Food For Thought Books 106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst
Yet another floundering downtown business has sent up an emergency flare hoping consumers will throw them a lifeline. And soon.
This time it's iconic Food For Thought Books, one of only two worker owned collectives in the downtown, and a mainstay for academic types -- or just plain book lovers -- since 1976, when Gerald Ford was keeping the White House safe for Republicans.
Funky exterior side wall
By now the story is all too familiar: changing habits brought on by the Internet leave many a business high and dry. Video rental stores, record shops, travel agencies, etc.
In the case of local independent book stores it's a double whammy as they still have to deal with big box stores like the nearby Barnes & Noble, with plenty of free parking.
The adjacent business, Souper Bowl, just went out of business but may soon become home to "All Things Local" a coop local food and crafts market.
The building is owned by downtown business mogul Barry Roberts, so no doubt the book business has been afforded every opportunity to remake itself into a sustainable operation.
16 comments:
Would be a good place for a pizza shop or a coffee house.
Did you ever eat at the Souper Bowl? Thought not. Nobody else did either. The Internet didn't kill them. Bad food did.
Yes, it was definitely the food that killed Souper Bowl. It's not like Amherst is a hard place to have a casual restaurant...
And Food for Thought's location would be terrible for a pizza place OR a coffee house! It's less than a block from Rao's, Henion, and the Loose Goose, and less than a block from Antonio's. We really don't need any more of that in Amherst. What we do need are independent, free-thinking bookstores, but... :(
The Souper Bowl had pretty decent food (I thought). I asked them numerous times to post their soups on their Facebook page so that customers could come in for lunch specials if they saw something they liked (Atkins does this on a regular basis in the winter, and often sells out of certain types of soups). They must have decided not to, and I'm not about to drive up town, look for parking and go into a restaurant for lunch if they don't have something that I want for take-out. In this day and age, a business owner must be prepared to put themselves out on the internet and self promote.
If a business can not make it with a landlord who cares about downtown as much as Barry Roberts, then indeed most retail shops are in danger of following suit. If only we had a real parking garage. Not just a parking lot with a basement that has so many spots reserved. Oh to dream about progress that will never be allowed in open minded Amherst.
While the subsidized socialist residents of Amherst bask in the sun, the reality for the rest of the country that lives in reality is pretty bad. More folks are out of work than ever. Many stopped looking it's so hard. 47% of adults currently don't have a full time job.
Spending on lunch and all the other treats has diminished considerably near and far. Amherst is not alone. Surrounding towns are suffering the same fate. Many Northampton stores are seeing serious decreases in business and a few are using money they don't have to stay afloat. Florence diner recent changed hours to a 3pm closing. You'll be seeing another closing shortly in Amherst that will surprise everyone.
Times are tough and folks have changed their ways with expendable money. Amherst isn't much of a destination as it offers little and folks don't want to drive to Amherst to have a $6 lunch and nothing else to do. There is that trolley... ha.
The real problem is that side of the street and that particular area from the church to the firehouse has little to no foot traffic. It's a poorly designed part of town and not conducive to business. Most of whatever goes in those stores will fail just because of the the way that side of the street makes itself so uninviting.
As for the parking garage? Ha! Only in this town can they build a parking facility that makes parking even harder and less inviting.
And I'm sure the guy selling and burning incense and hard selling everyone that walks by, even if you walk by daily, does not help with the foot traffic.
Does any of the street sellers help the town? They set up long tables on the narrowest part of town making the heavier travelled side of town tougher to navigate. And if someone stops to look, then you have to squeeze by them too.
Unfortunately the building in this discussion is old and outdated. It has little to no character and is surrounded by a busy CVS driveway, a church lot and litle more. It's a isolated island. Retail, bars, and restaurants always do better in clusters. Unfortunately this stretch of town is cut off from the rest of the world and little can be done as is to change that. It really that whole side of the street needs a complete teardown and redo.
Just in case anyone isn't able to discern what Walter's daily perception and attitude toward the world around him is:
...pretty bad...don't have...diminished considerably...suffering...serious decreases...don't have...isn't much of...offers little...don't want to...nothing else...ha...real problem...little to no...poorly designed...not conducive...will fail...so uninviting...Ha! ...harder and less inviting...narrowest part...tougher to navigate...Unfortunately...old and outdated...little to no character...little more...isolated island....Unfortunately...cut off...little can be done...needs a complete teardown...
"While the subsidized socialist residents of Amherst'
Well, if they are so darned subsidized then they should have plenty of money for lunch now shouldn't they? Make up your mind. At least make your mindless blather consistent.
Sad really. And Unfortunate.
What's really unfortunate is that the news of a decent business possibly closing becomes embroiled in just another controversy. Amherst residents need to get a life.
People still read books?
Hate to tell you folks but the Soviet Union collapsed -- more than 20 years ago -- and it ain't the '70's anymore, either.
There's really no market for the leftist stuff Food For Thought sells -- and hence, they aren't selling much of it....
That strip once contained, if I remember correctly, Louis Foods, the Flavortown Diner, Tripod Camera, Ann August, and Augie's. And a line of pay phones at the far end.
Damn do I feel like a dinosaur...
Not unlike some other examples in Amherst, Food For Thought Books has been seeking preferential treatment by pandering to the PC crowd. Bottom line: they're a business. Like all businesses, they should succeed and fail on their own merits.
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