There are only 23 days left until Christmas morning; this means I only have about 20 days to do all of my Christmas shopping. I always end up rummaging through the picked-over gifts last-minute. This could be different. Unfortunately I have to travel all the way to Ithaca or Syracuse to do my Holiday shopping—and I just don’t have time to do that until he semester is over. Boy, it would be nice if I could have an opportunity to do it all in Cortland…
We all know how beneficial a strip-mall, or shopping center, etc. would be to Cortland; people and businesses would flock from miles to get a piece of what Cortland has to offer. I’m not going to sit here and proclaim that we should just put in a mega-plex and all of our problems would be solved. While this may be the case, it’s not easy to do what I just suggested.
Here comes that issue of money again. OK, so, I understand that it’s not feasible to put in a shopping plaza. But, why can’t we have some higher name stores… Am I reaching too high, still? Sure we have a Radio Shack but why can’t we have a Best Buy. I’m positive that (and I’m told that downtown Ithaca is dealing with a similar situation) we have no place to buy clothes. Here’s a thought.
Why couldn’t we convince some clothing businesses to come to Cortland and set up shop? I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about business, but I’m also not going to ignore the benefits that some trendy clothing stores would bring. And lets be honest, these stores would thrive throughout the year near a college campus.
This is an actual Away Message from an anonymous AOL Instant Messenger User who is also a student at SUNY Cortland:
Auto response from Imsoanonymous: library, final, library, final
i’m going to buy myself something nice for doing all of this hard work! : )
I’m sure that this girl (who preferred to stay unnamed) would love to be able to go right into a clothing department store in Cortland and buy a new shirt; I’m also sure that the clothing department store in Cortland would love to have her business. It just makes sense!
I know that I’m asking a lot when making an enormous request like this, but I just can’t get past the idea of it. What would it take to make something HUGE happen? I’ll do my part. Let’s make something ensue.
Well, it’s the end of the semester for me, folks. Katie and I will be presenting the Cortland Downtown Blog tonight! I have some good news, though. I will be continuing to blog on this website even after the end of this semester! See you then, Cortland. Cheers.
Oh, yeah... and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
--Ray
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2 comments:
Ray-
I agree with you and would love some bigger name stores in the Cortland area. I've shopped at JC Penny over the years and been successful, for the most part but the store itself is not very big. It might be interesting if the store could build up, in its current location and put on a second level. But you can't really call JC Penny's in Cortland a department store if they don't have all the departments. Even a store like Kohl's would be a great asset to the Cortland area. I know college students would shop there. I could think of big list of stores that would bring lots of business to the Cortland area. But with the more brand names that come in, does that affect this area in being called a "small town." There are of course smaller towns in the area. But bringing in big brand-named stores hurts the little guys, private business owners. What has Dunkin Donuts done to business for small places like the Blue Frog and Coffeemania. From what I've heard, luckily, it hasn't been much of a threat. But right across the street from DD, Peck's furniture closed. It had beautiful pieces, a bit pricey for my budget but beautiful nonetheless. But could Cortland-ers not afford to shop there, is that why it closed? Are they traveling to Ithaca and shopping in places like Target and Pier 1?
I'm on your side but at the same time worried what big stores would do to the many area businesses. Borders or Barnes & Noble would kill a place like Mando Books. I've been a faithful (and seasonal employee) customer there for years and I wouldn't want to see anything happen to it.
This is something that Cortland should think about; I've been here for seven years as well, Katie, and I have to drive half an hour to buy clothes. I found myself in a real pickle when I got a job that required very specific pants. While the stores here have them, they don't tend to carry longs, which I need. So for people like me, shopping in Cortland is impossible. I think that adding a few well-known stores, not a mall, would be beneficial to all businesses. Imagine, for example, if there were an Old Navy downtown? My landlords have even discussed how much Cortland needs this kind of business. While this is not one of my favorite stores, it would at least provide another option. And once people were done shopping there, they may be encouraged to stroll down the street to other stores. Right now, there isn't a great incentive for people to spend their money in Cortland...
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