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Lots of prime retail space available, will more banks and restaurants fill in their spots? The fly would suggest some of the merchants attempt to stay open a bit longer, even if you wait till fall and you open one or two nights a week. The Fly’s unofficial survey would suggest that Friday night is best .It is very difficult for someone who works to ever find an open store in Ridgewood ,so local shoppers are forced to go to the malls for everything. Yes the parking can be an issue from time to time but for the fly a bigger issue is the lack of available and accommodating merchants.
>I agree totally about staying open longer. Rather that whine about banks and restaurants, perhaps take advantage of the extra FOOT TRAFFIC generated by restaurants at nite. ALL of the restaurant patrons are potential customers..many of who would never otherwise be walking past the stores, viewing the wares in the windows.. sounds like a WIN-WIN situation for a storeowner. You get the extra foot traffic..and it costs NOTHING in advertising expenses..just a few bucks for a store employee that would certainly be recovered in the extra sales.
>Thanks for your comment. I hear they are going to have free parking in town over the Christmas season as well as run a shuttle bus between town and the Graydon lot to help out with the parking situation.
>Going way back when, the town seemed to have an ordinance that it was only open after 6p on Monday and Thurday nights. The exception being restaurants. Unless that has changed, the retailers still would have to close by 6p. Granted, it’s an archaic rule – invented during a time when there were more people (women) who were home during the day.
>Evening shoppers are only interested in the type of merchandise already available in the evening (coffee, ice cream, liquor, food, drinks, movies, etc). I hardly imagine people out for the evening have any interest in buying clothes or Irish linens.
>most people dont get home from work untill 8pm we dont all work for the BOE or the VOR
>thats so true they should stay open if they need the money i would be open late on firdays come on .
>evening ‘after dinner strollers’ will most certainly look @ window displays.. and if the store is open its a good bet they will walk inside and look around. Then since they are now ‘aquainted’ with the wares offered by that store..there is a greater probability that they would return in the future to shop (since per the prior post ‘evening’ people are only looking for food!) I am certain that if you go to the garden state plaza at nite, the stores are busier than the food court! it just makes common sense to take advantage of the evening foot traffic as a merchant looking to expand their sales.
>some stores in town I have never seen open …are they fronts for something ? no one except for school teachers and goverment workers can shop before 5pm
>hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.