The Luxury Big-Box

“Square Feet – Barneys Co-op is Leading High-End Stores to Brooklyn”. This NY Times article predicts the advent of more big-box or luxury-box stores in our borough. Personally I am ok with this particular new store (I am sure my wife would disagree), but what concerns me is the precedent this sets.

Marty Markowitz has been pushing for Apple to move to the borough. The real push we should be making is to foster the sense of place that already exists here; that exact sense of place that makes is attractive for big box stores to locate here.

Anyway, what about larger stores symbolizes progress?

My hometown is Cherry Hill, NJ. When I tell people this their first response is usually “oh, you mean near the mall?”. Of course I do have a nostalgia for my hometown, as anyone would. But what would make Brooklyn any different than Cherry Hill if we moved dozens more large chains onto our streets? I moved away from Cherry Hill so I could be immersed in education, culture, history, and life.

What makes Brooklyn different and unique is our dense fabric of small businesses that operate in 600-1000 sq ft spaces. Small businesses filter money back into our own local economy, whereas big box stores send their money back to Cupertino, Seattle or wherever their headquarters are located.

Required reading:
Cities Back from the Edge
Building the Green Economy

Required viewing:
Twilight Becomes Night

Related posts:

1. A Beautiful Reveal
2. Brooklyn History – Online Resources
3. Brooklyn Democratic Primary – City Council Debates