What Downtown really needs.

There's talk of making the Downtown area a more habitable place for residents and plans are going forward, but where's the freaking GROCERY STORE?!

You want people to live/work downtown but want them to drive away to buy their groceries?

Where's the logic in that?

From a concerned citizen of the "Vegas Community".

!!! I Love LV !!!

 

I agree, it would be nice to have a real grocery store there.

But, there are great alternatives. One of the first things I discovered was Von's grocery delivery services. They've got a great selection, good prices, and the service has been excellent. The best part is I don't have to schlep cases of wine, beer, ice and water to my condo. Everything is delivered with a smile and placed on the counter top in my kitchen. Officially, the delivery staff don't take tips. But, I tip them anyway. There have been a few times when they've graciously declined to accept it.

Just something for you to consider.

Bill

 

when i was over in sonya's neck of the woods last fall to see my daughter who is working in redmond, she had to stop by a trader joe's for something. as a retailer, i was fascinated. after getting back in the car i asked her if there was a whole foods around. of course, in redmond, there was. i had never seen one before, and as a retailer, a beef producer, and a consumer, i was in awe.

now, i know a lot of the bigger city people might scoff at this, but i really think that an upscale grocery like those two, though there would be security/homeless/gawking tourist issues, would probably sell enough to the tourists, with some inventory tweaking, that they could make a go of it. between the condo dwellers, the tourist trade, and the government workers buying a little on the way home it could work.

what say you, big city upscale grocer shoppers? is my perception of this, as a smalltown montanan, way off base?

 

It would be a dream come through to have a Whole Foods in Downtown LV.

I always stop by WF when in LV. There are actually four of em in the Las Vegas Valley.

Trader Joe's would do well too.

 

She should have taken you to Central Market or Iwajimaya. They are even better than WF or TJ's.

 

Actually many vacationers found the ABC store and walgreens to take care of their basic needs. A grocery store downtown wouldn't work IMHO. They wouldn't get the foot traffic needed to stay open (again IMHO) as it would only consist of vacationers and people going home from work in the area.

part of the problem is parking, there really isn't any "free" parking where grocery customers can just drive up and walk into the store. You would think that the neonopolis could house a grocery store but because they charged for parking not many locals visited the place.

If you go a few blocks I'm sure that you can find some store or outlet but not in the FSE area.

 

Screw a grocery store, Downtown needs an In N Out.

TFK

 

When Zappos gets there, I am sure there will be one. They are expected to get more people both living and working downtown.

 

I think downtown needs more interesting high quality restaurants. Le Thai is a great start, but I want more.

 

Not sure about the grocery store but imho what downtown really needs is this: for those who can affect change, please do not let Downtown lose it's unique "identity".

By "identity" I mean it's laid back, low key, low-limit gambling and atmosphere. Downtown doesn't need to mimic the strip and I think it would be a disaster if it tried to do so. Downtown will never be able to compete with the over the top restraurants, entertainment venues, nightclubs, and resort facilities that the Strip is famous for.

Sure, many places Downtown could use some sprucing up; new carpets, room improvements and casino upgrades, and efforts by the owners of Plaza, Golden Gate and the D are to be commended.

I think Vegas will thrive if we keep these identities unique to each location intact. I for one love to visit Vegas for this reason alone. I prefer to stay Downtown because I am like Downtown; I am low-key, low maintenance, and love to gamble for fun, hence a low roller. I also enjoy Downtown's simple, rustic eateries because I like eating simple comfort food.

But I look forward to visiting the Strip just to walk in awe of all the glamour and glitter all around. I love to see great entertainment options second to none and dine in restraurants that are the finest ever.

I love Downtown but I don't want it to change.

 

There is a grocery store about a half a mile up the road on LVB from Fremont St. It's NOT a walk I would recomend for the weak hearted. But the store is there.

 

Thanks Sonya, I'm glad that there are some people who feel the same way about Downtown.

I think I strayed a little when I posted earlier. I got carried away about the "What Downtown really needs" part not realizing that the OP was referring to a grocery store.

Right now I believe there is a Walgreens at the end of the canopy and an ABC store next to GN and Golden Gate. They sell the usual items from basic sundry to snacks, drinks, candy, etc.

I don't think a full blown grocery store is needed right now. If Downtown ever becomes a place where people live and work then a demographic study would indicate a need for such store. Or a courageous entrepenour could open a "niche" market to cater to the workers who would shop there on their way home from work.

 

This is exactly where downtown is headed. The Zappos move is what has spurred some of the new businesses opening downtown. They want to be in place and ready to go when it opens. Zappos is bringing 2000 employees to work downtown. They are setting housing for some and there's no telling how many will actually want to live there overall. In addition, it appears that they want to create a business incubator to grow downtown. Sorry to say it, but downtown is about really undergo some gentrification. I don't know how much it will impact the FSE but I for one would think more about staying and playing downtown if there was more to appeal to me there than just drinking and gambling.

 

I believe that before the zappos project was announced that the price of real estate in downtown las vegas was pretty cheap. Now it's either non existent or what is there is pretty expensive. I believe that the zappos crew has snatched up most of that real estate.

Is downtown going to be completely gentrified? My guess is no. There will be certain spots for sure, but FSE is pretty well protected by their board of directors.

1 thing is for certain. The area around FSE SHOULD change. It's a very poor area, and alot of folks are scared to venture out past the canopy (hell some are afraid to even be under the canopy) so some improvements are much needed.

Wether or not it's a grocery store that DT needs is negotiable, but it would certainly help!

 

I can vouch that there is a tiny store across from the El Co. Got some drinks there a few times....interesting people come into that place! Good people watching for sure.

 

Actually I'm a little skeptical until I see some solid plans on what they will be changing and the actual changes themselves (maybe in 10 years?). The (existing hotel) lot they purchased is a few blocks away from the FSE. That is great because that area east of fremont street east is a totally depressed area and in serious need of a makeover. as for the "business incubator to grow downtown", I seriously doubt that will actually happen, IMHO it might start out that way and there is a lot of property east of the FSE available for development but we have never seen the downtown area really changed from it's original roots.

As for the 2000 employees added to downtown, with a new hotel or something there will be people added to the work force but highly unlikely that most will actually live in the area (unless like want to stay in dumpy motels and rat trap homes IMHO). Maybe they should also purchase the old western hotel and raze and create another hotel casino like the el cortez.

Over the years we have seen some "changes" to downtown, most notably neonopolis and more recently a new "luxury" condo next to the el cortez. There was a lot of hype when those places were built that it would change the face of downtown, etc. etc. Yet even with those additions we still haven't seen a lot of changes to downtown that were mentioned with the previous "gentrification" plans for downtown.

The FSE has basically stayed the same (can't do much in the general FSE area except raze some hotels and rebuild them IMHO. They created the Fremont street east that spruced up the 2 blocks east of the neonopolis and that added some clubs and stores but it really hasn't changed the makeup of downtown as much as people though it would.

Leo, I hope that you are patient as this change (if any) might take years before you see a lot of significant changes IMHO. New businesses getting in on the ground floor now might be closed before they can reap the benefits of these changes. Did you know that there was a 7/11 store (now closed) on the next block from the neonopolis? As I mentioned, maybe a flagship hotel casino on that east side might be a good start for the area and might promote more development but we have seen more closings (lady luck, western) than we have seen new openings. With luck the old lady luck can open in a year or two (or three) to help downtown out but I am skeptical about downtown really changing from it's original roots.

As someone else mentioned, adding an in n out burger and even a grocery store might help in the gentrification process, that downtown is ready for people other than vacationers but we will have to wait and see.

Sorry for being so skeptical and pessimistic but many of us have been jaded by the many failures to change downtown. As others have mentioned, we still hope that downtown can stay the same with good gambling and decent hotel rates if we do experience some changes to the area.

 

I am not at all pessemistic about changes downtown. Zappos WILL move into the old city hall building. They WILL bring 2000 new jobs, and those people WILL have to live somewhere. Even if they dont live downtown, they will eat lunch there, and likely go out after work there.

The 7-11 closed, but another, larger, brand new 7-11, with gas opened less than a block away.....

As for housing prices, I was looking at purchasing a condo in the old Streamline Tower/now Ogden building right before Zappos was announced. There were several units for sale for right around $100,000. I would have done it, but the homeowners dues were out of my budget. The minute Zappo's announced, those units were snapped up, and I doubt if you will see them priced below $300,000 again. They originally sold for over $400,000.

The only think I dont like about the changes downtown are the prices. Damn Mermaids is charging $5 a drink now. Up from $3 a couple of years ago. Wouldnt be so bad, but they are short pouring as well. I have noticed this trend all over the Fremont street area.

 

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