I was discussing downtown GE with two downtown GE retailers tonight and I posed a question to them...if you are a man...name a place other than a restaurant, the Bike Shop/running shoe store or Geische Shoes (assuming that you could justify heading into these places on a monthly basis)...that might bring you downtown to spend money on a weekly or even monthly basis? There was no answer.
This town DOES have more than a handful of stores which SHOULD be promoted by whomever the village and retailers are paying to do so, yet it doesn't. We have people trying to promote our town as a cool destination that don't look like they have stepped into a store since the mid-90's. And that store was Talbots. The old guard simply does not work when promoting something as ever-changing and fickle as high-end/boutique/specialty retail. You need someone who is 25-30 and, I hate to use this word, "hip". Someone who can create a buzz. We don't have that. That said, I am pleased to see the head of the COC departing and can only hope for more to follow in her footsteps.
And I hope that they are not hanging their hats on "core hours". In a kid-intensive environment like GE...how many people do you think are shopping between 5-6PM rather than shuttling children to and fro and cooking dinner? And those people getting off the train? They are mostly males that have nothing to buy and will gladly walk right through town to get home.
I wish the village would get off its can, hire a forward-thinking village manager and reel the EDC back to Duane Street and make some major changes in policy and staff quickly. When the realtors in town start leaving a tour of the CBD off their must-sees, you've got a problem.
to add insult to injury, the glen ellyn news shows up on my driveway this week, complete with an 8-page b/w supplement advertising downtown. . . geneva.
Originally posted by t.a. superette: to add insult to injury, the glen ellyn news shows up on my driveway this week, complete with an 8-page b/w supplement advertising downtown. . . geneva.
[sigh]
I thought the same thing when I saw the insert.
To the folks running the show here in GE-There's no copyright on good ideas.
I've wondered if a chocolate cafe that served wine and martini's would be viable here? Take the ambiance of a Starbucks, occasional live entertainment (Jazz/Folk music) high end chocolates and a menu of wines and martini's (including girl-tini's). Just curious but who on this BB would visit once a month?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Yossarian,
I had dinner with a good friend last night in downtown GE (Thai joint). She is from Oak Park, has lived there her entire life and does try to shop as much as possible in her downtown area. I was really surprised to hear say that she is, and always has been, very attracted to coming to downtown Glen Ellyn for a days excursion with her girlfriends, shopping, having lunch, doing the spa thing. I asked her why she was so attracted to coming here (they take METRA)? She said she has always thought it was quaint and so much less 'urban' than her town's downtown area and they don't want to go all the way out to Geneva for the same feel.
My point is, it really hit me that Glen Ellyn should be marketing itself for this type of customer. As kids, my mom would pile us on the train to Geneva because she thought it less 'urban' than her downtown. Obviously, we are quite a few miles/stops closer than Geneva on the METRA line, so we could really have an opportunity with folks from Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park, etc... and the city to become a place for these types of excursions.
We may be landlocked and not on a major highway, but that is part of the charm and something to be marketed. What we DO have is a train line and we could (with time and careful planning) become that 'closer' destination/alternative to Geneva.
To make up for the Geneva insert, the Nov./Dec. West Suburban Living magazine (which arrived in the mail somehow - does anyone really subscribe to this???) published "Historic Glen Ellyn" as this issue's Town Focus.
It praises how wonderful and perfect G.E. is and how the CBD is the hub of it all. I won't quote any of it, but it is clear to me that we do, indeed, live in the Jewel of the Western Suburbs. I makes me so proud to be a resident. Thanks to Lynn Petrak who wrote the piece.
Originally posted by Clamato: Ex-fricken'-zactly, GER. You're the kind of chap we need driving GE's economic engine.
I don't get it, Clam. You just pointed out that there's nothing to really attract "us guys" to downtown, but you encourage the marketing of our town to Oak Park women dying to get away from it all at the girlie shops of GE. That would mean we need to maintain and/or increase our girlie-type stores.
But, in response to your first question
quote:
.if you are a man...name a place other than a restaurant, the Bike Shop/running shoe store or Geische Shoes (assuming that you could justify heading into these places on a monthly basis)...that might bring you downtown to spend money on a weekly or even monthly basis?
I don't think that there is any shopping area on the face of the planet that would have an answer for that question. For me, its sometimes over a month between visits to my second bathroom, let alone a particular store or shopping area. Except for the grocery store, a bar, a gas station, a hardware store, or a coffee shop (if you're so inclined) there is probably no store that men frequent more than once a month. It's the whole hunter/gatherer thing.
I don't get it, Clam. You just pointed out that there's nothing to really attract "us guys" to downtown, but you encourage the marketing of our town to Oak Park women dying to get away from it all at the girlie shops of GE. That would mean we need to maintain and/or increase our girlie-type stores.
My point, sort of, was that I really don't give a crap if I ever buy anything in downtown GE again. There is nothing for men to buy, has not been in for a while, and I will be just fine if it continues that way. That being said, it is time to ramp up either the restaurant angle, or the female-driven store angle....again, I'm in complete understanding that nobody can or will or has in the past attracted any kind of store that an owner didn't want to open. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to plug the **** out of our gems and try to add more. To add more, you have to prove that you can keep the town in presentable shape. About 70% of our building probably fit that mode right now. I mean...look what Forest Park (!!!) has done with itself.
If I were looking at retail space and looked at our CBD and at how the former village manager was dispatched under uber-secret circumstances (hey...why do we need to know, right?) and how long it has taken our people on Duane to find a new one...I'd tell GE to pound sand. But that's me. Most important position in the village and we've been without for 4-5 months.
Originally posted by Clamato: I mean...look what Forest Park (!!!) has done with itself.
Do you mean on Madison? I was avoiding the Eisenhower once on my way to Oak Park and was impressed by some of the streetscaping on Madison. Is that Forest Park?
I still wouldn't want to live in that area, but it was a pretty interesting stretch of street.
Originally posted by Clamato: That being said, it is time to ramp up either the restaurant angle, or the female-driven store angle....
I agree with you here. And I think GE is on its way to a restaurant destination. Despite some of the comments here, I think Thipi brings folks in. There is a consensus love fest with Bistro Monet. And I think that Cab's, Vittorio's and Figo are attractive to out of towners, too. If we could get a place or two for good live music to couple with the artsy fartsy offerings at the Glen, I think we'd be a pretty good night out destination.
On the girly-set, Camp and Knickers have gotten some good publicity. If some of those places, along with the shoe stores (chicks dig shoes) and the booze-and-nails place could stay open to 8PM or so on Fridays and Saturdays, you could really get GE to be a Girls Night Out destination. Shop-drink-eat. Tipsy groups of women and their money are soon parted.
Originally posted by middlein87: [QUOTE]Originally posted by Clamato: If we could get a place or two for good live music to couple with the artsy fartsy offerings at the Glen, I think we'd be a pretty good night out destination.
I miss the jazz place and would love to frequent the joints around town with live music, but most don't start up until around 9, and that's past my bedtime. Are people in this town really up carousing that late (or am I just really boring)??
I like these ideas. You guys are onto something. We could be the one town that offers various styles of live music coupled with varieties of good food. I'd kill for a piano bar in our downtown. I always thought the sushi restaurant idea was a damn good one too.
"You shouldn't soil your Sunday pants, like those other foolish ants."
Originally posted by Clamato: I was discussing downtown GE with two downtown GE retailers tonight and I posed a question to them...if you are a man...name a place other than a restaurant, the Bike Shop/running shoe store or Geische Shoes (assuming that you could justify heading into these places on a monthly basis)...that might bring you downtown to spend money on a weekly or even monthly basis? There was no answer.
