As a freelance artist/writer, I spend an awful lot of time working from local coffee shops (and pubs). Through fly-on-the-wall osmosis and old-fashioned eavesdropping, I hear the varied (but often shared) perspectives of Newburyporters.
One recurring topic is the many comings and goings of downtown businesses.
The accompanying sentiments range from the cynical ‘Do we really need another jewelry store?’ to the kid-in-a-candy-store ‘Did you hear –we’re getting another jewelry store!’ The evolution of our downtown businesses is bitter (semi) sweet: it is always very sad to see any business fail or move on. The bright side being that (at least in Newburyport), retail and culinary real estate do not typically remain empty for very long.
In the four years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen the return and eventual re-departure of Taffy’s, the transformation of an iconic State Street institution into a large hamburger-centric eatery (classy kudos to 17 State Street for keeping the Fowles sign), and a bookstore reimagined as a shared bookstore/coffee shop marriage: What could be better than books and coffee? Books and coffee AND occasional beer — Book Rack / Atomic Café has you covered.
I often feel there is a ubiquitous perception that State and Inn Streets are the end all, be all of Newburyport’s downtown business community. If not evidenced in wallets of visiting tourists, than in the perpetual movement of the downtown business makeup. Businesses come, businesses (unfortunately) go, some jockey for position among State & Inn Streets, weighing visibility and foot traffic against the weighty leases.
For those keeping track, Chase & Lundt Insurance moved from State Street to Parker Street, just down the road from MetroRock Climbing Center (plummet off a rock climbing wall? — you’re covered!); The Black Dog moved from a much larger location on Water Street to State Street, J.L. Coombs has moved from State to a pending location on Pleasant Street. These after Ceia moved from State Street… to State Street a year prior, and ‘round and ‘round we go.
Is the geographic grandeur of being on State Street, Inn Street, et al only a perception? A visit to the Tannery would tell you it might be. Tannery standards Chococoa, Jabberwocky Books, Riverside Cycle, and Wish Basket are thriving in their “off the beaten path” locale. There’s a family atmosphere fostered by owners who are all on-site. The Tannery is not without its own turnover, however. Gone are Enzo Restaurant and Express Video, present only months ago.
Just down the road from the Tannery, The Newburyport Art Association has one of the coolest locations in Newburyport and even includes an attached lighthouse… but how often do daytrippers stumble upon it? How often does the everyday Newburyport resident frequent it?
A few years back, on a first visit to Newburyport, I had come upon a poster, which had on it collaged photographs of the downtown businesses here. I remember thinking that searching out the many unique shops and restaurants featured on the poster would make for an interesting scavenger hunt. It would prove an unfruitful venture, however, as nearly every one of the businesses on the poster at that time were already defunct. Of course, in their place, rose up a variety of new shops.
We have an idea of what Newburyport’s business makeup is and what it should be yet, it is always evolving.
Pervading discussion on the matter often revolves around not just who is moving where but what kinds of businesses should be present here; What kinds of businesses fit within the model of what Newburyport is and/or should be. One agreed notion seems to be that chains (particularly the more common, generic ones) are unbefitting of downtown Newburyport. Of course, Dunkin Donuts seems to be the exception to the rule. I’ve counted. There are an astounding FOUR Dunkin Donuts in Newburyport (just one downtown, but STILL).
“You don’t know the power of the dark side (Dunkin Donuts)! I must obey my Master (Dunkin Donuts).”
-Darth Vader in The Return Of The Jedi
also
-every New Englander ((I’ve met)) ever talking about the allure and power of Dunkin’ Donuts.
(A side note from a former New Yorker: Once you go Krispee Kreme, you never go… ah never mind).
But what of storefronts that do remain vacant? — a few lots on Pleasant Street spring to mind along with the now vacant building on Water Street that once housed A Shore Thing, and the former Mr. India building on the other side of Route 1. Would it be better to have a chain store or restaurant occupy a vacant space?
Mention of the former A Shore Thing site brings to mind the recent application to the city for demolition of the slightly unkempt residential building on Water Street between Market and Titcomb. That whole area is oft rumored to be the eventual site of a hotel. This of course, ties into the possible transformation of the waterfront itself. I don’t have the wherewithal (read: gonads) to tackle the ongoing Newburyport Redevelopment Authority/Waterfront issue here, but certainly, this discussion ties into our business makeup (aesthetically and otherwise).
Can upscale exist hand-in-hand with funky (a la Portsmouth)?
Just who should the downtown serve: The residents or the tourists? Can it successfully cater to both?
Until Agave is replaced with Taco Bell – and the Fowles sign is supplanted with a neon “Live Girls” sign, the Rail Trail is extended beyond Plum Island to the Gates Of Hell, and Seabrook’s Smoking Monkey opens a second location on State Street, (hello Colorado) Newburyport’s downtown will still be a Newburyport downtown we can all be proud of.
The more things change, the more they will stay the same in Newburyport, and that is sometimes a good thing.
Now, did you hear? They’re opening a fifth Dunkin Donuts!
Just kidding. I think.