Jay Street food store to close its doors July 30, 2008
By Michael Lamendola (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — Earthly Delights Natural Foods, a fixture on Jay Street since 1974, is closing Thursday, citing a difficult business climate and problems competing with larger food stores. “The financial climate does not make sense for us to proceed,” said Earthly Delights co-owner Lori Sendra. “We made tremendous strides and we had a great run at it.” The store specialized in selling natural and organic products. It also carried health supplements, skin-care products and soaps. In December, Earthly Delights switched to a vegetarian cafe format in an attempt to remain viable. Sendra said the larger stores with the bulk buying power made it difficult for an independent shop like hers to compete. Store manager Marcy Newman went further than Sendra to say a lack of support for merchants on the retail block was a factor in the store’s closing. “Jay Street is not a focus for the development that is going on. I’m not sure enough attention has been given to businesses on the street,” she said. Sendra denied this, adding that, “We have had nothing but great cooperation from Metroplex [Development Authority], the DSIC [Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp.] and Mayor [Brian U.] Stratton.” Newman said she knows there are plans to develop the street and to make it “upscale like the mahogany district across the way.” Several Jay Street merchants use the term to refer to the mahogany trim on the doors of the Subway next to Proctors and to enhancements done to others businesses, which have been subject of efforts to revitalize downtown.
What will it take? How much more do these metroplex/city/county non-leaders have to see to admit that downtown is NOT growing. In fact it is just the opposite....it is failing.
After 10 years of the plex businesses are closing or moving out and new businesses haven't even opened for business yet...ex:the big house! Clinton's Ditch is up for sale. Backstage is up for sale. The movie theater is empty. Proctors is empty. Combined with, and I think they haven't gotten a handle on this yet, NYS is in a recession.
We taxpayers can not continue to pay for these officials to live in their non existant, unrealistic fantasy world.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer Thursday, August 14, 2008
SCHENECTADY - An gift shop affiliated with the Schenectady Museum will close at month's end to pave the way for renovations at Center City as part of the city's downtown redevelopment.
The Jay Street shop, "Innovations," is one of a half dozen spaces at Center City that artists call home, Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen said.
"This is a fact of life of construction that sometimes you can work around artists and sometimes you can't," Gillen said.
But Gillen said the shop and other spaces for working artists along the Jay Street side of Center City will be moved to other Jay Street sites, as Galesi Group works on the $12 million project to transform the 180,000 square-foot structure into retail, recreational and office spaces.
Gillen cautioned against making any conclusions in the face of two other recent closings. Last month, Earthly Delights, a natural foods store and vegetarian cafe that's been a downtown fixture for more than three decades, closed its doors. In June, Bibliomania ended a 26 year run. Owner Bill Healy is now running the business out of his house.
Gillen instead pointed to the opening of a guitar store on Jay Street. He also said Metroplex will be announcing new tenants soon for the retooled Center City. The YMCA has also been mentioned as a possible tenant.
Jackie Davis, of the Schenectady Museum, said Thursday that Innovations, a joint venture with Proctors, was also having troubling attracting volunteers. The shop, which sells handcrafted items and merchandise related to the museum's exhibits, has been open for two years, she said.
Logged
