Similarity breeds frustration for some in Ridgewood
THURSDAY AUGUST 23, 2012, 3:37 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Anyone who knows Ridgewood’s downtown knows two things: There used to be a lot of banks, and now there are a lot of restaurants.
Gus Lainis, owner of the Daily Treat, said for ‘every new restaurant that opens, you lose three or four customers.’
However, it wasn’t always this way. Longtime residents and seasoned Ridgewood shoppers recall the days when the Central Business District (CBD) featured a larger variety of stores, including many retail shops selling unique goods.
While banks have been on the wane in the village since the global financial crisis, some current residents, while saying they enjoy the restaurants, have expressed dissatisfaction with the village’s high percentage of eateries. They argue that besides the village’s notoriously high rent and parking issues, the downtown’s saturation with certain services may be driving retailers away.
Gene Callaghan, a longtime Ridgewood resident, operated Irish Eyes Imports in Ridgewood for more than 20 years before moving his shop to its current Westwood location about two years ago. He called the move to Westwood, where he pays about 40 percent less in rent, a no-brainer from a business standpoint.
“My landlord was upping the rent,” Callaghan said. “From a business point of view, I had to move. It was one of those offers I couldn’t refuse.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/167223985_Similarity_breeds_frustration_for_some_in_Ridgewood.html
And for those of you new arrivals, we used to have lots of liquor stores and gas stations (every corner on Franklin and a few more on Godwin) Such is life. The rents will only come down when the stores stay vacant. If someone is willing to pay the asking price, then that entrepreneur must be confident of their ability to pay the rent and make a profit. I’d expect due to consolodation in the banking industry, many of those leaseholds will be vacant at the end of their lease (as already seen with Bank of America at the former citizens branch on Rwd ave, and across the street from that…was it Credit Suisse?)
If I was a shopkeeper in town, I would take advantage of the ‘foot traffic’ generated by the restuarants in the evening, and keep my store open. Apparently most do not.
I agree with #1. Landlords are happy to have a tennent and they are not responsible to screen the business activity. If someone has the money and a business plan they should be able to open a business in town. The evening is a great time to bring customers into the store , not just window shoppers looking at a closed store.
There are a couple factors at play here, the foremost is the fact that hard goods can now be shipped to your door tax free by Amazon, and free shipping if you have a Prime subscription. So the CBD has seen a natural shift from hard goods to point of sale services: salons, eateries, fitness, yoga etc.
One must assume that these soft goods establishments have higher margins than hard goods resellers, and can therefore afford higher rent. While it is sad to lose a long established business like the Cheese Shoppe or Irish Eyes, think for a moment how often you shopped in either place before they closed? Do you think that’s really the most effecient use of that space?
#1 is right that rents can come down…but landords are loathe to do that. Free months are more likely because they don’t impact future revenue potential.
And #1 is also right that stores would do better to stay open later and on the weekends (repeal the blue laws already this isn’t bumfuck Kentucky).