Jackson Heights Life

This is literally the most depressing thing I've heard. Please God...if there are any willing and able entrepreneurs out there HERE IS A LIST OF WHAT WE NEES (purely based on comments I see on JHL):
- Anything fitness: yoga, spin studio, pilates, anything!
- Book store (a NICE one like Astoria bookshop)
- Wine bar or nice place to have a drink that doesn't have a tv screen

Please no more weird medical offices, pharmacies, junky stores or bakeries!!!!!

Quote from: KGDHP on May 22, 2019, 09:44:03 PM

This is literally the most depressing thing I've heard. Please God...if there are any willing and able entrepreneurs out there HERE IS A LIST OF WHAT WE NEES (purely based on comments I see on JHL):
- Anything fitness: yoga, spin studio, pilates, anything!
- Book store (a NICE one like Astoria bookshop)
- Wine bar or nice place to have a drink that doesn't have a tv screen

Please no more weird medical offices, pharmacies, junky stores or bakeries!!!!!

There's SECOND FLOOR PILATES above the stationery/school supply/art supply shop on 37th between 82nd and 81st, there's BOCAITO and ADDICTIVE WINE & TAPAS and THE QUUEENSBORO for a drink ( I haven't been to BOCAITO since ADDICTIVE opened , so I'm 100% sure about no TV screen.
But yeah, book store would be nice...

Literally have been a constant frequenter and huge fan of all the places you've mentioned, thanks for the reminder. But it doesn't mean that there can't be more or different options.  I'm just so tired of the same type of businesses on 37th avenue, we might as well rename it Pharmacy Row at this point.

Yet again I will repeat. Times are changing due to online shopping. The whole of New York is facing this shift. Real world retail is dying. Slowly but surely. Online retail is thriving. (Where no store overheads like high commercial rent are necessary)

Simply a fact of contemporary life.

Very surprised some people don't know we have a nice Yoga-Pilates studio already on 37th ave??

How will a quaint bookstore afford to pay these very pricey rents in JH, and make a profit?  Not realistic; as others have commented.

Walk around midtown Manhattan to get a dose of retail wasteland, it is astounding...or google it to see the many articles on that topic. Because of my line of work, I am often reading about what is happening to brick & mortar retail globally, because of online shopping.

Entrepreneurs need to make a living, perhaps be more thoughtful about the businesses you think would thrive in JH. And MOST important, remember who we are, a family neighborhood, and the vast majority of residents here do not have high incomes. Average family in JH makes less than $60k

don't have a clue about weight loss clinics, but the nail/hair salons all do brisk business and most have a devoted clientele, and there's often a wait for service. a simple manicure is about $10, and a fancy gel one a bit more, but worth it to some. these aren't places that survive on pricey facials, they offer an inexpensive way for people -- when i'm in for a mani, about one in five customers are male --  to pamper themselves.

 I wonder if the online shopping will start to lag soon. Many younger people are concerned now with the
the effect of all this trucking, packaging and excess energy use that online purchases involve. Boxes, boxes everywhere! Environmentalists from long ago have been promoting buying local for some time
now (70's) and the biggest reason I think that still out there- shopping can be fun for many people.
 
 I believe that customer service needs to be revived and that the experience of shopping in a place where people know their merchandise and can actually assist you would be something people would pay for and enjoy. If you paid your employees a good wage and gave them some ownership over the outcome that was not exactly commission, but a different evaluation of some sort, I think we could see some fine retailers survive and thrive.

  Just look at our local Green Market which I think is a huge success!

Quote from: abcdefghijk on May 24, 2019, 08:29:35 AM

[quote author=ljr link=topic=19035.msg93682#msg93682 date=1558664288
Business is a numbers game. Yes, there is a huge difference in our neighborhood's demographics compared with Astoria and Kew Gdns. We are an immigrant neighborhood. Over 80% of our neighborhood is non English speaking as their first language. So that means an English bookstore would have a very limited customer base here.

Judging by the huge crowd I saw this weekend at the Towers Book Fair, I would say that there is a relatively large market and hunger for a bookstore. And who the heck said that the books have to all be in English? I think it would be amazing to carry books in all languages, including Spanish and Bengali, to be representative of the demographics of the neighborhood. Heck, I would love to even see events for emerging authors of different backgrounds—making this bookstore like a community-gathering space. I would, however, love it to be chic in design and have a cool vibe so it's a place that people actually want to gather. And just because something looks chic doesn't mean that it doesn't fit in the character of the neighborhood. I have a vision people!! Now I just need the capital. But seriously, if there are any entrepreneurs out there...steal this idea!! Let's make it happen!

 Libreria Barco De Papel already does all this.  See the YELP link and photos.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/libreria-barco-de-papel-elmhurst

I'd say speak to them and combine your vision with theirs to introduce English books to their premises. The store is already established.