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Target store could be weapon for Roslindale Square stores' battle against Amazon Prime
By adamg on Wed, 06/21/2017 - 10:59pm
Carter Wilkie, former president of the Roslindale Village Main Street board, writes that Target is setting up one of its smaller urban stores in the now former Staples building in its own battle with Amazon for the hearts and minds - and dollars - of millennial shoppers.
But the locally owned stores of the area could be winners, as well, because the people driving down to the new Target after it opens in March could stick around the area and shop locally. He notes that as traditional malls are dying, the hot new thing are places such as Legacy Place, which try to replicate the neighborhood shopping areas of old - like, oh, Roslindale Square.
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Comments
Small stores are never going
Small stores are never going to totally win over Prime because Amazon just has so much variety. Physical retail is going to have to compete on convenience, which is why having it right in the square is a great idea.
Looking at my most recent page of amazon orders, there's a good amount that the Target could probably fill - toilet paper, tape, cutting mat, socks - but there's a lot of weird offs that can't be guarenteed of even a properly midwestern style full sized super target - christmas ornaments (in june!), a particular style of umbrella, specialty cat food (though the much aligned petco carries it, it's just tough to do a casual square walking trip when you're bringing back 40 pounds of food on foot).
I think you'll end up seeing an uneasy truce by the end of this, but amazon is definitely here to stay.
He's Right
Especially where Roslindale Square has a very strong presence of residents who walk and shop
Maybe?
Roslindale is great for food/drink, though not for full on grocery shopping. I'll get bread, cheese, wine/beer, etc... in town. I'll try to buy gifts at Rossman/Birch St. I think the Target will be a good addition to Roslindale but I don't really see it effecting a huge shift in local retail like its an anchor store.
Retail
There's many condos/developments in the pipeline to be built and some of these new residents will have cars, some not. So there's room for Amazon and Target to co-exist.
Regarding millennials, my co-workers use Amazon Prime all the time for regular shopping, i.e. kitty litter, diapers. They don't want the hassle of going to a store when it's delivered quickly to their residence. You still have to go to Target to pick up the Target online purchase.
Target delivers
You can get home delivery from Target, I order all my heavy/bulky items from them.
I kinda doubt it will really
I kinda doubt it will really draw people to the shops in the Square. There's no line of sight connection between the ugly Target/Dunkins/Autozone strip and the charming Birch St shops. Nothing invites the casual shopper to go another few blocks across a confusing series of crosswalks to discover the Cheese Shop. Not to be hyper critical of the neighborhood I love and call home, but there's a lot of blah and blech in the general area of the square.
I'm particularly not a fan of Autozone which is a chain store with money that has a grime covered, trash strewn, go-to-hell presence on our main drag. The ugly and half empty strip of stores facing Adams Park is also a drain on the "vital" feel of the neighborhood. I'm hopeful that the new restaurant at the trolley power station will add to curb appeal. Years ago I had energy for this stuff and fought a three battle with NStar to get their station on lower South refaced and cleaned up. I'm not a fan of the astro-turf, but the stucco and new fence are nice. I started down that road with Autozone, but they're less responsive.