You can get some things at CVS, pens, notebooks, folders, etc.  It's not an office supply store but most people order what they need in advance.

I think it's interesting, too.

 

Staples has smaller versions of their large suburban stores located in urban centers called Staples Express. I would have to think that a couple of those in downtown Cleveland would have to do well, no?

^I would think so, except there's a large "suburban" store at Steelyard Commons not far from downtown.

But what about smaller businesses? What if you need something ASAP?

1. If everyone would live up to the Boy Scouts motto of "Always Be Prepared", ASAP would rarely mean ASAP.

2. Most places like Staples/OfficeDepotMax have some sort of corporate/small business service.

3. If you need something ASAP, sign up with CityWheels and zip yer @ss down to Steelyard Commons!

I think MayDay thinks everyone is being whiney little babies about their paper and pens!

Don't get me wrong, I think the idea of an office supply store (something like the express store jpop mentioned) is a good idea. But - can those "OMG, I need a Bic!" purchases pay the rent for prime real estate in the CBD? That'd have to be a LOT of Bic moments.

I too would like to see an office supply store downtown. 

 

It's not just so I can buy a bic either  :roll:

 

Yes, most businesses order supplies through office supply companies abut no matter how well you plan ahead, sometimes things come up where it'd be nice to walk a couple blocks and buy what you need. Instead of making phone calls to order something or pull someone away from work to drive to a store.

 

Seriously, drive to Steelyard to pic up a cheap board of foam core?  That's like saying drive to Beachwood or Westlake to buy some jeans.

 

Do 1 million or whatever "OMG I need a bic" moments keep office max/staples expresses open in other downtowns (ie Chicago)? 

 

With the push for residents and more students downtown, it'd be nice to have one or two office supply stores and even a Utrecht, Pearl, or Blick because frankly, the current CSU bookstores aren't cutting it unless you need the true basics.  Once I needed foam core boards but Kinkos ($30-40/board) and Brothers ($10-12+) charged way too much for something that should have cost a few bucks.  Convenience surcharge?  No!  it's called monoply and taking advantage of people who don't have any other choice. 

 

Oh, and this isn't glamorous by any means but why isn't there a Walgreen's/CVS in downtown's largest neighborhood (WHD)???  Downtown isn't big and if it's before 8pm, sure you can walk to the Euclid CVS but everyone can't predict when they'll need to go to CVS. 

 

This is something so basic, yet would draw about 3 pages of comments on this forum if we learned a 24 hr Walgreens was coming to W9th...

"Do 1 million or whatever "OMG I need a bic" moments keep office max/staples expresses open in other downtowns (ie Chicago)?"

 

Maybe not, but they have the volume and customer base (downtown residents + workers) to justify that. Does Cleveland?

 

Good point about the drugstore in the WHD.

But what about smaller businesses? What if you need something ASAP?

 

Smaller business probably have accounts as well.  In today's market place almost all products like this are ordered over the internet and delivered within 24 hours.

 

Now, for a last minute problem, hit SYC.

Drive to SYC in an emergency?  Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up something that isn't marked up 500%?  Is this the same UO I've come to love over the past few years??? 

 

Ok this isn't the Loop but I would like to think we could support one Officemax Express   if we think we can support all of the other retail we want or think is coming to WHD, TC, etc.

 

Whatever, I'm done with this thread.

Drive to SYC in an emergency?  Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up something that isn't marked up 500%?  Is this the same UO I've come to love over the past few years??? 

 

Ok this isn't the Loop but I would like to think we could support one Officemax Express   if we think we can support all of the other retail we want or think is coming to WHD, TC, etc.

 

Whatever, I'm done with this thread.

 

Do you think the price at office max SYC vs. a proposed office max in downtown would be any different, minus time and transportation?

Any mark-up at a downtown Omax/Staples location would be offset by the time and gas savings from driving to SYC or any shopping center for that matter.  I'm referring to an enormous mark-up at Kinko's or a limited selection at CVS.

 

If we won't settle for the internet or driving to SYC as the source of our other purchases, why is this one ok?  Sure OfficeMax isn't as glamorous as Barney's, nor will it draw customers into the city on weekends but it is another piece to the puzzle in making downtown a self sustaining place. 

Well if you did notice, I said, "minus" driving and time. :|

 

I never said, that a store shouldn't be located in Downtown.  I think a store in the Galleria would be perfect or Tower City.  They are malls, are they not? :wink:

 

I agree, having this store, is another cog in the wheel reinventing downtown.  There are a lot of artist, entrepreneurs, students and home office workers in the area that could benefit from a store downtown.

^I thought you were "done with this thread" ;-)

 

So we're on the same page, you DO understand that I (me, the downtown worker and car-free/lite resident of the city) would love to see an office supply store downtown, right? The me who wants to see good things for the city would love to see something like that come to fruition.

 

At the same time, I'm just saying that it's entirely conceivable that the site selection folks at Office/Staple/DepotMax look at existing conditions (aka a smaller CBD and worker population than the Loop, a full-size Staples at relatively-close SYC, a relatively car-dependent infrastructure, the fact that most businesses order supplies on account and have them delivered), and from ALL that - decide that perhaps downtown Cleveland isn't quite ready to sustain that kind of investment.

Don't forget about the 10,000+ students at CSU, and other educational institutions in the greater downtown area that just might need various things an office supply store might carry.

CSU has a bookstore for supplies. But I agree, the express version would be a good idea. For an 8 page thread we haven't come up with much except chocolate.

 

I spent a lot of time (LOTS!) looking into City Wheels and for various reasons, their current fleet of cars is too far from my home base to make it useful, especially at night. I'm hoping more people will join so they can have a fleet of cars located Downtown.  I know they want to do that.  That would be a great addition to Downtown, imho.

When we went down to one car we thought we would be customers. But between scooters and RTA, inconvenience is rare and into our third year car light, we have not had to rent wheels. I still have to have transportation for my job...but I am wondering if people use city wheels for business. I would just need to know with 100% certainly that a car would be available when needed-often last minute. My guess is the city wheels are best for things you can schedule in advance as opposed to a car on demand 24-7.

Downtown seems to be the best place for City Wheels anyway. All (or nearly all) transit routes lead downtown.

 

I have two rental car places within a 15-minute walk of where I live. I need to use a car so seldomly that renting a car two days a month at $43 per day is cheaper than using City Wheels anyway.

more facilities for enjoying winter sports?  how about an ice rink - perhaps on mall b?  or a seasonal outdoor rink on the frozen oxbow of the cuyahoga or inside the breakwall on the lake? 

where do we pile all that snow from the city streets in winter?  why not use some of it to create a temporary snowboard park in the flats?  maybe a course for XC skiing at wendy park?  a small disc golf course would also make sense for wendy park.

 

on the topic of indoor recreation, how about a roller skating rink that could be rented out to street hockey teams during the year?  how about an indoor/outdoor miniature golf course.  some city in NEO has an indoor glow-in the dark mini golf course w/ brewskies.  why not downtown? how about a rock climbing gym? a lot of these ideas were generated at the Shrinking Cities exhibit last year, which had all kinds of great examples of old building re-use, meaning they are being done somewhere...

 

here in Ohio (Dayton) is Urban Krag - a rock climbing in an old church

theguv, Cleveland used to have a skating rink on Public Square....NW Block if I recall. I do miss it. Maybe the last year was 2001?

yes, i remember it!  if we get another, i would like it to be a bit larger....

 

UCI is trying to locate a sponsor for a winter rink in wade oval.  i think the mall could be a nice location, esp with a few vendors selling hot choco and the like...

Here is one for you, Why doesn't downtown Cleveland have a Malley's?  It is a Cleveland company and I for one think they have pretty good ice cream / chocolate.

Snowboarding in the Flats is perhaps the best, outside the box idea I've heard in some time!!!!

 

And, I was at Wendy Park on Saturday thinking the exact same thing...disc golf would work nicely there.

 

more facilities for enjoying winter sports? how about an ice rink - perhaps on mall b? or a seasonal outdoor rink on the frozen oxbow of the cuyahoga or inside the breakwall on the lake?

where do we pile all that snow from the city streets in winter? why not use some of it to create a temporary snowboard park in the flats? maybe a course for XC skiing at wendy park? a small disc golf course would also make sense for wendy park.

 

on the topic of indoor recreation, how about a roller skating rink that could be rented out to street hockey teams during the year? how about an indoor/outdoor miniature golf course. some city in NEO has an indoor glow-in the dark mini golf course w/ brewskies. why not downtown? how about a rock climbing gym? a lot of these ideas were generated at the Shrinking Cities exhibit last year, which had all kinds of great examples of old building re-use, meaning they are being done somewhere...

 

here in Ohio (Dayton) is Urban Krag - a rock climbing in an old church

Snowboarding in the Flats is perhaps the best, outside the box idea I've heard in some time!!!!

 

And, I was at Wendy Park on Saturday thinking the exact same thing...disc golf would work nicely there.

 

I agree wholeheartedly about the snowboarding thing. That would be amazing.

 

Wasn't there something floated around in the Pop-Up City project?

hey surfohio, i was inspired on that idea when Pop Up City held their LeapNight celebration in the Flats last February.  They installed a smallish (10 ft high) wooden ramp + rail and covered it with snow.  The many boarders there seemed to be having a blast!  However, what I'd like to see done is a half pipe built out of snow that is cleared from city streets.  A lot of cities, though not Clv, pile snow from city streets into an empty lot.  If that snow could be dumped around/into some sort of frame and smoothed into a u-shape, you'd have an urban snowboard park for as long as the temperatures cooperated.

 

http://www.cudc.kent.edu/popup/leapgallery.html

 

If you are interested, I bet we could get a grant to construct 6-9 disc golf holes at Wendy Park.

hey surfohio, i was inspired on that idea when Pop Up City held their LeapNight celebration in the Flats last February. They installed a smallish (10 ft high) wooden ramp + rail and covered it with snow. The many boarders there seemed to be having a blast! However, what I'd like to see done is a half pipe built out of snow that is cleared from city streets. A lot of cities, though not Clv, pile snow from city streets into an empty lot. If that snow could be dumped around/into some sort of frame and smoothed into a u-shape, you'd have an urban snowboard park for as long as the temperatures cooperated.

 

If you are interested, I bet we could get a grant to construct 6-9 disc golf holes at Wendy Park.

 

Snow tubing chutes could be easily built too :)

There are already toboggan chutes at the Metro Parks.

There are already toboggan chutes at the Metro Parks.

 

The Metro Parks aren't downtown Cleveland. :)

Awesome ideas, Guv.

Leap night looks amazing!!

 

Also, let me know how I or anyone else can help with the disc golf grant.

 

hey surfohio, i was inspired on that idea when Pop Up City held their LeapNight celebration in the Flats last February. They installed a smallish (10 ft high) wooden ramp + rail and covered it with snow. The many boarders there seemed to be having a blast! However, what I'd like to see done is a half pipe built out of snow that is cleared from city streets. A lot of cities, though not Clv, pile snow from city streets into an empty lot. If that snow could be dumped around/into some sort of frame and smoothed into a u-shape, you'd have an urban snowboard park for as long as the temperatures cooperated.

 

http://www.cudc.kent.edu/popup/leapgallery.html

 

If you are interested, I bet we could get a grant to construct 6-9 disc golf holes at Wendy Park.

i think its pretty podunk that the CVSs downtown are only open til like 7 or 7:30 PM. they should be 24 hrs or at least 11 PM like regular stores

They're currently open till 10:00, though they will cut that back to 9:00 after Labor Day.

^Don't let the facts get in the way of CTownsFinest's complaints.

they mustve recently extended the hours.......last time i was downtown just after 7 (7:15) and CVS was closed. it says on their website both stores on euclid and e. 9th are only open til 8 PM

 

i still think they should be open later than 9 or 10 regardless

they mustve recently extended the hours.......last time i was downtown just after 7 (7:15) and CVS was closed. it says on their website both stores on euclid and e. 9th are only open til 8 PM

 

i still think they should be open later than 9 or 10 regardless

 

No offense, i don't think they really give a crap what you think.  They'll keep stores open later when the MARKET demands it.  And up until this point they haven't seen a need.  They are currently doing a test run.  If there is enough demand and people are using it (and I've not yet seen another person in there when I've gone during the trial period) they'll stay extended, if not, they'll drop the hours back.  They aren't going to pay to staff the store in case one or two people MIGHT show up some night.

I actually talked to the guy who is, I think the store manager, and he said they were doing alright with the later hours.  They are still pulling back to 9 after Labor Day, but we'll see what happens as the neighborhood grows.

^I love that barometer for the strength of the neighborhood.  Lets hope it does well.

hey surfohio, i was inspired on that idea when Pop Up City held their LeapNight celebration in the Flats last February.  They installed a smallish (10 ft high) wooden ramp + rail and covered it with snow.  The many boarders there seemed to be having a blast!  However, what I'd like to see done is a half pipe built out of snow that is cleared from city streets.  A lot of cities, though not Clv, pile snow from city streets into an empty lot.  If that snow could be dumped around/into some sort of frame and smoothed into a u-shape, you'd have an urban snowboard park for as long as the temperatures cooperated.

 

http://www.cudc.kent.edu/popup/leapgallery.html

 

If you are interested, I bet we could get a grant to construct 6-9 disc golf holes at Wendy Park.

 

I love both of these ideas!

Maybe im having a huge brain cramp right now, but is there any office supply store downtown?

Maybe im having a huge brain cramp right now, but is there any office supply store downtown?

 

We already chatted about this earlier upthread.

 

The short answer is no.

1 br's are about to be injected above corner alley... lots of them.  while i agree there needs to be a mix of price points.  This building needs to be high end.  It would instantly become the pre-eminent residence downtown.

I s'pose you're right, everything about the Huntington bldg screams high end.  I'm impatient about adding more at the lower price points for personal reasons.

There's plenty of condo development already.  Young trendy people aren't always well off. In many cases, their careers aren't yet solid enough to sign any long-term deals.  Downtown needs breeders, as you call them, in the mating stage.  It needs 1br apartments that are reasonably priced, so these people can cyccle through.  Given that the huntington building has paid for itself many times over, this would be a perfect place for them.  If more young people meet and fall in love downtown, more will stay in the city to raise kids.

 

Plenty?  I don't think we have enough studios or 1 Bedroom and developers know this.  I never mentioned the word "young"!  ;) ;)

 

Downtown needs breeders, as you call them, in the mating stage.  It needs 1br apartments that are reasonably priced, so these people can cyccle through. 

 

Agreed as that will help erase the "downtown is dead", where can you raise a kid downtown.  But the city has NOW got to start a pilot program with direct input from parents and kids as to what they want in downtown.

It would be a great development in eliminating deadspots between public square and CSU. 

You mean like East Fourth?

You mean like East Fourth?

 

Is that in response to my post?

^You don't have to answer... Just being a smartass.

It would be a great development in eliminating deadspots between public square and CSU. 

 

There are other buildings east of ninth that are being converted as well.  So this area, in my NON real estate opinion, is on and poppin!

Yes, I added the word young.  I did so because of all the demographics downtown living appeals to, it currently has the least to offer young people in terms of living options.  Regardless of unit size, it's too weighted toward condos and toward the high end of the market.  Alas, the Huntington building is most appropriate for additional hi-price/hi-commitment units.  But once those are done the imbalance will be even more stark.  Apparently it isn't economical for any given (re)developer to create 1br apartments for people who haven't yet "made it."  But these are the very people who are most interested in downtown residential, and the people from whom downtown has the most to gain long term.  This may be one of those cases where pure market forces come up with results that don't make any sense when viewed from above.