When there are no big chains in the city and there are local 'higher priced' small businesses that dont include the necessities of everyday living(ie:toilet paper, cough syrup, groceries for families, not just 1-2 person apartment dwellers and college kids) where do we think this kind of shopping will take place???

The city is getting cleaned out/up or whatever ya want to call it......it will not be for families that cant afford take out all the time.....a city is a play ground for the surrounding villages/towns.......

it is less about the small private stores than it is about---"where will those people go to subsist"......

http://www.dailygazette.com

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SCHENECTADY
Downtown retail store mix debated
Savage’s remarks prompt comments about national chains possibly moving in
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The city of Schenectady’s downtown retail sector is preparing to expand — the next evolution of its continued revitalization — and the expected growth has some people both worried and excited.
    Comments by Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, in a Nov. 27 story in The Daily Gazette, sparked a spirted debate on the subject.
    Speaking about the redevelopment of three buildings on the north side of State Street, Savage said developers are seeking to lure “well-known retailers” to the site. “Some of the names mentioned are The Gap, Starbucks and Barnes and Noble,” she
said.
    Some local merchants consider these brand-name stores a direct threat to their business, while others said they would welcome the competition.
    Janet Hutchison, owner of the Open Door Book Store on Jay Street, a 36-year-old independently owned business, would not comment directly on the prospect of a Barnes and Noble bookstore within blocks of her business.
    She did say, however, she would rather see “alternative, small, independently owned businesses rather than duplicating things you should find in malls. I think we can achieve that if we work toward that goal.”
    Hutchison also serves as a board member of the Metroplex Development Authority, which is sparking downtown’s rebirth, and said she was speaking as a business owner, not as a board member.
    Hutchison said “there is no reason for us to go after large chains. We need to try to offer different and unique experiences for people looking for unusual shopping.” Downtown, she said, currently lacks “arts and crafts shops, boutiques, a baker, a flower shop and more clothing stores.”
    Kevin Mattice, manager of Nico’s Pizzeria on State Street, said he had some concerns about the arrival of brand-name stores, but believes a small business can compete if it offers a quality product. Nico’s has been downtown for 15 years.
    The key is to give customers what they want, Mattice said. “We put out a good product at a fair price. I don’t want to stop anyone from coming down here. I believe in small businesses and big franchises, and we can compete and make it a bigger city.”
    Nico’s is now rethinking its business plan for downtown in light of recent downtown developments, Mattice said. “We bought the building and are rehabbing it. We will put in a dining room and expand the menu and move the kitchen to the back. We will put apartments on the second floor,” he said. “Everything will be brand-new. It will be a nice place for people to come and see. We will be stable for a long time to come.”
METROPLEX GOAL
    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said he believes as downtown’s success continues, national retailers will become more interested in relocating here. “There will be more competition and interest,” he said. “We are not shutting the door to any possibilities.”
    He added, though, Metroplex’s longtime goal is to bring “great local brands” downtown. “Our focus has been in these unique local brands.” He cited Villa Italia, owned by the Mallozzis of Rotterdam; Bombers Burritos, the second store operated by an Albany resident; Angelo Mazzone’s new restaurant; Ray Bleser’s jewelry store; and the Big House, which started in Albany.
    “We have done a good job of bringing in good, local brands and we are not closing the door to national brands,” Gillen said. “In the end, we do not control every decision downtown.” Indeed, if a potential business meets the city’s zoning requirements, there is little to stop it from moving in, he said.
    The Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp., which represents downtown merchants and building owners, has not taken a stance on whether to attract brandname versus local stores to downtown’s retail sector, said DSIC Board Vice President Richard Antokol.
    The executive board will meet next week, and “I expect it will come up. Whether the board will choose to take a position, I do not know,” Antokol said. “This is a new issue. I am personally not aware of any merchants communicating with the board or saying anything to the board on this issue.”
DESTINATION STORES
    He said the DSIC’s mission statement is to make “downtown a premier location for business, entertainment and residential uses,” leaving the specifics undefined. Gillen said downtown already has a good mix of entertainment venues and businesses. The best part of the mix is Proctors, he said. It was the catalyst that began downtown’s revitalization and it continues to bring in thousands of people each week.
    Gillen said that last weekend Proctors Mainstage drew 3,900 for “Nutcracker,” the GE Theatre drew 420 for a concert, the iWerks theater had 480 participants and 440 State Street drew 212 people for performances. In addition, 200 people attended a breakfast for Santa held at Proctors Saturday morning. And Movieland drew 1,000 to the movies over the weekend.
    “This is happening every weekend,” Gillen said. “People are interested in exposing their retail product line to that cluster downtown.”
    Dave Buicko, COO for the Galesi Group, a major downtown developer, said Schenectady needs to think outside of the box.
    “Protectionism doesn’t bring people downtown, diversity does. You can’t prevent anyone from coming into a place. If you bring in a place that is more a destination, the smaller, unique first-class stores will do well,” Buicko said. “There is not one destination store downtown.”
SARATOGA MODEL
    Downtown requires a balance to draw a diverse mix of customers, including the thousands of students who attend Union College and Schenectady County Community Colleges, Buicko said.
    “Downtown can pattern itself on college towns like Saratoga with boutiques and restaurants,” he said. In Saratoga, small coffee shops, small bookstores and boutiques all operate across from chains, he said.
    “We are not going to create another Saratoga, but we have something more unique. We have entertainment venues like Proctors. Proctors is a destination,” he said.
    County legislators Joe Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, and Michael Petta, D-Schenectady, both owners of small businesses, said they oppose bringing chain stores to compete with local businesses.
    “Downtown should be an eclectic mix of small businesses and locally owned businesses. If someone is not providing it, you bring it in, but you don’t bring in [brandname] bookstores and coffee stores that would decimate local businesses,” Suhrada said.
    Heather Hutchison, who wrote a letter to the editor criticizing Savage’s comments, said she believes public pressure is the best answer to ensuring developers choose appropriate businesses for downtown. She is the daughter of Janet Hutchison, but said she wrote her letter independent of her mother’s prompting.
    “I would hope the developers who are in charge of recruiting businesses would be looking for unique and local businesses that would help Schenectady thrive. A larger chain is not going to have a vested interest in how Schenectady develops. It is more interested in its profit margin,” Hutchison said.

The number of people attending Proctors Theater doesn't impress me, I wonder how much it costs to put on a show and how much profit did Proctors make after expenses if any or were they in the red.

Wouldn't it be great if someone on the board is owning a business and thinks it's great to bring in more big business downtown decides that a competitor of theirs would be good to bring in, which then costs them their business in the long run?  Watch out, Ms. Janet Hutchinson, you might be the first.

http://www.dailygazette.com

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SCHENECTADY
Changes in city surprise patrons Theatergoers discover eateries
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The last time Les Cairns went to a Proctors show, he had to eat pizza for dinner. Nothing else was open, he said.
    So when the curtain fell after “Spamalot” on Thursday, the Clifton Park man was somewhat stunned to walk out of the theater and discover half a dozen bustling restaurants within a block.
    It may seem unlikely that there are still theatergoers who haven’t seen the new downtown, considering that when Proctors finished expanding its stagehouse a year ago, it sold 80,000 tickets for “Phantom of the Opera” alone.
    But another big show has arrived, and it appears many of the 20,000 ticket-holders for sold-out “Spamalot” are just as new to the downtown as Phantom’s patrons were.
    “We knew Proctors had been done up, but we didn’t realize the rest of downtown had been done up too,” Cairns’ wife Pat said.
    The couple was thrilled to eat dinner next to two “Spamalot” cast members at Chez Daisie, the creperie on Jay Street.
    “This place is great,” she gushed, while her husband added wryly, “When we first came, 17 years ago, it looked like this place was on the way out.”
    They weren’t the only ones who had their image of Schenectady altered on Thursday.
    “I haven’t been down here in a while. I think it’s fantastic,” said Jim Faddegon of Latham, who ordered dinner at Ambition Cafe Coffee House and Eatery on Jay Street after Thursday’s matinee. “I like the stores starting to open down here.”
    Many of the stores aren’t new — but some of them look like it. Paisa Miser, an international retail shop that has been on Jay Street for 26 years, once looked every year of its age. Now it has a new facade, with red columns and elaborately decorated windows. Other businesses have spruced up their storefronts as well, mostly through facade grants offered by the Metroplex Development Authority.
    The change led one family to declare that Metroplex had performed a medical miracle.
    “I used to tell people Schenectady is still dying,” quipped Nick Tishler of Niskayuna, who was enjoying dessert at Villa Italia after Thursday’s show. “Now I tell them it’s come back.”
    His family used to see about four shows a year at Proctors. This season, they’ve bought tickets to 10 shows, partly because they want to entertain mother-in-law Becky Curley, who moved in after turning 90.
    But now that they’re here, they’re glad she provided the excuse.
    “We’re so impressed,” said Tishler’s wife, Alison Curley. She described the new Aperitivo Bistro as the type of place she would expect to find in Manhattan, and said she now considers Schenectady to be a good alternative to the hassle of traveling to New York City for a show.
    The changes downtown were nothing new to their daughter, Rebecca Tishler, 15. She’s become a fan of Movieland, where there are Memory Foam seats and real butter for the popcorn, and swears it’s the best movie theater in the area.
    “It’s a lot better downtown,” the teen said, “Granted, there’s still some places I wouldn’t feel comfortable after dark, but I mean, downtown Schenectady’s completely different. I feel comfortable — which I haven’t felt before.”
    She said she wouldn’t venture past the train overpass to lower State Street, where only a few new businesses are running. Metroplex officials are now working to redevelop that area.
    As with last year’s sold-out “Phantom,” restaurant owners report that every table is full for an hour before each “Spamalot” show.
    But one thing has changed. Business owners who don’t sell food are no longer content to watch the theatergoers walk by.
    Tom Lawrence, owner of Lennon’s Irish Shop, hired a bagpiper Thursday to entice crowds onto the retail strip of Jay Street.
    “There’s not a whole lot that comes down here,” Lawrence said. “They wouldn’t come down this way on their own. The bagpiper does attract a crowd.”
    Sure enough, six patrons had gathered after the first song, and Lawrence did slow but steady business until the 7 p.m. show. A few theater-bound customers stopped at Two Spruce Pottery too, and a couple wandered into Orion and Paisa Miser, the other retailers open on that side of Jay Street.
    Still, two or three patrons is a tiny fraction of the 2,600 people cramming into Proctors.
    “We don’t get a huge influx,” Lawrence said. “But more than we would if we weren’t open.”
    Metroplex officials are still struggling to convince the retailers that it would be worth their while to stay open. A few Jay Street business owners still aren’t keeping regular hours, and most of the others close by 6 p.m. But on Thursday, keeping with long-standing tradition, almost every store was open late.
    And they did get a few extra sales because of it.
    Annie Parisella, of Schenectady, who took her 12-year-old son Elliot Nark to the matinee, went shopping afterward since the stores were still open.
    “As long as we’re here,” she said, picking up incense at Orion and a birthday card at the Open Door Bookstore.
    She said that even though there was only a handful of shoppers on the pedestrian walkway, it was still remarkable.
    “It’s always crowded, but never after 4 o’clock,” she said. “Look at all the people on Jay Street at 5 o’clock in the afternoon!”

BRUCE SQUIERS/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Bill Munro plays the bagpipes Thursday outside Lennon’s on Jay Street in Schenectady.

...ALL ON THE BACK OF COUNTY TAXPAYERS.

http://www.capitalnews9.com

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The state of the Capital Region
Updated: 1/15/2008
By: Ryan Peterson          
          
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Heading into the first-ever State of Upstate address, the Capital Region is on an upswing. It's rebounded nicely over the last decade or so. Housing prices in the Albany area nearly doubled in the last ten years. The region's population is steadily increasing and so are incomes, but its private industry, not state jobs, that are responsible.

“It isn't all state money. You've got $250 million in new private sector investment over the last four years that's come into Schenectady,” said Mayor Brian Stratton, (D) Schenectady.

Schenectady was the birthplace of General Electric. As one of the world's largest corporations, GE once employed nearly 40,000 people in the Electric City. A fraction of that workforce remains.


“Every toaster, every refrigerator and every turbine came out of Schenectady. It was a wonderful place,” said Stratton.

But the winds of change are blowing, literally, as the company announced last summer that it would be staffing up a new wind and alternative energy research center at its Schenectady campus. The result of state assistance and the city's Metroplex Development Authority -- an agency formed by some 31 different and competing economic development programs from around the county.

"They're spending $39 million to renovate a building and bring 500 new jobs in. We're beginning to see the fruits of investing and working with GE and reinvigorating the upstate economy,” said Stratton.

It's that combination of state investment and working together as a whole that has guided the region's biggest boom, Tech Valley. Some of the biggest names in the technological world were drawn to the Capital District with tax breaks, investments in state-of-the-art facilities, infrastructure improvements and cold hard cash. Albany and the surrounding area is poised to become Silicon Valley East.

“It is huge. It is absolutely huge. The research for the next level is being done not at Sematech down in Austin, but at Sematech North right here at Albany NanoTech,” said Albany County Executive Michael Breslin.

And they say the best is yet to come. Microprocessor giant AMD is preparing to build a new computer chip manufacturing plant in Saratoga County. With $1.2 billion pledged in state funds, the $3.2 billion project is the largest corporate package in state history.

“If Luther Park and AMD works out, that's fantastic. That's a boom. I've done everything I can possibly do to make sure that will happen. Because if it happens, it gets spun-off around here,” said Breslin.

As the governor prepares to announce the details of his $1 billion revitalization fund to invest in upstate businesses and infrastructure, folks in the Southern Tier, northern, central and western New York are looking to the Capital Region for the same kind of success.

http://www.dailygazette.com

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SCHENECTADY
Ups and downs of life downtown Residents complain stores close too early
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    Living downtown right now is an experience in contrasts.
    When residents walk down State Street after work, many of the venues are open — Proctors, Movieland, Aperitivo’s. Turn onto any of the side streets and almost every store is closed for the night.
    It’s almost like living in a ghost town, said Jay Street resident Johari Watts.
    “I actually like living downtown because after certain hours it’s peaceful,” she said. “But it’s half and half. After hours there’s really nothing to do but window shop, so it’s kind of boring.”
    Watts is one of the hundreds of residents downtown, most of whom live in apartments perched above the stores that close at 6 p.m. In fact, it appears that it’s easier to find tenants than business owners. The apartments are full above many long-vacant stores.
    The residents carry a heavy burden: They are supposed to fuel the “24-hour downtown” by shopping and eating after the office workers go home.
    But there aren’t many places for them to go. The cafes that feed the lunch crowd are closed by the time the downtown residents get home from work. Most of the retailers that would sell those residents clothes, gifts and specialty items have locked their doors, too.
    Some businesses close even earlier than 6 p.m., and most are closed all weekend as well. They do stay open late on Thursdays, honoring a tradition that dates back to when General Electric employed more than 40,000 and issued its paychecks on Thursdays. But that doesn’t make the rest of the weeknights feel less eerie.
    “People are always complaining that the stores are always closed,” Watts said. “If you want to run out and get something, you can’t.”
    The downtown economic developers’ solution may seem counterintuitive. Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen says the answer is to put even more
residents into the downtown.
    “Look, it’s market conditions. We can’t tell anybody what to do. But some places are staying open [later], and that will happen as you start to see more people here for longer periods of time,” he said.
    He noted the increase in lunch sites when thousands of office workers relocated downtown. Other stores will stay open at night if there are enough customers, he said.
    Business owners said residents are helpful downtown — “They keep your business safe and they shop,” said Orion store owner Linda Scott — but that’s not enough to stay open late.
    “It’s tough because most of us our running our stores ourselves. At some time you have to go home and sleep,” said JoAnne Sifo, who owns the Jay Street creperie Chez Daisie.
    She opened her restaurant on Sundays during the Christmas shopping season, but the three-hour lunch shift was brutally busy.
    “It killed me,” she said. “I won’t be open 7 days until I can make enough money to hire someone.”
    Others said they’ve tried to stay open late, but they never see any customers.
    Michelle Bynoe of Inspired tried staying open until 7 p.m. early this year.
    “I went back to 6 and I’m fighting myself to stay open because it’s dead,” she said.
FOSTER APARTMENTS?
    Gillen said it’s a catch-22. Business won’t pick up until residents start shopping after work, but they won’t start shopping until they know the businesses are open.
    So he’s urging companies to build more housing, particularly condos, upscale apartments and senior housing.
    “We don’t have enough product, upscale product,” he said.
    “That’s kind of the next step — retail and residential are hopefully the next stages.”
    Two high-end apartments have already been built above the new Aperitivo Bistro restaurant, although the $1,500 and $3,000 a month units have not been rented yet. Plans are under way for upper-story, luxury apartments at the building that will replace Robinson’s Furniture Store on State Street.
    Gillen also wants apartments at the Foster Building, a historic landmark near the courthouse that has been empty for more than a decade. It’s currently for sale.
    But residents are worried those plans will lead to gentrification. Landlords are already asking for $1,000 a month for some upperlevel lofts on Jay Street, and smaller apartments that rented in the $400 range two years ago are now marketed for $600.
    “With that type of rent you’re not going to make it a community,” Watts said. “I like it down here, but rents are going up.”
    For now, she’s willing to pay to stay. “It’s safer here,” she said, an observation police confirm. Downtown is one of the safest areas of the city, along with Woodlawn and the Stockade, according to police.
    And Watts loves watching the downtown come back to life. “It seems like every day there’s something different — everything’s getting built up,” she said. “It’s great for my 2-year-old son, especially during the summer time, when the events come downtown.”
HIGH HOPES
    She has high hopes for the future. Although she has no business plan, she wants to open an independent grocery store, which she knows would be popular with her neighbors. City officials have tried to recruit grocery stores to the area, but Gillen said they need a lot more residents downtown before big retailers will take a risk on the neighborhood. Even the smaller retailers there now need a bigger population base, he said.
    “It’s going to have to build,” Gillen said. “The last piece of the puzzle is retail. The retailers are the toughest sale: They want to see proven foot traffic for a long period of time with specific demographics.”
    But he’s confident now that the downtown will get there eventually.
    “That’s stage four. We’re on stage two and half,” he said. “This has been done over and over. We’re following the tried and true format: eateries, arts and entertainment, residential, and then retail. These are the stages to rebirth.”

MARC SCHULTZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Private contractor Al Dunham works on the form for a concrete countertop in an apartment under construction on the fi fth floor of 426 State St. Many more apartments in the downtown district of Schenectady are becoming available.

Nothing has changed in 'residential' Schenectady County. There are still the same amount of residential housing, if not more, as there was when GE was here. People came from all over the county to shop downtown. All stores were closed by 5-6pm except for Thursday night. And of course they were closed on Sunday.

The only thing that has changed is the lack of employment opportunities and the increased influx of social government paid recipients. I believe that there are more than enough vacant buildings readily available for development. They should be addressed FIRST before anything new is sought out.

In either case, I also believe that the old Alco land should most certainly be checked for contamination. And that should be done at the property owners expense. Which may end up back in the laps of the taxpayer.

http://www.timesunion.com

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Parking’s up in downtown Schenectady
March 21, 2008
by Eric Anderson, Deputy business editor

Not only that, but people apparently also are staying longer once they’ve parked their vehicle. The information comes this morning from the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority, which has pushed a renewal effort that’s changed the look of the downtown core.

Daytime visitor parking downtown was up 40 percent in 2007 from the year before, Metroplex reported. While evening visits aren’t tracked because parking is free (except in two lots directly behind Proctors Theatre), data from visits that are tracked show visitors are staying longer. Visits of more than two hours increased 84 percent in 2007 from 2006.

The downtown area has seen new restaurants and cafes, new movie theaters, a major expansion of the Proctors complex, and other improvements.

“As the revitalization of downtown continues, we are seeing an across-the-board increase in use of our parking lots and garage,” said Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen.

Metroplex took over operation of the downtown parking garage and surface lots in 2004, making improvements in paving, landscaping and restriping of spaces. The garage gained new lighting and security cameras.

Metroplex is great with parkinig lots ... employees of these fine beverage / dining establishments have to park somewhere.

What he conveniently fails to mention in his political drivel "release" today is how much revenue is being collected - and where is it going.

Okay, so now we are told that people are staying longer when they go downtown. And we are being told that the parking areas are a success!!!!!! Hurray!!!

But more important than that, please tell us how the businesses are doing...BESIDES Proctors. And when the Big House will open for business.

Big House?? That's a Big Flop.

I'm so glad that Metroplex gave themselves such a good report on how they're doing with the parking lots. That's about the same as the inmates in the Schdy giving us a report on how well they are behaving in jail.

Parking is up in Schenectady.  People are staying longer.

Any correlation to an increase in case load at the Schenectady City and County courts?

There have been several reported crimes (including a recent reported rape) in the Schenectady parking facilities.  Nothing says "Welcome to Schenectady" like being met by the criminal element when visiting the city.

Lastly, I assert that if it requires counting parked cars and timing the owners' lengths of stay to attest to the successes of the Schenectady Metroplex in promoting business development in the city, the efforts of Gillen and the Metroplex Authority Board of Directors are misguided and ineffective.   Sales tax revenues are the proper guage of increased business activity in Schenectady County.  What has been the return on the investment of our public (tax) revenues that are being redistributed by the Metroplex to private business owners, non-profits, and favored developers?