Team Recovery opens a thrift store in Springfield.

[untarded]

I think some people missed Stephen's article on cycling.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-aug-redevelopment-strategies-cycling

I'll pose the question one more time to the naysayers;  what do you want to see on Main Street? 

[Deuce]

What do you want on Main Street?

Don't get me completely wrong here. I understand the concept of cycling. I know we have to have something before we can have anything approximating the stores that Stephen mentions in his post above. But we have already cycled through thrift stores. It's now time for something else!

Its just a few of them though, its not like the majority of the neighborhood that feels this way.

Be that as it may, but I can't make the money I want from my house, when I sell it years down the road, if it's anything else. I will lose money (real and opportunistic) and compromise my future, my family's future, and my ability to not be a slave for someone else for the rest of my life. (see fsujax's post above)

[nvrenuf]

I would prefer to recreate 5 points with a little Shoppes at Avondale thrown in.

[untarded]

Be that as it may, but I can't make the money I want from my house, when I sell it years down the road, if it's anything else. I will lose money (real and opportunistic) and compromise my future, my family's future, and my ability to not be a slave for someone else for the rest of my life. (see fsujax's post above)

I am also a Springfield resident and have put a lot of blood and sweat into my home (as well as money).  I'm also not the biggest fan of a thrift store.  But we must recognize that business and traffic are needed to attract other business and more traffic.  If you bought in Springfield thinking that developers were going to swoop in and build up most of Main Street with fancy/trendy new commerce then you didn't invest in Springfield, you speculated.  There's a big difference.  A few other people recently did this, they just bought a lot more property and their names are now vilified here.


Support the local businesses and others will come, don't support them and none will come.

[hooplady]

Actually a thrift store is exactly what I would like to see on Main Street.  And yes, it is in my backyard - or two blocks from it, to be precise.

If they sold used stuff and called it "Antiques & Collectibles" we'd be salivating.

[Deuce]

I don't want the foot traffic that thrift stores will bring. No offense to hooplady. I don't believe that they will increase my home value. I believe that 3rd and Main will. I believe that 3 layers will. I can even see value in Zombie Bikes, i.e. it attracts young, urban, hipster types (or at least I think it does). Which is the type of cycling that leads to young, urban, hipster types with lots of money to spend.

To me all home buying involves a degree of speculation, call me a speculator if you wish but my long term strategy was to remain in Springfield for 10-20 years. I didn't believe that a transformation to main street would happen overnight but I did believe it would happen quicker. I did not know all the dynamics of JAX (I am not a native) nor the personalities of those involved (that guy who promised to build all that stuff at 8th & Pearl). I see those as weighing heavily on the progress that Springfield has made it the last few years. I moved here from a large city, I watched neighborhoods worse than Springfield turn into yuppie havens in a shorten time span than I have lived here.

[downtownparks]

I have a lot of thoughts on this issue, but as certain blowhard jackasses will no doubt send the whole discussion spiraling into the abyss of personal grudges I will refrain, except to say, I personally am willing to give the store the benefit of the doubt for now. Good thrift/vintage stores are often staples of resurgent communities.

Springfield must go through the mom and pop phase of things if it ever hopes to get national chains (if thats what you want, personally, I prefer mom and pop and local chains)

[hooplady]

No offense taken, Deuce.  It is interesting how different people react though.  To me, thrift stores are funky and interesting, and obviously you perceive them negatively.  And to hear you worry about "foot traffic" is kinda funny, since I thought that's what we were trying to develop  - a walkable, vibrant, lively environment that draws people out of their houses.

I'm not discounting your concerns, they are quite valid.  I guess this just isn't one of my hot buttons.

[Deuce]

When it comes to what people want to see in Springfield, it is ultimately personal. There's no getting around that. I want businesses that my household will use. We won't be using a thrift store. It's as simple as that. I will be using the new urban market at 3rd and Main.

I worry about certain types of foot traffic. Not all foot traffic is good, e.g. tranny prossies walking the block late at night. Ultimately there will be no pleasing me until Main street Springfield looks more like Main street Greenville, S.C. (just one example & also my home town).

[untarded]

Deuce, I also came to Jax from a bigger city and have witnessed the transformation of neighborhoods.  But they still took time and they occurred in a different economic climate.

There are numerous factors that affect home values the biggest factor right now being supply and demand, economics 101.  A thrift store's traffic is not the issue.  Our home values have continued to decline despite the success of Three Layers and the recent additions at 3rd and Main.

If you don't like the products and services the store provides then give them constructive feedback.  Help them forge a successful business that brings the traffic you seek.  Keep in mind that these businesses can mature and change with the demands of its audience and if they don't they will fail.  How many pawn shops do we now have on Main? Fewer than we did a year ago.  

Those who open businesses do so against very unfavorable odds.   We need to work with them.  

[Deuce]

There are numerous factors that affect home values the biggest factor right now being supply and demand, economics 101.  A thrift store's traffic is not the issue.  Our home values have continued to decline despite the success of Three Layers and the recent additions at 3rd and Main.

I realize that but I'm still going to fight for what I want in Springfield!

[untarded]

I realize that but I'm still going to fight for what I want in Springfield!

As we all should. 

The question is will we work with local businesses in a constructive manner or destructively by voicing opposition before they've even opened.  We have the opportunity even now, only a few hours after the announcement, to contact the owners and engage in dialogue about our concerns and what we'd like to see.  Wouldn't it be great if they knew what their potential customers were asking for before they even opened their doors?  Give them a chance to win your business.

[brapt]

I think a new thrift store beats the pants off of a new pawn shop, new check-cashing joint or an old empty lot.  Really I'm hopeful for just about any business owner with the nads to open a place on Main Street in its current condition.

Welcome to our neighborhood, Team Recovery Thrift Store!  Now, who wants to open a new / used record shop next door?  Give me your $$$ and I will!

[ChriswUfGator]

Really I'm hopeful for just about any business owner with the nads to open a place on Main Street in its current condition.

Amen.

Some of these guys amaze me, it's like they really expect that Bloomingdales is just going to open right up in Springfield. Time for a reality check. We're talking North Main here, and it "is what it is". They should be counting their blessings that;

A: ANYTHING new opened up over there at all (because that represents progress in the neighborhood, and progress that has been VERY slow in coming), and

B: That it IS a thrift store, instead of a liquor store, check cashing place, or pawn shop (which are all more than plentiful over there, and which do nothing to help revitalization).

For chrissakes' I live on the water in R'side and my neighbors are nowhere near THIS snotty. This whole thing reminds me of Stephen's photo of those prohibitionists holding up a sign that said something like "No lips that touch liquor will touch ours!", and the irony is that they're all 100 years old and 300lbs. ROFL!

Stephen, maybe we can get a repost of that pic?

[downtownparks]

Chris, I suspect it has more to do with who is opening it and the recent drama around them, than what is being opened. Had an unknown quantity come in and announced this, it would have been better received.