Proliferation of Chain Stores on Thayer St. — The Death of Locally Owned Retail?
Monday, March 18, 2019
Thayer Street on Providence’s East Side used to be predominately dominated by an eclectic collection of local shops -- either locally owned or small regional chains.
There was a local supermarket, gift stores, and locally owned restaurants, but first slowly, and now at a rapid pace, chains have taken over the retail strip. Today, CVS is on the corner of Thayer and Cushing Streets. Previously, it was a locally owned grocery store complete with a butcher shop.
The four-block commercial district now has more than 20 chains who dominate the college-focused retail strip. Students from Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design are prominent in the area. Today, there are fewer and fewer locally owned stores.
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There are still a few long-time tenants — the Avon Cinema, Berk’s Shoes, and Andrea’s Restaurant, but the latter's sister restaurants -- Paragon and Spats -- are no more.
Nearly every clothing store is a national chain. Zuzu’s Petals packed up and left Thayer Street in 2016 citing the impact of the City of Providence’s installing parking meters.
Kartabar, a longtime popular bar and restaurant on Thayer Street and moved downtown, said spiraling rents and the lack of parking forced the long-term fixture to move.
"Being a staple [on Thayer Street] myself for a long time, I find it's always partial to have local businesses. And when you travel all over the country, you see there are robust areas that like to have it stay local, and you'll find areas that don't even allow [chains]," said Ken Dulgarian, who owns a number of buildings on the street and whose family has operated the Avon Cinema for decades.
Newest Addition - Burgers
The latest chain addition opening this week, Shake Shack, positions itself as the good burger company. “We are the world! We love our planet and all its inhabitants. We’re working hard to lessen our footprint, and promise to keep pushing to make important new strides.”
The burger chains have tried the Thayer Street area over the years — McDonald's, Wendy’s and Johnny Rockets all gave it a try, but all three ultimately closed.
Economic Threats
"Because of interest rates -- prime rates going up a point and a half in the last year, and the fiscal issues of the city and state, there's not much choice. You have to go with the ones that can afford it," said Dulgarian. "It's a very competitive world we're in. If you're not on the cutting edge with product, social media, advertising, well, this is the world we're in."
"When you have Amazon, who put out the small mom and pops, it's simply, supply and demand with the consumer. You have people saying, 'How could this happen?' You're doing this to yourself. You're in your bathrobe and want to make an order from home and have the box delivered 12 hours later," said Dulgarian.
While retailers are flocking to Thayer Street, there are danger signs. At Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, dozens of storefronts are empty.
Overall, the past three years have been brutal on retailers, especially the "big box" stores. Thayer Street is dominated by smaller food and clothing chains.
Brown on Thayer
Brown University spokesperson Brian Clark offered the following on the developments on Thayer Street.
"What’s important to Brown is that Thayer Street is an attractive, clean and safe retail corridor where local merchants can thrive and members of the University and neighboring communities can visit," said Clark. "These were among the goals around which Brown, the city, neighbors and merchants coalesced in the Thayer Street Planning Study from 2014. That partnership continues today and has resulted in numerous infrastructure improvements — from street trees and outdoor furniture to sidewalk expansion, Big Belly receptacles and repaving — that have served as a catalyst for new businesses coming to Thayer Street."
"We continue to work closely with the Thayer Street District Management Authority and local landlords to attract new and exciting businesses. While the district has seen its share of turnover among tenants (a nationwide trend in retail, where new concepts routinely replace older ones) Thayer Street continues to attract a diverse array of retailers," said Clark.
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Edited Monday 7:55 AM
