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The comments posted on this message board represent the individual opinions of their respective posters only and are not to be construed as statements of proven or alleged fact.
Bulletin Board Discussion Forums Shopping, Restaurants, Retail... Ideas for GE Retail Read-Only TopicGo | Find | Notify | Tools |
| Ideas for GE Retail | Login/Join |
| GlenEllynite |
Some ideas that have been kicked around with friends have been. 1. Glen Ellyn needs an anchor store. the quaint little stores are great, but I think they will get a lot more business if an anchor store brought more people into town. ie Gap, Banana Republic, etc. 2. New men's stores. since Dean Olsen and Bob Horsley are gone, something needs to be lured in. 3. Try to expand the downtown further west on duane where the smaller houses on the north side of the street are. the ones that are vacant should be leveled and made way for shops along there. 4. The north end of town near North Ave and Bloomingdale Rd. where the old Onmi used to be needs a stable anchor store ie Lowes, Best Buy, Petsmart, etc or completely leveled and redesign that corner for other uses. make it look like the new shops in Yorktown on the north side of Butterfield where the Kona Grill is. Something classy but is basically just a strip mall/restaurant mall. And the rest of North Ave., why can't it be just as inviting as the places on Roosevelt? 5. the street just south of Roosevelt that has the rear exits for McDonalds and Alfies could be made into more inviting stores, shops, or condos. 6. no more banks. we have close to 30 banks in GE which generate no sales tax for the community. 7. Downtown parking garage - maybe over near the Park place condos or near the library. this would allow more commuters to this space and free up street parking hopefully and then potentially get rid of the small lot across from McCheney to allow for more shops to be built. 8. Build a club house like Wheaton's Arrowhead course and put a nice bar and restaurant on to bring in more business. Also, I have lived here almost my whole life and I have heard some bad rumors that I was hoping could be cleared up. let me know if you have any insight to the truth of any of these. 1. I was told that in order for GE to have COD in it's boundaries (back when it was built), we had to give up all of our sales tax from shops on Roosevelt from Main to Wheaton over to Wheaton for XX years? 2. That the Walmart on Butterfield has some of it's taxes going to Lisle even though it is in GE? 3. The sale of the old Hawthorne school property went for $600,000 to a developer or builder? Thanks | ||
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GlenEllynite |
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| GlenEllynite |
1. has the anchor store idea been kicked around? it is not like downtown is opposed to chain stores (Firkin, Einstein Bagels, Cold Stone). I like some of the shops downtown, but I dont see the need to go to them that often. is the village opposed or are the stores opposed? 2. kind of goes back to the first item. we need something to pull more people downtown, then hopefully they will shop at the other stores. 3. again, back to anchor type stores. we could use the taxes, but I understand that stores won't stay and why should they. if the same shops were at Danada, Yorktown or Oak Brook they would probably thrive because shoppers go to stores like the Gap, Banana Republic, crate and Barrel, etc to get something and while they are there they hit other stores. 4. didnt realize this wasnt in GE 5. that street just south of Roosevelt should have the banks located on it (i know it's a little late for that now) that would have freed up more desired locations for stores and restaurants. 6. thanks 7. it seems too bad that we couldnt double or triple our parking by putting a garage in, this could help people move up the waiting list a lot faster. 8. true, but when I was younger i thought Arrowhead was a dump and right now it looks like a private country club and the Links looks like a 70's restaurant from the outside. with all the money put into the course, I think they fell short with a potential profit area (nice bar, restaurant, could have wedding parties, etc) 1. heard it about 5 years ago. 2. what town is Walmart in then? if you go to their website it says the "Glen Ellyn Location". I had heard that GE gave Lisle the Walmart so that we didnt have "that type of store in GE" (hopefully fabricated. well, if all indications show that it is ours then we should benefit from taxes. 3. that seems very low considering each house sold for over $450,000. Also, I would also like to know where the property tax goes for the "tear down" houses that were paying $5,000 in taxes and a new bigger house goes up and the same address is now paying $20,000 in taxes. there seems like in the last 10 years there was a lot of that so we should have a good amount of tax surplus. thanks | |||
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GlenEllynite |
They did sign up a new business there. I forgot its name, or what business it is, I think its a fancy grocer, but I could be wrong. It may not be Glen Ellyn, but I believe it is district 41. The homes just to the south of it are. | |||
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GlenEllynite |
Unincorporated GE. Unless it is within the Village boundaries, it's not "Real Glen Ellyn". | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
GE does not have a stance about anchor stores at this point. I have been speaking with the EDC and they are looking for people to send suggestions for stores to them. You email them through the EDC website. When I recommended anchor stores, the EDC was receptive, but also stated that they have heard from as many residents for anchor stores that are against them. I believe they will be working hard to really reach out to as many residents as possible to figure out just what is desired downtown. | |||
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GlenEllynite |
Hi, REGE: Question...just because people want an anchor store or any other kind of store...how does one get that store in their town? I think that's the problem the EDC has been having throughout the years, luring investors into the Jewel of the Western Suburbs. I mean....say the people of GE want a Gap. That doesn't mean The Gap...a struggling company as it is....is going to rush to opena store here. Especially since there is no realistic space for them to open one. BTW, when you recommended anchor stores to the EDC and they were "receptive" to the idea...do you mean to tell me that they had not already thought about this very basic idea? Were you seriously the first person to approach the EDC about an anchor store situation in the DBD? That seems odd. My guess is that Ted and Co. have been trying to get something like this going for quite some time. | |||
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| Admin Guy GlenEllynite  |
"Ted" -- me -- is no longer on the EDC. My two 4-year terms came to an end last December. The one thing I always found most frustrating is that so many residents think the Village owns the business district. It's private property. Landlords own the land. These land owners can rent to any business they wish. The EDC works to attract appropriate businesses to the area, but neither it -- nor the Village -- can force anyone to open any particular store anywhere. Although some other municipalities have elected to buy up a block or so of their downtown and then redevelop (and then resell) it, it will be a cold day in hell before G.E. takes any such interest in doing so. | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
I have sad this time and time again. Some might say repeatedly. But were you ever approached and were you receptive to the idea of an anchor store? | |||
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| Admin Guy GlenEllynite |
Good Lord... we've been trying to get an Anchor Store since forever. Closest we came was Country Curtains several years back. Unfortunately -- as I've noted before -- few of the downtown buildings have the square footage, ceiling height, loading area, etc. that modern name-brand retailers demand. The proposed G.E. Square development (across from Soukups) would have brought such benefits to downtown, but the Village Fathers shot it down. | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
Ted and others- I am actually starting a resident group for those who are concerned with our downtown area and would like to see improvements. We just had our first meeting tonight and have specific goals that we will try to accomplish. We have different ages, genders and may even have a few business owners in our group as well in the future. I would love to have you meet/talk with us or even just converse with me to answer questions about how things work at the EDC level. I already know that the EDC does not own nor can they force a landlord to rent to any particular owner. I have also done my homework on other boards and groups around town. However, the EDC is one area that I would love to talk to someone about who has previously been involved with it. I have spoken to two people currently involved in the EDC, but would still like an opinion/advice from someone who is no longer affiliated with the group(s). Let me know if you are interested in talking with us. | |||
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| Admin Guy GlenEllynite |
Not me, thanks. I've paid my dues. I'm a... Former Chairman; Glen Ellyn Technology Commission . Now disbanded by the Village. Former Board Member, Glen Ellyn Public Access Channel GETV/17 . Essentially killed by the Village. In years past you might remember presentations by those running for local offices. Gone. Former Board Member, Glen Ellyn Public Library . Old news.. my reasons for resigning have been covered here before. Former Board Member; Glen Ellyn Economic Development Corporation . We did a lot, but what we couldn't get Village support for was frustrating. Former Board Representative and Member; Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce . Don't get me started. Steering Committee; Illinois Century Network, Regional Technology Center III . Disbanded. Former alum of D41, D87 and user/supporter of the Park District. . Me? Not any more. I could go on... about the Civic Betterment Party, the League of Woman Voters (my Mom was a founding member) etc. I'm disappointed, frustrated and angry and have little respect for most of (the majority) of our recent elected and appointed officials. But I'm now retired, and don't want to play any more. It's time for a younger generation to screw things up. So far, they're doing a fine job. | |||
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GlenEllynite |
I hope you invited Clam to be on this committee. I think he has a good, critical eye but also has good ideas. Yes, Clam makes some really sarcastic comments here but truly it's meant to be funny. He'd make a great member of your committee. Ted HAS paid his dues. (Not to mention posting on the BB at 12:55 am and Gus replying at 4:45am! - I know I burn the midnight oil sometimes but you two need to get some rest!) And Ted is right, let the younger/newer residents step up and see what we can do to screw things up.  | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
I have always said that you were one of the brightest people I have ever met. | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
My ER Doc husband would agree.  | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
Are we about to lose one of our premier retailers because of an end around by somebody at the EDC?!! Stay tuned when I am at liberty to discuss it openly...and let's see if she can fix it!! | |||
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GlenEllynite |
You must have gotten some good gossip at Fuchia yesterday. "Everyone thinks their opinion matters. Don't argue with a nobody. A farmer doesn't bother telling a pig his breath smells like s***." | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
No... ...and is it gossip when the business owner calls you at home to alert you? | |||
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| GlenEllynite |
If you would have stopped by to visit with Yiga, Yoss, Mrs A. and I at Firks you would have met 3 gentlemen opening a new place in GE. I gave them the BB address and told them to check it out and pay no attention to a guy named Clam.  | |||
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GlenEllynite |
As Ted noted above, there are several solid reasons why no Anchor store would be attracted to move in our downtown. I think that parking is a major reason. If there was a Gap, where could 10-20 customers that might want to shop there at the same time park their cars? There's simply not enough parking spaces nearby to be sufficient with a store that might actually attract a lot of business. Come to think of it that may be one of the reasons that smaller businesses seem to fail here as many people might look for a parking spot, become discouraged and blow off shopping or go elsewhere. Pete Ladesic (trustee nominee) mentioned that he would like to put in a parking garage where Montclair dead ends into the tracks. He would house the commuters in the garage and free the current commuters parking spaces for potential shoppers. This would be a positive stop for the downtown whether we attract a Anchor Store or not. I checked briefly for typos, grammer errors and spelling mistakes Fish, please cut me some slack. | |||
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