Bx Gets No Love from Chain Retailers... YET

Our friends over at the Daily News are reporting that the Bronx has the fewest chain stores of any borough. The most shocking part of the report: the BoogieDown has only FOUR Starbucks! In a city where Starbucks franchises reproduce like cockroaches, that is truly insulting. Thankfully Dunkin' Donuts has seen the opportunity for success in the Bronx and has opened 49 stores here. So Starbucks can keep pandering to the yuppies in Cobble Hill, because Dunkin' Donuts has better coffee anyway. Suck on that Starbucks - boo yeah!

Perhaps even more interesting than the actual report was the comment made by a particulary unintelligent Bronx resident:

BronxGalG Sep 9, 2008 7:29:31 AM It must be because the Bronx really is a zoo. I'm from the Bronx but I don't shop in any stores in the Bronx except supermarkets for groceries. For clothes, shoes, electronics or things other than groceries, I'll shop in New Jersey or Yonkers. I had the misfortune of going to the Target store on 225th street. What a catastrophe! Clothing items on the floor, security guards up and down the store and at the entrance, it's just plain nasty to shop there, and don't get me started on the stores on Fordham Road! It will be the same if chain stores open in the Bronx. Thanks, but no thanks!

Seems BronxGalG doesn't really understand the very simple concept that the very reason that the stores we DO have in the Bronx tend to be overcrowded is that we don't have enough stores. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to complain about overcrowding in the stores and then say, "Thanks, but no thanks!" to new stores coming to relieve the overburdened ones.

I think most residents would agree that chain stores are a necessary evil of sorts... it's the whole "Not in My Backyard" theory. You certainly don't want a Target opening up next door to you (well, actually this Target gal would because I do basically all of my shopping there), but the minute you need a Rubbermaid storage bin, or a 12-pack of Bounty paper towels you probably hop in the car and head for a big-box retailer.

Hopefully the advent of the Gateway Center Mall to SoBro in 2009 will serve as a convenient and diverse new shopping district for the BoogieDown.

*Creepy anti-Starbucks pic courtesy of http://lehomeroom.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html*

~ErLu

The Gays are Coming - Yesssssssss!!!!

We've actually been waiting to do a post on this issue for a while now, but we wanted to wait until there was an actual news story to tie in rather than just saying, "Hey BoogieDowner readers, we've been noticing a lot more gay couples while walking around our hood. How about you?"

In her article "Gay pairs like the boros, raising kids in Bronx," The Daily News' Stephanie Gaskell reports that a recent study by UCLA's Williams Institute shows that the Bronx is home to the highest number of gay couples raising children, followed closely by Brooklyn. But you know what we said yesterday Brooklyn - second place is for losers.

I'm no cultural anthropologist, but my take on the gay population of NYC is that they tend to be not only extremely stylish, but also ready, willing, and able to get involved with their communities and create stable, enriching residential environments. What more could you ask for in a neighbor?

~ErLu