99 Cent and up Store to replace Family Buffett

Signs are up and painting has begun for a new 99 cent and up store where the old Family Buffett was. It looks like they're taking up just the end cap and not the whole building. 

It's a shame that we couldn't attract a higher quality tenant for that location, especially since it has a parking lot. Let's see what happens for the rest of the building.

Did you notice their sign? I started a thread about it earlier.  At least it looks small.

Where is their parking lot?  I am pretty sure they do not have one.

Many 99¢ stores are quite nice and could be a welcome addition to the area.

Does anyone know if this is the retail chain of Family Dollar that's going in there or will it be a mom and pop dollar store? Family Dollar's can be attractive and they usually are nicely kept, even in rougher areas. Parking will most likely be on the street which will make it hard to shop.

Is it replacing the entire Family Buffett, or just Jimmy?

Ah but the twist is that this store is 99¢ Canadian.

ridski said:

Is it replacing the entire Family Buffett, or just Jimmy?

 I hope you're proud of yourself. 

mrincredible said:

ridski said:

Is it replacing the entire Family Buffett, or just Jimmy?

 I hope you're proud of yourself. 

 All day.

This does not look to be a national chain.

and many are terrible and not a positive addition (such as that awful dollar store by the hs). Hoping for the best and happy it's not another wig joint

krnl said:

Many 99¢ stores are quite nice and could be a welcome addition to the area.

I'm new to SO, so excuse what might be total ignorance on my part, but the 99 cent store inspires me to ask a question: why are so many of the new businesses in the town so "meh?" It seems to my admittedly very limited experience that all of the new businesses are dollar stores, liquor stores, chain-style bar/restaurants, drug stores, and things of that ilk. Maybe I am spoiled from my years in Brooklyn, but where are the--for a lack of a better term--hip and cool businesses, the kind you get in Montclair, for example? Even Maplewood seems to be higher on the hip and cool scale than SO. (And no, I am not equating hip and cool with expensive.) I understand it is better than an empty space, but is there demand for another dollar store in town? With a town full of creative and interesting people, the new businesses that open--and many of the older ones--seem decidedly uninspiring, as if they are not even aimed at the kind of people who live here. Again, not trying to ruffle feathers, just genuinely curious. 

Well the dollar store across from the hs (old A&P site) is closed and gone and razed to the ground and a new CVS is rising up from the ashes, so to speak. The only other dollar store I know of in the community is on Springfield Avenue, so not all that close to the central part of South Orange.  I would say that the "cool", "hip" stores are in the respective village areas of the two towns (and a few other spots, such as the little strip on Ridgewood Road and maybe some others I don't know about.  But Valley St and Springfield Ave mostly seem to have more utilitarian stores for better or worse.

sac said:

Well the dollar store across from the hs (old A&P site) is closed and gone and razed to the ground and a new CVS is rising up from the ashes, so to speak. 

Yeah but it's a really hip and cool CVS.

I also think people are losing track of this store.  It is in only a small portion of that space.  It looks like more of a newsstand than anything else.  Just like the one two blocks away, maybe.

The several eateries that have opened in South Orange in the past two years are not chains, or else they are part of a small and very local chain.

And I agree with FilmCarp--this isn't some giant dollar store, it's in a very small space. At least that end of the building will be occupied, since even when the restaurant was operating that wing was usually dark. Just having a light on will make that corner look better.

A dollar store becoming a CVS seems to illustrate my point.

When I referred to chain-style eateries, I was talking more about the kind of place they are, rather than who owns them. For example, there seems to be nothing like that new Mexican place which just opened in Maplewood, Abril Cocina. That is what I mean by hip and cool. Just focusing on food, there seem to be no restaurants in SO that serve local, sustainable food--such as Arturo's. 

Yeah, but as Yogi says, it's so crowded there that nobody goes there anymore.

vermontgolfer said:

Yeah, but as Yogi says, it's so crowded there that nobody goes there anymore.

 Maybe that show that there is a need for more places like it?

I am just surprised that with so many people moving from NYC/Brooklyn to the area, that the businesses don't seem to reflect it.

I didn't see the thread, could you link me.

FilmCarp said:

Did you notice their sign? I started a thread about it earlier.  At least it looks small.

relx said:

A dollar store becoming a CVS seems to illustrate my point.

When I referred to chain-style eateries, I was talking more about the kind of place they are, rather than who owns them. For example, there seems to be nothing like that new Mexican place which just opened in Maplewood, Abril Cocina. That is what I mean by hip and cool. Just focusing on food, there seem to be no restaurants in SO that serve local, sustainable food--such as Arturo's. 

 As you probably know, it's not easy to open a restaurant, and South Orange has a bunch that seem to be doing well already. Would you like to replace them? Because adding more would probably exceed the market. If you want "hips," well, Falafel'ly Yours has dancing sometimes.

I agree 100 percent, South Orange could definitely more "hip and cool" and more upscale businesses but what sort of business would make sense for South Orange?

relx said:

I'm new to SO, so excuse what might be total ignorance on my part, but the 99 cent store inspires me to ask a question: why are so many of the new businesses in the town so "meh?" It seems to my admittedly very limited experience that all of the new businesses are dollar stores, liquor stores, chain-style bar/restaurants, drug stores, and things of that ilk. Maybe I am spoiled from my years in Brooklyn, but where are the--for a lack of a better term--hip and cool businesses, the kind you get in Montclair, for example? Even Maplewood seems to be higher on the hip and cool scale than SO. (And no, I am not equating hip and cool with expensive.) I understand it is better than an empty space, but is there demand for another dollar store in town? With a town full of creative and interesting people, the new businesses that open--and many of the older ones--seem decidedly uninspiring, as if they are not even aimed at the kind of people who live here. Again, not trying to ruffle feathers, just genuinely curious. 

Parking lot is on the other side of the building closer to 1st Street.

mikescott said:

Where is their parking lot?  I am pretty sure they do not have one.

I was using restaurants as an example, but I am speaking about ALL businesses. Look at the thread about the change in food vendor at the Maplewood pool. While some of it is obviously not having a local business handling the food, people are also upset at the loss of what sounds like delicious, "cool and hip" food.

I am just surprised that with so many people moving from NYC/Brooklyn to the area, that the businesses don't seem to reflect it.

Brooklyn and Queens don't really have local specialty retail either, just local service businesses and restaurants like we have.  There are a few neighborhoods that do, similar to Westfield and Summit, but most don't.  There are places there that you can drive to with a Home Depot etc., much like we have, but you won't find anything like KALM on most blocks in Brooklyn or Queens.  People moving here from there are very used to ordering durable goods on-line or driving to the big box stores on Northern Blvd. in Long Island City.

I guess I am also trying to figure out if people are actually happy with the quality of the businesses that come in here, or if there is a disconnect between what people want and what they get?

I don't pretend to be hip or cool, but I think we have a solid mix of delicious restaurants in South Orange. For a town so small to have this range is wonderful- two Ethiopian, Thai, Japanese, Mediterranean, Jamaican, in addition to the delicious "standards" of Mexican, Italian, and American. 

sac said:

The only other dollar store I know of in the community is on Springfield Avenue, so not all that close to the central part of South Orange.  

 There's one farther up on Irvington Ave, in the complex with the Dunkin' Donuts and the supermarket. The one on Springfield Ave is better.

@relx, it seems perhaps you are not happy with the quality of businesses here? 

I'm very proud of our town and its offerings. I shop at "hip cool" places approximately once a year, for Christmas gifts. But I can get a bagel, go out to dinner, do yoga, grab a cool kitchen supply, buy an awesome kids' birthday gift and more without setting foot in a chain. I can also stop at the post office, the library and the dry cleaners without having to re-park my car. South Orange rocks!

I'm happy with most of the businesses in South Orange, but we have not maxed out our potential. We definitely can use higher quality businesses in some locations.

relx said:

I guess I am also trying to figure out if people are actually happy with the quality of the businesses that come in here, or if there is a disconnect between what people want and what they get?