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Good Lord: Somebody finally bought the old Barnes and Noble building downtown - and they're not planning to replace it with a tower
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So Now We Are Naming Buildings After License Plates?
Can't wait for the kerfuffle over Harvard calling their new Science building YLE SUX.
DTX399 sounds like an
DTX399 sounds like an especially potent strain of roofie.
Why not THX 1138?
Why not THX 1138?
TVC-15?
TVC-15?
TK-421
.
Great news!
Will be interesting to see what they consider "high-end retail." When Old Navy is the best they can do in the base of the ultra-swanky Millennium Tower, I wonder what they'll be able to attract for a ratty old building across the street. I'm picturing a slightly less seedy version of The Corner, without the depressing Food Court.
Speaking of high-end retail, looks like they're almost done with the pretty extensive renovations inside Copley Place. Basically, they got rid of the big rock-formation fountain in the main atrium-esque area, relocated the elevators that were behind it, added a couple of storefronts, updated some signage, and added an escalator bank on the Neiman Marcus end. To me, it seems like an awful lot of work and expense for a pretty minimal improvement, but I'm guessing they maybe had some pretty cranky tenants demanding a spruce up.
I for one look forward to
I for one look forward to Boston's first BassPro or Cabelas (or are they the same company now?) opening downtown now that our only other downtown-ish outdoor store is decamping for Cambridge. It's silly that one can't even buy a fishing rod in the city anymore with all our piers, rivers, and ponds!
I doubt that
The demographics are all wrong. Hardly any hunters live in that area, and I doubt there are that many people living in that area who do other outdoor activities.
They would have been better off with the B & N. Lots of people who live and work in that area read.
You do realize B and N went
You do realize B and N went out of business in that location right? And for the most part bookstores are a thing of the past?
Yes and no
Yes, B&N closed that location years ago. But as for bookstores being a "thing of the past", according to the American Booksellers Association, independent stores are flourishing, and e-book sales are actually down as publishers have raised prices.
There is an REI in the
There is an REI in the Landmark Center between Longwood & Fenway park.
Why? Has P&J in Dot closed?
I haven't been there in a few years but I think they had enough regulars to stay open.
Seaport is getting an LL Bean
Story here
but it's going to be much smaller than the one in Burlington, MA (which itself is much smaller than the mothership in Freeport, ME)
Maybe a Chess King
Contemporary polyester style for today's modern man. Now gonorrhea-free!
And a Tellos
For the ladies ...
No one here but us unexciting schlubs
“Given its proximity to the Millennium Tower and the exciting tenants who accompanied that ‘game-changing’ project, we anticipate tremendous interest from flagship retailers and innovative companies drawn to the vibrancy and accessibility of DTX."
Sorry that the rest of us long time local residents, who at one time shopped at DTX when it was a shopping rather than residential district, are not "exciting" enough for them.
It's the Harvard Squareization of DTX
Another developer is planning something similar with the building that now houses the Curious George shop - Rip out the guts and put in several floors of exciting new retail where you can drop a couple thou on a handbag or party dress.
How much longer for The Corner? Although I suppose where it will get really interesting is when somebody proposes doing something with the jewelers' buildings.
Other than the Scratchie Store and E.B. Horn.....
Primark, AT&T, DSW, Old Navy, Verizon, Foot Locker, Marshall's, Boston (NYC Owned) Sports Club, Macy's, McDonald's, Pret A Manger, 7-Eleven, I think the DTX as local retail place kind of died with Glichrist's and Kennedy's closing back in the 70's.
The Scratchie Store?
I thought that would be a bookstore, because he's always saying "cool story, bro."
Wait what?
I have a store now?
Your store went out of business.
Nobody goes to peep shows anymore. Sad.
The Corner used to be a nice
The Corner used to be a nice department store. Now it's just a run down food court with 2-3 mall stores and countless soulless state offices above it.
The Jewelers buildings are commercial condos and not going anywhere without a billion dollar deal.
Gilchrist's
The corner mall was once Gilchrist's, on of thee "big three" department stores, the other to being Jordan Marsh and Filenes. It was the first to go, closing it's doors in 1977. Jonathan Richman mentions Filenes and Gilchrist's in his song "Fly Into the Mystery". We should make it state song, it's far superior to "Roadrunner".
Modern Lovers
Fly Into the Mystery
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fak-OFvYgD4
I don't know-- you're right
I don't know-- you're right that DTX has lost a lot of the local flavor (I'll say it started in earnest when Lariat's closed) but the upside of Primark, Old Navy, TJ Maxx et al is that they're definitely not high end. We desperately need cheap places to shop in the center of the city, and the stores seem to be booming with a more income-diverse group of shoppers than anywhere else; for most people outside of Southie & Dot, South Bay is too hard to get to to pull in a shopper who just needs to buy a couple of cheap tshirts and a gym bag. The Corner Mall food court is slamming busy because it targets the same demo as the anchor stores. I mean, this is Boston, and we just loooove to fix things aren't aren't broken, so some knucklehead may decide the Corner Mall needs to be gentrified, but I can't imagine it will make much more money than it currently is.
Speaking of the Corner Mall, does the state still rent the upper floors?
Any new high end retail will need to be comfortable with the Primark across the street and DSW at the end of the block. Even if they managed to squeeze out the Gap factory store, they're still surrounded by bargain stores. Macy's seems to be doing okay (not great), but I could see the right tenant surviving. I'd love to see a furniture store in the area.
The Corner
The thing about The Corner that it is just more than that.
Ron Druker, who has built some really good buildings over the years (Heritage On The Garden and Atelier 505), which yes cater to the Nobs, are still great buildings in the streetscape of the city and have a lot of for lack of a better word; soul, owns The Corner and more. He also owns the building that used to house Shreve, Crump and Low at the corner of Boylston and Arlington and the old gas station at the corner of Washington and East Berkeley.
The parcels that he owns includes The Corner also includes The Orpheum and on separate parcels, but connected, he owns that great granite building on Bromfield Street that faces Province Street, the building that abuts it and the tan building on the corner of Bromfield and Washington (DSW).
He does not own the old Strawberries (The Gap to you newcomers) and the B&N building that started this thread.
I do not think we are going to get a Superblock development tomorrow out of this area and yes the state (mostly DEP, I think) is upstairs at The Corner with this ownership separation.
Druker wanted to tear down the Shreve, Crump, and Low building
and replace it with something truly awful looking. The Great Recession intervened and he either cancelled or postponed the project. But the former Shreve storefront sits empty, somewhat of a blight on the first block of Back Bay.
Byee
You and I will be pushing up daisies before Ron Druker acts on any of this, unfortunately.
He also has approval for an office building at Washington & Berkeley that he's sitting on in addition to the other ones.
John, I agree that DTX has soul, for a commercial district
Like Adam, I'd like to see more local stores, but it's the mix of chi-chi housing & shopping with bargain joints and smoke shops that makes it an interesting area, and one that is useful to locals.
Mostly office rather than retail
The article you linked to says "Plans for the building include ground-level retail with creative office space above"
Seeing as how many stores
Seeing as how many stores have closed in the area, uh, I hate to say it but I think they were right? It stinks to feel personally stung by the comment, but if you and your fellow long term residents were enough to sustain the area... it would have, no?
Look like the perfect time
Look like the perfect time for me to open my "Dirty Water" colonic spa where we give Charles river water enemas and give the client an ampule of the turbid run-off to display at home for only $400.
Is it just me
Or does "high end retail" equal "boring"? It always seems so sterile and bloodless, regardless of the price tag the item carries. Call me common, but I think there is something to be said for the old Woolworths and Grants type establishments that were once the mainstay of DTX, along with the higher end but still affordable (and family oriented) Jordan Marsh and Filenes. When I was a kid Woolworths seemed like a wonderland to me, and I guess that sense of wonder didn't fade with the years. Only in it's last few declining years did the DTX Woolworths start to look seedy and threadbare.
What, not replacing it with a Tower Records?
Millenium Tower across the street
I wonder if there was some compensation or restriction to prevent a tower going in that would block their best views?
Perhaps the subway lines underneath?
DTX really needs..
A bakery selling Gilchrists's macaroons and Jordan's blueberry muffins.
Uno due go
Just across from that mega CVS has blueberry muffins that they claim are from the original Jordan's recipe. I've only been here 17 years, so in other words about 35 years short of being a local, and never had the pleasure of the original. But the muffins at UDG are pretty damn good. The rest of the menu isn't anything to write home about, sadly.