Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

There is nothing wrong or illegal with shopping in other states or countries.    Almost everyone has traveled outof state or out of the country -- -and did some shopping while there.

Oh -- wait -- you folks are hiding in the bunkers that you dug in your back yards ... awaiting the coming of the 4th Reich .. so you would know nothing about traveling and other civilized behavior.

You said "Unfortunately, one has to travel out of state to find decent department stores anymore."
Called your bluff; you searched the internet for stores you could claim; oops....some are in NY and oops, one ain't even in this country!!!!!!
I really could care less where YOU personally shop...but I can pretty much guess......the whole point is that you insist that you are interested in moving the economy of this county and town forward, then blatantly state people should go elsewhere to do decent shopping....don't you find anything remotely wrong with that!!!!!!  

As for your travel remark, tell you what....let's meet at the new gin mill and I'll bring my passport and list of travels over my years and we can compare....let's put a wager on who is more worldly a traveler....you win, I buy the meal.....I win, you pay for buffet at Mallozzi's for me GB, MT MC, MaryMag, Rachel and Bumble (but don't join us)!  DEAL?

Quoted from joebxr

You said "Unfortunately, one has to travel out of state to find decent department stores anymore."
Called your bluff; you searched the internet for stores you could claim; oops....some are in NY and oops, one ain't even in this country!!!!!!
I really could care less where YOU personally shop...but I can pretty much guess......the whole point is that you insist that you are interested in moving the economy of this county and town forward, then blatantly state people should go elsewhere to do decent shopping....don't you find anything remotely wrong with that!!!!!!  

As for your travel remark, tell you what....let's meet at the new gin mill and I'll bring my passport and list of travels over my years and we can compare....let's put a wager on who is more worldly a traveler....you win, I buy the meal.....I win, you pay for buffet at Mallozzi's for me GB, MT MC, MaryMag, Rachel and Bumble (but don't join us)!  DEAL?

The county doesn't have a decent department store to shop in.   It does have a lot of small businesses that are great to do business at.    In fact,  one doesn't have to shop in a department store to .. one can find a lot of what they need  clothes, household goods, etc at the non-department store small businesses in the the county ---  but you do have to travel out of state to get a decent department store.

Even the Neiman-Marcus in White Plains is not as as good as the one in downtown Dallas.    And the department stores and shops in London are of a level of quality and service not found in 98% of the department stores in this country.

Oh -- and I wouldn't buy any of you dinner or even a snack ... even at McDonald's.  

There is a great Nordstom's in Westchester. You don't have to leave the State. DVR is making my point. Once corporate leaders look at the disposable income that this County doesn't have they refuse to open up here. Higher income people will travel to Westchester County or Fifth Avenue. Instead of addressing this problem the DEMS pretend it doesn't exist and pretend retail doesn't exist.

     Death Ray has totally failed to bring in any major retail anywhere in the County. The idea that he will bring upscale retail to Downtown, St James Square or anywhere else is laughable. Metrograft/Death Ray/County DEMS have totally failed to bring in any new retail or expand the tax base. That's why they are promoting "arts" and housing no one wants.

Quoted from benny salami

There is a great Nordstom's in Westchester. You don't have to leave the State. DVR is making my point. Once corporate leaders look at the disposable income that this County doesn't have they refuse to open up here. Higher income people will travel to Westchester County or Fifth Avenue. Instead of addressing this problem the DEMS pretend it doesn't exist and pretend retail doesn't exist.

     Death Ray has totally failed to bring in any major retail anywhere in the County. The idea that he will bring upscale retail to Downtown, St James Square or anywhere else is laughable. Metrograft/Death Ray/County DEMS have totally failed to bring in any new retail or expand the tax base. That's why they are promoting "arts" and housing no one wants.

not when they would have to offer 24hour security...in which case if that happened the burnedout neighborhoods would be neglected
more than they are now.....there is an insidious problem that exists in Schenectady(probably other places too) but the state
has a system set up to keep straw from the brickmakers.....

Higher income people will travel to Westchester County or Fifth Avenue regardless.  You make good points and maybe they would spend more locally if locally offered more that they preferred....but is that level of disposable income the norm or the exception.  The exception will always exist, but as has been stated very well by many of you, the norm is what Corporate looks at and targets businesses that will cater to that norm.  So catch 22...need better high paying jobs to raise norm to attract more higher end businesses etc, etc, etc.

Quoted from joebxr

Higher income people will travel to Westchester County or Fifth Avenue regardless.  You make good points and maybe they would spend more locally if locally offered more that they preferred....but is that level of disposable income the norm or the exception.  The exception will always exist, but as has been stated very well by many of you, the norm is what Corporate looks at and targets businesses that will cater to that norm.  So catch 22...need better high paying jobs to raise norm to attract more higher end businesses etc, etc, etc.

yes.....couldn't agree more.....the norm in Schenectady is lined up at the bottom of Broadway Hill

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The county doesn't have a decent department store to shop in.   It does have a lot of small businesses that are great to do business at.    In fact,  one doesn't have to shop in a department store to .. one can find a lot of what they need  clothes, household goods, etc at the non-department store small businesses in the the county ---  but you do have to travel out of state to get a decent department store.

Even the Neiman-Marcus in White Plains is not as as good as the one in downtown Dallas.    And the department stores and shops in London are of a level of quality and service not found in 98% of the department stores in this country.

Oh -- and I wouldn't buy any of you dinner or even a snack ... even at McDonald's.  

It has had plenty of places that you used to be able to go to buy things, but the problem is that over the years, the taxes have scared them all away.  

Quoted from Kevin March

It has had plenty of places that you used to be able to go to buy things, but the problem is that over the years, the taxes have scared them all away.  

Yeah -- and it was a GOP controlled County Leg that introduced the County Sales Tax and killed Mohawk Mall, Downtown Schenectady and pretty much stunted the potential growth of Rotterdam Square Mall.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Yeah -- and it was a GOP controlled County Leg that introduced the County Sales Tax and killed Mohawk Mall, Downtown Schenectady and pretty much stunted the potential growth of Rotterdam Square Mall.

I did not state a party, did I?  And at the time that Mohawk Mall was "killed," would you please tell me which party was in charge of Niskayuna?  I know that it's the Democrats now, but was it back then also when that mall suffered for so many years?  I'll be honest, I don't know the answer to this, I only work on moving things forward and don't know what the issue was then.

Quoted from Kevin March

I did not state a party, did I?  And at the time that Mohawk Mall was "killed," would you please tell me which party was in charge of Niskayuna?  I know that it's the Democrats now, but was it back then also when that mall suffered for so many years?  I'll be honest, I don't know the answer to this, I only work on moving things forward and don't know what the issue was then.

Schenectady County used to be one of the few in the area with no county sales tax --- that made it attractive for folks from neighboring counties to shop in our county to save the 3% or 4% on their purchases.   The moment the county sales tax was imposed -- our stores lost that advantage and thinks slid down hill from there.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Schenectady County used to be one of the few in the area with no county sales tax --- that made it attractive for folks from neighboring counties to shop in our county to save the 3% or 4% on their purchases.   The moment the county sales tax was imposed -- our stores lost that advantage and thinks slid down hill from there.

And the current people running the county, city and towns around here have done nothing to change this... why?  If these people truly cared, then they would not continue this horrible taxation.  In fact, they haven't even done anything to reduce it.  I realize that they think they can't live without collecting this tax, as there are so many "state and federal mandates" that have to be paid through tax collection, but they must figure out at some time that they need to reduce the taxation rate in order to increase the amount of taxes that are going to come in.  

We are on the wrong end of the Laffer Curve.  We need to reduce the taxation rate to increase the amount of taxes that can be brought in.  Increase the taxable property (something the Metroplex has done nothing to help), along with reducing the taxation rate on properties, as well as on individual products, and you will see people breaking down the doors to bring their investments to Schenectady County for the APPROPRIATE reasons, not for handouts.  

Even if they brought the county tax rate down to 2% instead of 4%, or took the sales tax off of gas, so people may come and buy that, and stay to buy additional items, it would significantly increase the income and reduce the tax burden on those living and working in this area.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Yeah -- and it was a GOP controlled County Leg that introduced the County Sales Tax and killed Mohawk Mall, Downtown Schenectady and pretty much stunted the potential growth of Rotterdam Square Mall.

Mohawk mall demise began when Colonie Center was built, along with anchor stores that didn't keep up with the times...it was just a slow death
Downtown demise began with the creation of malls and the attractiveness of indoor shopping and variety of shopping options in one location
Rotterdam Square potential???  Location sucked, first, becuase it was not easy to find for anyone who was not a resident; many were oppossed to the mall because of the aquafier and may have chosen to not support it; it was a Johnny-come-lately development when more booming established successful malls were alredy in-place....the writing was on the wall from the inception
TRUE - increae of sales tax made shopping less attractive in Sch'dy Cty....when we were at 4%, surrounding was at 6-7%, so people would come here.  When tax rose, there was no reason to travel to Sch'dy when there were local choices.

Quoted from joebxr

Mohawk mall demise began when Colonie Center was built, along with anchor stores that didn't keep up with the times...it was just a slow death
Downtown demise began with the creation of malls and the attractiveness of indoor shopping and variety of shopping options in one location
Rotterdam Square potential???  Location sucked, first, becuase it was not easy to find for anyone who was not a resident; many were oppossed to the mall because of the aquafier and may have chosen to not support it; it was a Johnny-come-lately development when more booming established successful malls were alredy in-place....the writing was on the wall from the inception
TRUE - increae of sales tax made shopping less attractive in Sch'dy Cty....when we were at 4%, surrounding was at 6-7%, so people would come here.  When tax rose, there was no reason to travel to Sch'dy when there were local choices.

OK -- you need to get your facts straight --- the first "shopping malls" in the area were Latham Corners Shopping Center  (1957) and  Stuyvesant Plaza (1959)  ----
   Colonie Center was opened in 1966   and Mohawk Mall came in 1970    -- I can personally say that I was present at both grand openings because my grandparents took us to both of them.  The thing that I remember about the Colonie Center opening ...  was that except for the mall ... Wolf Road was lined with farms and open land.      I don't remember whether the Shop Rite and Platt's Deli were already there or came shortly after that.  

Rotterdam Square Mall is what a few  thousand feet from I-890  ------ so it is actually very easy to find.

Wel, I apologize on the timeline (assuming and giving you credit that your dates are correct)...but the point is...Mohawk Mall could not compete with Colonie Center....I did not say a thing about Latham and Stuyvesant.  As for being off I-890....easy tio find for people that are from the area, that makes sense.  Talk to people from Albany, Troy, Bennington, Utica, Syracuse........ask them about Rotterdam Square and I know "FOR A FACT" that the ones I've spoken too said they had a hard time finding it (if they did) and others said they went to Colonie Center instead because it was easy to get to....AND....there was a lot more shopping they could do in that area.  What else is around RSM....REX (gone now), BJ's, Dunki Donuts (sure you know that already), and so on.  How is that attracting people to shop there.

Here's is a good write up/history/photo gallery of Mohawk Mall I found interesting:
http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=24630

Quoted from joebxr

Here's is a good write up/history/photo gallery of Mohawk Mall I found interesting:
http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=24630

That's a nice writeup, but a little inaccurate. Bradlees was not the first anchor store, it was JM Fields.
JM Fields moved into Mohawk Mall from its former location on Eastern Parkway, which now holds the Price Chopper SuperCenter.
JM Fields did not last long in the mall, maybe only 3 years or so, and then Bradlees replaced it.