We've heard the rumors for MONTHS about how Kohl's was thinking about moving into the former space that housed Value City at the West Manchester Mall.
Friday, we finally saw the permits that Kohl's is seeking space at the mall.
I'm a fan of Kohl's, and go ahead, call me wimpy about driving, but I don't like to fight the traffic to get over to the east end of York to shop at Kohl's. The possibility of a store on the west end of town is welcome news to many.
But it begs another question? Will we have duplicates of so many stores that we no longer have to venture to "the other end of town?" And, is that really a good thing?
Meanwhile, we will keep you posted on the latest department store developments.
The attitudes of people in York about driving are absolutely ridiculous. "I don't like to fight traffic to get over to the east end of York." That's INSANE. York is not that big, and the traffic is not that bad! This is not the nineteenth century where we travel everywhere on horseback! And there is absolutely NO reason why York needs two Targets, Walmarts (three if you count Shrewsbury), Staples, Office Maxes, etc. Sooner or later, one of the corporations will realize that two or three locations just aren't viable.
Thanks for the feedback, Chris.
I think it's good to have variety and wouldn't have minded seeing a different nation chain come to York. But I'm just glad the space got filled with a decent store.
As for traveling across town, sure it isn't THAT bad, but it still isn't the most convenient task. Besides, what about people further west of West York or West Manchester, people towards Adams County, for those people saving 10-20 minutes on a drive probably is a big deal.
Thanks for your feedback, Joe.
The opinions on this are also swarming around the newsroom.
I was chatting with our Sunday editor on this topic and how some folks have strong opinions on the travel-to-the-east-or-west-side-of-town issue.
I think we might explore it in a story -- does development make us lazy in travel? Do we really need five Walmarts, two Targets in York County?
Feed us your opinions.
Agree--travelling to one end or the other is no big deal. If you want traffic try driving in northern Virginia! Hopefully, if Kohl's does end up at West Manchester Mall it will bring in a better class of shoppers and more of them. Frankly, I find that place a little creepy and rarely go there.
As for York needing two of everything I think Office Depot found out that's not always viable. It was no match for two Office Max stores plus other similar stores. York simply does not have the population or the high-tech salaries that bring shoppers into stores in large numbers. Which also accounts for the poor brand selections in department stores, requiring some shoppers to head for Towson, Washington or King of Prussia.
Thanks Jo,
I really appreciate the dialogue this post has brought.
To touch base on the big-box stores' issue, we could look at Linens-n-Things, Circuit City and Ben Franklin craft stores (to mention a few) of the stores that didn't make it in York County. Now, they might have had other factors play into their success....
I think if it weren't for the economy crashing, York could, and would sustain almost two of anything.
There are three Weis Markets within a few miles of each other right off of Rt 30, west of I-83. How could you say we don't need that many? Things are concentrated, geographically in the center of this county because that is where the greatest population density is. Putting Wal-Mart in Mt. Wolf won't do as well as West Manchester.
So sure you have stores duplicated within close proximity of each other but as I said before, even being 5 miles apart can make a big difference for someone already driving some sort of distance.
Joe--Supermarkets are a different breed. We all love the convenience of being able to buy groceries without having to travel for miles & miles. Anyway, die-hard Yorkers are sticks-in-the-mud when it comes to certain things. Here, you are either a Weis shopper or a Giant shopper, with little cross-over, so it helps to have one of each close by. When it comes to other types of goods I still say York's problem is a lack of a large population earning big salaries. Many of the stores that fail in York thrive elsewhere because the money exists in wages to support them. I was at the Galleria last week and was amazed by the number of vacant stores there.
I was sorry to see Circuit Cty fail because I've purchased several computers from them over the years and would have bought a laptop from them several months ago had they stiil been in business. As for Linens-n-Things--this one was no surprise. The store sold a lot of junk--so much that I stopped going there long ago. Ben Franklin was another surprise. Like Best Buy moving into an area for the first time, other national craft chains coming to York no doubt crushed BF.
I'm originally from York but currently reside in Philadelphia. And truth is...things like this work.
When I first came to the city I was baffled at how so many Starbucks stores in close proximity to each other could survive. Some are literally only one block away from each other. But each store thrives because people go to the location that is most convenient to them. Or if there is a long line at one store you go down the block to the other store.
Granted I'm sure two Starbucks stores a block away from each other wouldn't survive in downtown York (there isn't nearly enough foot traffic) I feel the same concept is at play when it comes to East York and West York. People go to whatever store is more convenient for them.
Overall I'm glad to hear Kohl's is coming to the West Manchester Mall! It's definitely an upgrade over Value City! I think they'll be a great addition and hopefully will draw higher quality retailers to the mall and prevent it from becoming the next Delco Plaza (before the strip mall conversion)! What a disaster that place was!