posted by Joe Polk at 10:48 AM /
Over the holidays, I took the time to catch up on my reading and I stumbled upon this letter to the editor to The Almanac and I thought it hit the nail on the head with regards to why the St. Clair Shops are in the condition that they are. If you ask any of the people that have already left -- Hallmark, Truver's Jewelry, etc. -- they'll tell you they were not offered the ability to sign a long term lease for their location because of the (future) development of a Walgreens in that location.
I made my opinion abundantly clear last year when I commented on this issue before, and nothing has changed. The Food Gallery/Scozio's/Sparkle Market stores were great places where lots of "west side" Mt. Lebanon residents could walk to for groceries -- especially elderly residents of the large Bower Hill Apartments complex next door.
I personally do NOT welcome Walgreen's to Mt. Lebanon and I think it's a damn shame that this has happened at all. As John said in his letter, this shopping center used to be busy all the time before Walgreens bought it. Having another mega-pharmacy is not what we need right now.
I made my opinion abundantly clear last year when I commented on this issue before, and nothing has changed. The Food Gallery/Scozio's/Sparkle Market stores were great places where lots of "west side" Mt. Lebanon residents could walk to for groceries -- especially elderly residents of the large Bower Hill Apartments complex next door.
I personally do NOT welcome Walgreen's to Mt. Lebanon and I think it's a damn shame that this has happened at all. As John said in his letter, this shopping center used to be busy all the time before Walgreens bought it. Having another mega-pharmacy is not what we need right now.
Labels: st. clair shops, walgreens
7 Comments:
I like the idea of a Walgreens right there, but would like them to take over the Food Gallery and still have those other places. It would probably be good for both places. (somebody goes to get a pizza, picks up some milk....or somebody goes to pick up a prescription, get a pizza)
The displacement of local "mom and pop" stores by large chains is a phenomenon that's been going on in this country for close to 100 years. Read Douglas Rae's City: Urbanism and Its End for a fascinating socio-economic history of this and related developments.
A walkable blend of residential, retail, and commercial development is a great thing. I've lived in towns that had that mix, and it's something that I miss not that I live in Mt. Lebanon. But "just say no to Walgreen's" isn't a practical way to recover a livable mix. In this day and age, livability is expensive. Walgreen's is a fabulously successful company that has the financial clout to get what it wants. If Mt. Lebanon (or any town) wants to create and conserve a livable, walkable mix, then it, and everyone in town who agrees, needs to promote and patronize local businesses to such a degree that economics don't favor the big outsider.
In truth, that's just not likely to happen for businesses across the board. Too many people have to commit to spending too much money. Instead, we're selective about what and where we buy. I buy coffee at Aldo because I like having an interesting coffee shop on Washington Road, but I buy groceries at Costco because they're cheap. I shop at Rollier's because it has a fantastic service counter and because its prices are often no worse, and sometimes are better, than what I pay at Home Depot. I buy prescription as Asti's because the service is great, but I shop at Walgreen's because I can find things cheaply and easily at Walgreen's that I can't find elsewhere -- even at the amusement park that they call a Giant Eagle at Village Square. And I like the fact that the Dollar Store has turned out to be a stable tenant of the old Rite Aid on Cochran Road.
I don't have much nostalgia for Mt. Lebanon past, pleasant though it undoubtedly was. The interesting question for me is what Mt. Lebanon is going to become, and on that score I absolutely like the fact that Mt. Lebanon is tied to national and international economic and social trends. Walgreen's coming to town is a small data point on the connectedness curve. Mt. Lebanon can't and shouldn't hide from that. So, the interesting questions for me are these: What kind of facility do we get in a reconstructed high school, given the fact that MLHS graduates are going to live in the international community? What mix of businesses is populating Washington Road and the other business districts in town, given that Mt. Lebanon businesses attract and serve customers from all over the region? What's the mix of families and others who are moving in, and who is moving out? And why?
Mike, I understand what you are saying in your comments, but how many of these megastores do we need -- especially with an Eckerd already across the street? Washington Road has a great mix of businesses -- that much is true -- and yet it does not have some national chain store like Walgreen's on it. It has a blend of locally owned businesses on it -- or at least franchises/additional locations of regionally based ones.
None of these mega-pharmacies in town offer the same amount of items that a supermarket could/would. Instead, we have places like Giant Eagle at Village Square and the Shop N' Save on Castle Shannon Boulevard which are gigantic in comparison to what the former Shop N' Save and Food Gallery used to be.
Don't get me wrong Mike -- I'm not some Pittsburgher that's stuck in his ways (or the past) and mad about the changes that have occurred. I agree with you that Mt. Lebanon should "keep up with the times" with regards to economic development and a changing population. I just don't think that the displacement of 7+ businesses for one big one is the right thing to do.
BRING THE DENIS THEATER BACK! (I don't want to do it because I don't want to lose money)
Joe,
When it comes to too many megastores (or too few), my preference is to let the market sort this out. Maybe Walgreen's will go in and both it and Eckerd will thrive. Maybe Walgreen's will drive Eckerd out -- which would be bad in the sense that the Eckerd property would need to be redeveloped, but fine (with me) in the sense that this is the way that retail real estate markets work.
It would be fair for the municipality to get involved in the question of what goes into that site, but not via its economic development function, not via the zoning process.
This has nothing to do with whether Walgreens going into that location is a good idea or not, but, in many locations nationwide, the large chain drug stores have taken locations formerly held by groceries.
So instead of having the same mix of high fat, low nutrition snack foods and candy that every single location of Eckert, Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, et. al. sell, why not have a small produce dept?
After all, what are we to think, that these chains want us to buy the craptastic snacks now so that we'll have to go shopping in the vitamin and weight-loss aisles later?
As a former marketer, I've never understood the differentiation between the drug chains. All seem to be exactly the same to me.
Then again, Kaufmann's and Macy*s are indistinguishable, no?
For the record, The Food Gallery has no relation to Scozio's Bakery, Foodland, or Sparkle Market. The owner and founder just retired. He did not go out of business.
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