Team Recovery opens a thrift store in Springfield.

[Dark Knight]

I dont understand why there is opposition to opening a business where there was absolutely nothing .
I guess we should let our Main steet retail space just rot and mold . Just let it recycle itself and ooze into ground .















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[sheclown]

Yea, another junk shop. Thanks for your contribution to the community, Strider.

it aint junk...its urban funk.

[Sigma]

Yea, another junk shop. Thanks for your contribution to the community, Strider.

Zoo, as you are a representative of SPAR, I think this statement should be retracted.  We've got a long way to go before the businesses you dream about come to main street.  Having some thriving businesses there already is a key to attracting other business. 

We should be focusing on absent land owners to clean up and at least put a coat of paint on their store fronts.  We have larger problems. Some of these empty buildings are home to all types of vermin.

I'm not a fan of pawn shops that buy items stolen right out of the neighborhood, and attempts to equate Strider's thrift store as the same is in poor taste.

[strider]

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.

First, Dan, I will thank you for your considered response to our store.  This quote of yours sort of says a lot.  I really do not 100% agree with it as I really do think some do not know who we are or what we do, but you have gotten to the basis of the problem.  Some just do not like certain groups of people and so anything they believe that helps those groups of people is automatically bad.  They see a group care home as bringing the “wrong kind” of people into “their” neighborhood.  The Thrift stores bring in the “wrong kind” of foot traffic.  One and the same thing.

By the way, what recent “drama” around us?  The city hall thing that was almost 2 years ago now?  The unfounded campaign against us that is being conducted by SPAR Council?  What is this drama? That I spoke out and put out supported facts about the house opening on Boulevard or just rooming houses in general? That I was one of the people speaking out against the illegal internal shenanigans within SPAR Council?  Just wondering.

If you are right, then it shows just how blinded by their prejudices some really are.

[strider]

I don't want the foot traffic that thrift stores will bring. …. I worry about certain types of foot traffic. Not all foot traffic is good, e.g. tranny prossies walking the block late at night.

And what kind of traffic does a thrift store bring?  People who need that bargain price to be able to afford the “new” set of good clothes to attend church on Sunday?  Or that cheap pair of jeans to wear while they dig that ditch or pick up your garbage?  How about that fairly well to do man who stopped in and bought one of the neighborhood kids a bicycle because the single mother couldn’t afford to herself?  Let’s not forget the young women who were buying the retro cloths for a big party? (all real as they happened at our temporary location)  So, are all of these people the ones you do not want walking down the streets of Springfield?  And yes, we will sell to that “tranny prossie”  just like we would sell to the person who posted that quote.  It is called recognizing everyone is a person and should be treated as such.

[strider]

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

We chose Main Street to open our store just for this reason.  As has been pointed out, even 5 points had plain thrift stores once.  Now some are still there but are now called used clothing boutiques or antique shops, which are, when you get right down to it, specialized thrift stores. As the community and Main Street evolves, so will we.  The market is king and will dictate what it wants.  Right now we know it wants a plain old fashioned thrift store.  Which does, by the way, have a few records and I believe more are coming in.  As I said, the market is king...what do you want to buy!

[thelakelander]

Welcome to the neighborhood!  Main needs all the infill it can get.  Cultural and economic diversity are two of Springfield's best features, imo.  While a thrift store may not appeal to a segment of the local population, there is also another half of the neighborhood that may not like paying $6 for a gallon of milk or $10 for a ham sandwich and chips.  However, Main stretches 12 blocks through the historic district, so there is room for all.  As some have already stated, the key to moving forward is to embrace and support what's already in place.  If the businesses in place have a trend of succeeding, more will follow to fulfill the market's needs.

[ChriswUfGator]

Looks ridiculous when pompous people make a huge deal of withholding something nobody wants in the first place:



Springfield should be happy for its new thrift store. Before there was nothing, now there's something. Progress.

[sheclown]

Thanks for the support, guys!  We are excited.  I never thought we would have a thrift store...seems an unlikely turn of events, but I try to keep up with God's plan and go with the flow.

And people -- who like what we are doing and want to help -- have been bringing in their stuff for us...jeans, shoes, comic books, you name it. 

Each and every day is a surprise. If it works...great....if it doesn't....well ...we had fun trying.

And...wait...I think a convenience store is moving in across the street.  Cool huh?

[enuffalready]

Wow, Joe, how were you able to get in on a piece of property on Main Street?  I mean really, big business owners all over Jacksonville are killing for that prime real estate - NOT.  I am also curious as to how we are going to be able to sort the foot traffic?  Maybe a big machine like those new X-Ray machines at the airport except instead of looking for weapons they will do a wallet scan.  Perhaps another bar?  What kind of foot traffic would you predict that would draw?  Shanty, The Pearl and The Cellar don't seem to have an issue, do they have their wallet scanner hidden?

[Gonzo]

Wow, Joe, how were you able to get in on a piece of property on Main Street?  I mean really, big business owners all over Jacksonville are killing for that prime real estate - NOT. 

Enuff -- That's the problem; no one is falling all over themselves to snap up property on Main Street. The simple fact that someone is willing to do something should be encouraging.

I grew up in St. Louis where the suburbs are deteriorating and the city is gentrifying again. There was a neighborhood we hung out in that was on the cusp of revitilization. It had a bar, a restaurant, a movie theatre and a whole slew of thrift stores. It also was a notorious prostition stroll and drug area.

Over the years the bar turned in to a very popular venue for live music -- any one from George Thoroughgood to BB King. The resaurant became an icon for diner style food. The movie theatre began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show and became a draw to young, hipsters looking to cut loose and have fun every Saturday night. And the thrift shops began morphing into vintage clothing stores catering to the urban, rock-a-billy, kitchy lifestyle set. The result was a unique, urban neighborhood which became a destination in and of its own.

Did this happen over night? No. It took years. But, the point of the matter is is that it happened. A few core businesses made some really good decisions about who they wanted to draw to the area. They began marketing towards that group and slowly affected change on the area.

To those of you who take issue with the new thrift shop, I ask you; what do you want on Main? We have heard from you about what you don't want. Now, put your ideas -- and your money -- into something you do want. Instead of belly-aching here, take action to bring the kinds of businesses you want to main Street and the many other retail locations throughout the neighborhood. A few suggestions might include: an up-scale pub to the abandoned Spanish style building at the corner of Pearl and 6th, a bakery to the small building on the corner of Laura and 6th, a festival-style market to the group of buildings at 5th and Main, a white table-cloth restaurant to the building at 7th and Walnut, a live performance venue to Ninth & Main, and artisit's boutique and loft spaces to the buildings along Main. Just to name a few ideas.

Who among you -- the naysayers -- has the time, money and intestinal fortitude to do this? While I wish with all my heart I could -- I have dreamed of owning my own restaurant for years, I cannot. Not in this economy. Perhaps someday, just not today.

Zoo -- if you are on the SPAR board, shame on you for your callous remark at the beginning of this thread! Your board membership should be revoked for such nonsense. At the very least you owe Strider an apology. New businesses should be encouraged, not ridiculed before they even begin. And certainly not publicly.

[fsu813]

the person said it best previously.............that if this were not going to support the haflway/boarding houses in the neigborhood then it would be much better received.

[buckethead]

I don't live in springfield, although in 2000 I looked extensively and wanted to refurbish a lovely old house for myself and my family. I chickined out. I bought in Ponte Vedra instead. (commence piling on procedures)

Those who determine that a certain type of business is needed, wanted and bound to be profitable are wise to open those businesses for themselves. Why let Town Center make all the money?

As for Team Recovery, I wish to thank you for your efforts on behalf of those you are helping toward a better life. It's a dirty job, and noone really has to do it, yet you have made it your mission.

Listen to your neighbors and try to deliver goods and services that will sell at a profit. Don't get caught up, however, in thinking that when a person says to open a gourmet restaraunt, they will actually support it.

Smart people shop at thrift stores. Fashionable people shop at thrift stores. Poor people shop at thrift stores.

Thrifty people shop at thrift stores. We can already see a customer base.

[buckethead]

the person said it best previously.............that if this were not going to support the haflway/boarding houses in the neigborhood then it would be much better received.

To pretend drug abuse is not a huge problem in springfield is dangerous. Helping crackheads become neighbors is the best possible thing for springfield.

[strider]

fsu813: the person said it best previously.............that if this were not going to support the haflway/boarding houses in the neigborhood then it would be much better received.

From our annoucement: Through Team Recovery, we are able to offer educational and vocational opportunities.  In addition to the thrift store, Team Recovery operates a welding and metal shop that builds items like A/C cages and awnings.  Team Recovery also introduces these men to the sport of sailing and is currently building boats as part of its program.

  So you think supporting a program that strives to help employee needy people, helps them get back the self esteem they need to be good citizens and at the same time provides a service many need is a bad thing?  By the way, it isn't about supporting the halfway houses, it is about supporting the men and women who suffer from this disease we call addiction and truly want to help themselves.   Whether you believe it or not, we are also supporting Springfield, much more so than the few who complain rather than do.

We didn’t have to move the store to Main Street.  There are other options in Jacksonville and we considered them.  But contrary to what some say,  we do actually care about Springfield.  We have lived here.  We have worked here and we still have large investments here and we are not the “absentee owners” as some would like to call us. We are very much hands on.

The truth is we will be fortunate if this store just pays it’s own way for some time to come.  The economy is a mess and  Main Street looks a lot like Main Street, Berlin, Circa 1946.  But that’s the fun of it.  The challenge of making something worthwhile where there is almost nothing now.  It’s why many of us came to Springfield to start with.

We will have a grand opening celebration soon.  It will be announced here and all are invited, even the naysayers.  But why wait?  Come on in and see what we have.  Talk to Tom, our store manager, and we can see if we can accommodate what you would like to see in our store.  I will tell you, it will always be something for everyone, for that is what Springfield should be about, something for everyone.