The closing of the venerable Newburyport Card & Gift shop -- as reported in The Daily News today -- is most interesting.
It seems to me that if a chain store were to come into Newburyport, this would be the place. I suspect the 2,400-square-foot space is one of the large retail spots downtown.
According to the paper, the owner of the store and building were one of the same. He sold the latter and closed the former when the buyer understandably decided to go into a new direction.
Let's see what happens.
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7 comments:
Isn't it ironic that Mr Herzog, who is a "New Media" consultant, is wondering about the "suffering" of the greeting card industry.
I find that ironic.
a restaurant is going in there
Don't bother me with facts, anonymous, I'm speculating here.
The greeting card industry has been flat for about a decade, with the last few years showing decline.
When our company, B Designs Letterpress, first exhibited at the National Stationery Show in New York, the show took up the complete lower level, the main floor, and the mezzanine of the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Last year's show only took up about 2/3 of the main floor. That speaks volumes.
Over the last few years, we have seen a sad number of our longstanding accounts close their doors. The demand for greeting cards and social stationery has been declining, and recreational shopping took a major body blow from the recession. This, coupled with the expansion of shopping opportunities on-line, and a growing comfort level of buying on line, have made running a brick and mortar card shop very difficult. Many card shops have morfed into lifestyle goods, gourmet foods, etc., in an effort to keep the door open.
Email, Twitter, Facebook and on-line photo sites such as Snapfish and Flikr have replaced, to a large degree, communications requiring a stamp. They are cheap, and they are very, very expedient. That being said, I wonder how many people have ever cherished an email, let alone a Tweet.
The tenant mix of downtown Newburyport will continue to change as our society, culture and economy evolves. Stores will close due to changing consumer tastes, owners getting old and retiring, and sometimes just because of poor business practices. New stores will open up as entrepeneurs see opportunities and underserved markets.
Steve (the past operator of Angie's) bought the building. He's talking retail, but we think it will eventually become a restaurant. Do notimagine the present Angie's can be thrilled. We guess the price to be between $700,000 $850,000.
It's assessed at $318,000, just as an FYI and was bought by the present owner in 1998 for $450,000.
This is sad news, but I suppose I can buy Hallmark cards at the expanding CVS on Pond Street. It seemed like the knick-knacks they sold there could all be bought at other stores.
As for buying cards downtown, you still have good options at the Book Rack and Fowle's (humor). As for quality wrapping paper and gift bags, options are limited. Therefore, I apologize in advance if my next gift to you comes wrapped in the latest issue of The Current or Daily News.
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