Roslindale residents join merchants to oppose Petco

Roslindale residents joined with Roslindale Square merchants tonight to say they'll be damned if they're going to let a bunch of national chains turn their shopping area into a sterile Harvard Square.

In a crammed meeting room at the Roslindale Community Center, their immediate ire was focused on Petco Unleashed, which plans to move into the South Street space to be vacated by the JB Edwards uniform store when it moves to West Roxbury.

The room was packed:

City Councilor Tim McCarthy (Roslindale, Hyde Park and Mattapan) said he has no doubts that Petco would be followed by other national chains - imagine a small-sized CVS competing with Sullivan's or a "Home Depot Express" trying to do to Roslindale Hardware what the full-sized one in West Roxbury has failed to do.

Both McCarthy and Councilor Michelle Wu (at large) said they support a proposal by Roslindale Village Main Street, which called tonight's meeting, to develop a city ordinance that would let city officials limit the number of chain outlets in a neighborhood business district.

McCarthy said there may be no legal way to stop Petco - its proposed home is zoned for retail use - but that the city should be prepared for future chain incursions. A regional Petco official was invited to the meeting, but did not attend.

Steve Gag, president of RVMS, said a local real-estate agent has found two local merchants willing to rent the JB Edwards space.

Roslindale Hardware owner Joe Porteleki, who has survived the onslaught of both Home Depot and Lowe's, where Ashmont and NHD could not, said malls today are crumbling and retailers are looking to take advantage of 30 years of revitalization work by local merchants in such places as Roslindale Square by locally owned shops.

Porteleki said it's kind of outrageous given that national chains led to the near destruction of Roslindale Square 40 years ago by moving into the malls along Rte. 1 - and that now they are trying to glom onto the success of a neighborhood that managed to overcome that.

Several residents said the idea of the square's largely locally owned stores replaced by chains scares and angers them. They said they like that local stores are owned by local people, spend more of their money locally and provide a unique mix of offerings.

"You won't see 'Petco' on the back of a Little League jersey," McCarthy agreed.

Nearly 1,300 residents have signed Roslindale Village Main Street petitions against the proposed Petco Unleashed - a sharp contrast to the situation in Jamaica Plain, where residents largely supported a chain coffee shop on Centre Street opposed by the local merchants' association.

"We love it now and we want to keep it this way," Judy Coughlin, who moved to Roslindale some 30 years ago, said. "We don't want the Harvard Square-ization of Roslindale."

Ken Phillips said six years ago, he and his wife looked all over New England for a place to live on moving back to the US from Geneva. He said they chose Roslindale because of the farmer's market and the Arboretum - but especially because "it's a village in the city and that's really something special and unique."

Lisa DiPietro, a co-owner of the Pet Cabaret on Washington Street, refused to be cowed by the idea of a Petco down the street. "We are absolutely not afraid of a Petco opening," she said. "Not to be arrogant, but we know what we're doing." She said she's done some comparison shopping and found that Petco Unleashed prices are generally higher than what her store charges.

One resident did rise to support Petco. He said it's the only place that stocked the steps his elderly cat with hip problems could use to get up on his bed. Another resident noted there's a Petco in Dedham - just four miles down Washington Street.