents of Newburyport? Increased traffic and more tourists? That's not what residents want, they don't want a Riverfest every weekend. Plus, if a hotel is built, Karp will make his waterfront west less of a community inspired development and more of a feature attraction, to bring in people to stay at his hotel! Its a bad idea for everyone that doesn't have a vested interest.
X, as a resident, I like to see our local business owners succeed. I would like to continue to have a vibrant downtown and waterfront. I would like to see the city's tax revenue increase so that we can improve our schools, public works and yes, our sidewalks!
What a hotel can offer is a place for people to stay for more than just a day, which means they will have more time to spend their money at our restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and art galleries.
A RiverFest every weekend? Unless Karp builds a 30 story Marriott, we won't have that. I live on Merrimac, so believe me, I don't want a steady stream of traffic every day. A moderately sized hotel may increase traffic slightly, but I think the benefits outweigh some minor inconvenience.
Actually, if a few hundred of those RiverFest attendees had a place to stay for the night, some of the traffic might actually be spread out over the course of a couple of days as opposed to "in at Noon, out at 7" congestion.
Hmmm, a hotel might actually HELP traffic? Blasphemy! It also might cut down on drunk driving. It also may attract more businesses to move into the industrial park. That creates jobs (not to mention the hotel jobs that would be added).
I'm curious, but how does the boatyard that is there now help most residents? Are most Newburyporters boaters? Do they need the boatyard? Do all of the boatowners walk there or are they creating traffic up and down Merrimac also? What about when they are moving boats in and out, and we have to deal with getting stuck behind a huge trailer with a 30 foot yacht on the back squeezing down Merrimac? Is that a pastime we should hold on to forever?
A room tax is one of the few revenue sources that is paid in proportion to the volume and cost of services. Unlike a restaurant where the city collects the same property taxes(on under-assessed valuations) whether the restaurant has 1 customer or a million - for a hotel, the more customers (and incovenience to the residents) the more revenue. The more upscale the rooms - the more revenue.
Hotel or no hotel, I don't think Karp is building a community inspired development. So it's either a hotel or more condos.
development in Newburyport has never helped increase the city's tax revenue, not to mention, most local business will probably be forced out, since having a hotel and more tourists will allow Karp to raise the rents on his properties to have upscale high end stores that will cater to the new tourists. it will eventually destroy everything we love about Newburyport.
One local business that has been around a long while is the Body Shop. Dawne, the owner, told me that she thinks it's because she caters to the residents, not just the tourists (likewise Middle St. Books, Jabberwocky, Greta's and Caffe di Sienna).
But if her customer base moves too far away (they still come in after they move, if they are in nearby towns), she's going to be toast.
So I'm still right behind X ... he's probably not speaking to me, but I'm behind him anyway!
So let me understand this.
If Karp succeeds in developing Waterside West; if he adds nice shops, restaurants and walkways; then the people who live in the city will stop going down there.
I see.
No, I don't
As for you Senior X,
---development in Newburyport has never helped increase the city's tax revenue
First, this is mathematically impossible. A lot with a building on it is worth more than an empty one. The taxes will go up. Now if you want to say the expenses out way the revenue, studies show that isn't the case with hotels or mixed use, which Karp is proposing.
---not to mention, most local business will probably be forced out,
Can't locals run high end shops? I think many already do.
---since having a hotel and more tourists will allow Karp to raise the rents on his properties to have upscale high end stores that will cater to the new tourists.
Presumably because there are more tourists buying more goods, leading to successful businesses. Right?
--it will eventually destroy everything we love about Newburyport.
Which is? I've yet to hear anything you love about Newburyport. Can you provide some specifics? What will be destroyed?
I'm sorry if I sound disrespectful, but can we stop waxing so poetic about the downtown.
I was here 10-15 years ago. No matter what you say it wasn't vastly different than what we have today. It had fewer lingerie shops (I agree with bean, enough of that) and one more frozen yogurt stand, a chain store btw.
But there was no butcher, no baker (well, until Greta's came), no candlestick maker (there was a candle shop.)
And I was told repeatedly back then that residents wouldn't shop downtown because the stores sold overpriced chatchke.
Today we have two food stores, gourmet, yes, but good stuff for locals who want it. We still have a running store, card store, a wider selection of restaurants. (I do miss Foodees, however.)
We have Gretas. We have a shoe store, high end sure, but I'm guessing the Stride Rite that had moved to Pleasant Street didn't do so well.
Someone please spell out the difference to me. I'm missing it.
Phew. Thanks as always for the comments.
This HAS to be a blog record for # of comments, btw.
Tom,
I do believe the mayor once said to me what X is saying about development not increasing the tax revenue. He (Moak) told me it was the building permits for a development that bring in the (non-tax) revenue, and then one time you can add the new growth to the 2-1/2% cap on the next tax levy.
After that - negligible impact.
If you listen to the mayor talk about the budget, he always brings up that building permits were way down last year ...
So in that way, the Karp development will help pad the city coffers.
As for me, as I've said many times, I moved away from Boston because it became high-end over the 20 yrs. I lived there. It's hard to put your finger on what it is - it's a level of discomfort, I guess, and a sense that you don't belong in a place where you once did.
I'm really confused, all of the downtown merchants are struggling and need more sales, yet if more sales arrive they will be priced out by rising rents and have to move ????
Face it folks, there are two retail business models - high volume-low margin (inexpensive with lots of customers) or low volume-high margin (upscale). Take your pick.....
I'd love to give my business to downtown merchants, but I can't even afford to window shop at Farley's - so I have to go to the mall the buy my khakis !!!!
Yikes. Well, first off I come on to retract my what do you love comment or at least the tone.
A bit out of line, but these generalities and glib statements are difficult to argue against.
Bubba,
I point you in the direction of Newbury St., Boston, which used to have all kinds of funky, cool shops when I moved there, are for years afterwards. Now it's all Armani and other stores of that ilk. That's the gist of it, not whether increased #s of tourits will help the local merchants. It's the local merchants being priced out that's the problem (they are already being priced out). Even at Quincy Marketplace, which also used to have little boutique shops on the upper levels, there are none to be found anymore.
One of the reasons I came up to Newburyport to holiday shop was because the city had those types of artisa shops I missed having in Boston. Now Newburyport will become Newbury St. and Quincy Marketplace. Same old, same old.
It's a very personal perspective, I guess. If you can't see it, you can't see it.
Oh - one last thing, for clarification: it's not necessarily that the property taxes don't go up, it's that the property tax revenue is fixed revenue (in that you pretty much know what you're going to get) and nowadays that is usually pretty much offset by fixed costs (health insurance, negotiated raises, heat and electricity, etc.). So it's negligible impact because health insurance alone generally goes up more than the 2-1/2% and new growth, combined (if I recall correctly, from the sheets the mayor would hand out). Whatever, you hope it's pretty much a wash or a modest credit, and not a deficit.
(Reason #1 why we should be in the GIC.)
It's really the other (non-tax)revenue, such as building permits, that dictates how much you can give the schools, pay for capital expenditures, etc.
Sorry if I'm being too preachy. Not for nothing did I sit through all those endless School Committee meetings about budgets ...
Thanks, Tom. This has been a great exchange of thoughts.
@Gillian: I thought you were going to write of Boston's Charles Street, which is a far better comparison to downtown Newburyport than Newbury Street.
Charles Street has independent bars and restaurants (both affordable and upscale), boutique stores, hair salons, a pharmacy or two, a hardware store... The only "chains" I can think of are CVS, Starbucks, and the Upper Crust.
The demographic who stroll and shop on Charles Street are a clever combination of neighborhood residents (who live on Beacon Hill or in the Back Bay or West End areas) and MBTA-wide passers-by due to the T station.
Out-of-metro Boston area tourists will come by, but they're more prone to walk around the Back Bay or Government Center than Charles. But then again, Charles is more "homey" than Newbury. Who eats at the Armani Cafe when Harvard Gardens (around the corner from CVS) is more enjoyable at a fraction of the cost?
Ari,
Funny, I've always been a fan of Charles Street. But as I walked through last month for the first time in a long time I thought, hmm, this has gone very upscale.
Eye of the beholder. It was still nice though.
Is there some protection measure inplace on Charles Street? I seem to remember that being discussed at one point.
Thanks Gillian, the pleasure has been mine.
Regarding taxes, I hope some expert steps in here, but I don't think that's correct.
According to the state Proposition 2 1/2 primer, P2 allows a community to increase its levy limit year to year to take new growth into account.
So if a property's value increases by $1 million year from one year to the next, the city/town is able to increase the limit by that total multiplied by the tax rate.
So if the tax rate is $15 per $1,000, the limit will go up by $15,000, in addition to the standard 2.5%.
So the city, as a result, would get more money than it would have without the development. Am I missing something?
To your point about fixed costs, those costs are going to go up whether there is development or not.
If there's no development than the existing tax payers must carry the costs. If there is development the owner of that property can kick in some additional $$$.
At the very least there is a broader sharing of the burden, which is a help to residential property owners.
Anyone else out there have more?
Maybe this is off the edge of the topic a bit but it seems to me that talk always focus on downtown when a broader perspective of 'neighborhoods' would be helpful. Traffic Circle,Storey Ave.,Low Street , the other side of 95, High Street around Natural Grocer, etc..
Tom, the you're technically right, development does increase the tax revenue, that that increase is already spent to provide services for the new development. It was the promise of the Cherry Hill development and every other housing development that it would increase our tax base, and yet all it did was require the city to raise our taxes to compensate for the drain on services. The taxes that get raised in Newburyport are the homeowners and the fees for services, rarely does the taxes on business increase.
and it isn't about whether or not locals can run high end shops, it's about whether or not locals can afford to shop at high end shops.
as for destroying what we love about newburyport, most people love newburyport because it is a small town, and it used to be a place where you felt a strong sense of community, where you knew all your neighbors, where people had a sense of town pride. It was a very inclusive place, which is why so many people wanted to move here. Now it has become more and more exclusive, there are fewer and fewer average joes, there are fewer and fewer natives, there is less about Newburyport that is affordable and more about Newburyport that is about draining every last dollar you can from it. It has been exploited in a large part, at the expense of the residents who live here. Everyone loves having a downtown where they can shop and eat and stroll through, but the city should not be dominated by the local businesses, our decisions should be based on what is best for residents, not what is best for a bunch of overpriced stores dependent on tourists.
if you want proof of the deteriorating sense of community I say you should look no further than the high school stadium. 10 or 15 years ago the stadium was packed every friday night, with a line stretching down the driveway to get tickets to the football game. Everyone in town came out to watch, it was a place to meet up with old friends and show some town pride, it wasn't even necessarily about football, it was just a community event.
Go to a game now, and aside from the parents of players, the students, and the band, the place is all but deserted. there are no lines to get tickets. we can't even raise enough money to repair the stadium.
For someone that was here 10-15 years ago, i can't believe you haven't seen how much Newburyport has changed, especially for the worst.
Tom,
Your understanding of property taxes is correct. New growth is added to the levy limit. The issue becomes what form the new growth takes. Residential development with children is at best a wash as education costs meet or surpass the incremental revenue depending on the value of the property and the number of children. Commercial development adds incremental revenue in excess of incremental cost - as does age-restricted housing.
Gillian, I understand what you are saying in terms of the types of businesses downtown, but I don't think there's anything that can be done to stop it. I think tourists are your best hope of keeping the Newburyport you want.
Tom,
All I know is, I was interviewing the mayor about the waterfront development, last summer. He said it would be good for the city, and I said, "oh, increased property taxes."
He kind of waved his hand and said something like, "No, that's not much, it's actually the building permits..."
Also - property tax is based on assessed value, right? They only re-assess every few years. There was one last year, remember? And some home values went down.
Plus, a city doesn't/can't always levy the full 2-1/2% because it's all about tax capacity (and there is a tax ceiling). Again, if I'm not mistaken, last FY we were at that ceiling - or at capacity - so the tax rate did not, in fact, reflect a 2-1/2% increase (and there was not much new growth). The 2-1/2% is not automatic.
I'm not going into intricate detail here, but believe me, I've gone over this with Moak, with Kezer, and with the DOR, and the problem always is that people don't understand how it all works.
Ari,
I lived on Beacon Hill for 10 years and was very familiar with Charles St. I still think Newbury St. is a more accurate comparison for what I was saying. There is still a strong sense of community on Beacon Hill - not so much anymore in the Back Bay, as all the wealthy people who moved in mostly went there. At the time I moved, Beacon Hill was still kind of 'funky,' while the North End was going the way that Newburyport is.
Upper Newbury St. was kick your ass funky - Charles St. was always more designer funky, although there was this one little junky store I used to patronize, before it disappeared, run by a little old man ... he had the neatest crap in there, such as old clock parts (my father repairs old clocks) and other bits of old machinery, glass door knobs and whatnot. I don't rememember there being an Upper Crust there when I lived there.
Anyway, I've put in my 2 cents and I'll leave it up to the rest of you to hash this out.
Anon @ 5:35 a.m. (nice trick Ari, thanks.) I agree completelely I'd love to chat more about other parts of town.
I agree with Ari, I lived on the hill for 10 years and the similarity was one of the reasons I moved here. The retail spaces are smaller and much less upscale than the Back Bay. Antique stores, small restaurant/pubs, a cafe, some coffee shops, liquor store, hardware store, gourmet market and no chains (except Starbucks of which there were, sadly, 3).
@Bubba - I don't buy clothing downtown either, but I eat at Angie's, Mr. India, and Bob Lobster; frequent stores like Oldie's, the Jabberwocky, Natural Grocer, and Hyman-Pennyworth's; and people-watch over drinks at Agave, PI Coffee Roasters, and the Grog.
Localism does have to be exclusive; the "Buy Local" movement doesn't expect you to buy everything in your community. But here and there, do what you can to increase the busineses' and city's coffers.
@X 8:12 - You wrote, "Everyone loves having a downtown where they can shop and eat and stroll through, but the city should not be dominated by the local businesses, our decisions should be based on what is best for residents, not what is best for a bunch of overpriced stores dependent on tourists."
I agree. If you scroll up to my post on July 16 at 12:09 AM, I wrote, "Stores won't open merely to sell products and hope for the best, but they will open as the direct result of people asking for those stores, asking for those products."
Stated differently, prospective business owners should not open establishments merely to compete with other businesses or attract XYZ demographic. Rather, the combination of residents and non-residents should dictate what businesses ought to open and where they should locate.
I refer to big-picture concepts of democracy and pluralism. Let the people speak, not big (or small) business.
I'd be curious to see a "Man on the Street" informal random survey of 1,000 people who wants to see such and such properties in Newburyport: a hotel, a clipper ship, more of certain genre restaurants, etc. Let the people speak.
@Gillian - Fair enough, but like you just wrote, Beacon Hill has a stronger sense of community than the Back Bay. Not unlike Newburyport, no?
...and Tom, great topics here.
Thanks Gillian,
I'll continue to disagree.
The levy = what the community raises through taxes.
Levy ceiling = 2.5 percent of the community's full and fair value.
Levy limit = The maximum the levy can be in a given year.
Calculation of the limit includes the 2.5% increase on the levy plus any new growth.
However, the limit can't be higher than the ceiling.
So if we are at the ceiling, then the addition of valuable properties on the waterfront will lift the ceiling.
I've covered more overrides than I remember and sat through more than a few meetings/conferences about new growth. Yet I still find the handbook helpful.
Good tax talk. Thanks.
Ari,
My point was that other than the restaurants and a fewer other places you mention, there isn't a lot for the average resident downtown. For the downtown to thrive it needs either more places for residents to patronize or more tourists or some of both. Change is constant and the best one can do is manage the change.
How exactly does my shopping downtown increase the city's coffers ?
Tom, the "anon x:yy" trick must be attributed to Dan Kennedy of Media Nation who used it enough times to anonymous comments that I caught on.
As to your tax law glossary, don't forget tax breaks which can reduce that overall ceiling.
Tom,
If the tax rate is roughly 1%, how could we be at the 2.5% ceiling ?
Hey Bubba,
I'm not sure that we are. I was working off Gillian's post. She thought we might be.
Thx
Gillian,
I suggest you read the following document:
http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dls/publ/misc/levylimits.pdf
Bubba, buying products from a local/regional merchant as compared to a national/multinational one is a direct investment into said economy.
If you buy from Jabberwocky, you invest in Newburyport; if you buy from Richdale's, you invest in the region; if you bank at Sovereign, you invest in the country.
Fast Company wrote about buying local in the June issue.
Right Ari,
But that's different than the "city's coffers"....
I'd buy everything local if I had the choice and the price was reasonable.
Note: I deleted a couple of commenter-on-commenter posts.
I published them both initially so they weren't bad. I didn't get any complaints, but I just felt we better just move on.
Thanks to everyone who is posting.
Cities have 'balance of trade' just like countries do. So when we collectively take money in from outside [our pay, or from visitors]in some total way 'we' are more prosperous. Buying local has a similar effect since it reduces our net out flow of cash.
So figuring out how to generate energy locally, or 'day rent' our views to tourists, or have new jobs in town that citizens don't have to commute to -all those are good things.
Arguments about 'upscale' or 'everyday needs' it seems to me are tangetial to the above. In this analysis, a hotel would be good.
Ron M
From the management:
I just rejected a comment that offered a fact that I couldn't verify.
I'm a little wary of such posts, particularly when the author won't identify him/herself.
I guess we can keep this going. I actually was enjoying the back and forth and I definitely gained some new perspectives.
But I'd rather not take the trolley down Nasty Lane.
If anyone wants to ask why something is not posted, please shoot me an email. Set up a fake yahoo acct. or something if your secret identity is that precious.
Thanks
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