|
Post by hulk007 on Aug 30, 2006 21:45:51 GMT -5
I wish someone had a copy of last Sunday's Bergen Record, there was a 2 page article about condos and townhouses popping up everywhere. As the population grows we need to find ways to squeeze more people into as little space as possible, the problem is no condo or townhouse anywhere is cheap.
|
|
|
Post by JerseyDigger29 on Aug 30, 2006 23:16:12 GMT -5
I stopped in the Cook's Shoppe last week and loved it. Their coffee was excellent and a reasonable price for specialty flavored coffee. We bought it, had it ground and the next morning at our hotel we enjoyed it! They have a different type of souviner selection than most of the shops on the boardwalk. It is nice to see something new. We were speaking with the owners and they are there from March through December and have mail order 12 months of the year. I can't wait to go back in October to get more Pumpkin Spice coffee and maybe something for the Christmas holidays. FYI - I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that the cook's shop was a creation of Lainy Urso and her brother - or sister. Their family used to own the pizza shop that was second or third from the corner of Oak and the boardwalk for many years. They also had a restaurant in Cape May. I think I remember Lainy saying in an interview when they first opened a couple of years ago that they weren't sure how well they would do but they thought the boardwalk could stand a little class. This was back before almost anyone else was saying it, by the way. The Urso family has been in business locally for many years. I wish them luck. Thom
|
|
|
Post by writhinganacondo on Aug 31, 2006 0:34:25 GMT -5
That boardwalk needs more ventures like theirs and the handful of others that have tried something different/upgraded. I'd say no more than a half dozen have done so. Nice to own your property though. Was Mario's Pizza their old place?
|
|
|
Post by Robert on Aug 31, 2006 1:48:31 GMT -5
Well, when you travel, isn't there McDonald's everywhere? Wal-Marts? The only "chains" WW had for years were McD's (two of them-one on the boardwalk beach side), and Days Inn. Everything else was mom and pop businesses. Now, it sounds like they want to bring in the Starbucks, big name, well known places. Sand Jamm IS in the wrong spot. They built it on Hunt's Pier. Hunt's should be an amusement pier, not a shopping pier. It sounds like someone had a gameplan on WW's redevelopment. Build expensive luxury condos to attract the affluent, and screw the working class that made WW for what it was from the 50's to the 80's and so on. Those who have low incomes are being squeezed out by the rising land values and high condo prices. It's all about the money today, they want to market the place to higher income people to generate more tax revenue and so on. And they demolish old restaurants but they build new exotic upscale ones like French restaurants. That proves that the climate is changing. You have to change to meet the demands of your new customer base.
|
|
|
Post by nance on Aug 31, 2006 2:50:56 GMT -5
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, IT'S A RICH MAN'S WORLD-------ABBA
|
|
|
Post by thelastresort on Aug 31, 2006 7:57:26 GMT -5
I've said this before, too many chains will ruin the place, and trying to turn the town into a year-round resort (or 10-11 month resort like the article suggests) is lunacy.
I could imagine telling my friends this:
Me: Hey guys, I just found this great place for a conference we can attend in January.
The "guys": Great. Where, South Beach, the Caymans?
Me: Nah, I figured we can go to Wildwood New Jersey.
The "guys": Are you "nucking futs"?
Me: Awe, come on, sure, we'll freeze our as-ses off, but hey, it's only a 40 min ride to Atlantic City.
|
|
|
Post by JerseyDigger29 on Aug 31, 2006 9:01:21 GMT -5
I've said this before, too many chains will ruin the place, and trying to turn the town into a year-round resort (or 10-11 month resort like the article suggests) is lunacy. I could imagine telling my friends this: Me: Hey guys, I just found this great place for a conference we can attend in January. The "guys": Great. Where, South Beach, the Caymans? Me: Nah, I figured we can go to Wildwood New Jersey. The "guys": Are you "nucking futs"? Me: Awe, come on, sure, we'll freeze our as-ses off, but hey, it's only a 40 min ride to Atlantic City. You mean you won't freeze in Atlantic City? Why can AC stay open all year and Wildwood can't. Just because of gambling. Those people there don't stay inside all the time, they walk the boardwalk too. I said it before, first we get the convention center, then we get the hotels to fill it, and at the same time, we need to convince stores to winterize. Gateway 26 and a fudge shop open all year just aren't enough. The Wildwoods is still a work in progress, just because we have never had it (open year round) doesn't mean it can't work. Thom
|
|
|
Post by DooWopStuff on Aug 31, 2006 10:19:11 GMT -5
I've said this before, too many chains will ruin the place, and trying to turn the town into a year-round resort (or 10-11 month resort like the article suggests) is lunacy. I could imagine telling my friends this: Me: Hey guys, I just found this great place for a conference we can attend in January. The "guys": Great. Where, South Beach, the Caymans? Me: Nah, I figured we can go to Wildwood New Jersey. The "guys": Are you "nucking futs"? Me: Awe, come on, sure, we'll freeze our as-ses off, but hey, it's only a 40 min ride to Atlantic City. You mean you won't freeze in Atlantic City? Why can AC stay open all year and Wildwood can't. Just because of gambling. Those people there don't stay inside all the time, they walk the boardwalk too. I said it before, first we get the convention center, then we get the hotels to fill it, and at the same time, we need to convince stores to winterize. Gateway 26 and a fudge shop open all year just aren't enough. The Wildwoods is still a work in progress, just because we have never had it (open year round) doesn't mean it can't work. Thom People can come out of a meeting in a casino they are staying in & go directly onto the Boardwalk. They can stroll the boardwalk until they freeze, Knowing they can get right back into the warmth of the casinos & their room. I think 90% of the reason AC can stay open all year is the gambling and meeting facilities in the same hotel.
|
|
|
Post by thelastresort on Aug 31, 2006 13:05:23 GMT -5
You mean you won't freeze in Atlantic City? Why can AC stay open all year and Wildwood can't. Just because of gambling. Those people there don't stay inside all the time, they walk the boardwalk too. I said it before, first we get the convention center, then we get the hotels to fill it, and at the same time, we need to convince stores to winterize. Gateway 26 and a fudge shop open all year just aren't enough. The Wildwoods is still a work in progress, just because we have never had it (open year round) doesn't mean it can't work. Thom People can come out of a meeting in a casino they are staying in & go directly onto the Boardwalk. They can stroll the boardwalk until they freeze, Knowing they can get right back into the warmth of the casinos & their room. I think 90% of the reason AC can stay open all year is the gambling and meeting facilities in the same hotel.[/quote] I think that, and especially, because gambling is a very powerful lure, plus all the high-rise casinos etc., adds a bit of glamour to it. I still think a convention in November through March in AC is a pretty marginal venue anyway, but the gambling and big hotels, etc. are definitely an attraction. Not many folks want to "stroll the boards" in January to look at nickel and dime stands (most of which would be closed anyway) and rides that are closed for the season, as would be the case in WW. Just my opinion.
|
|
|
Post by JerseyDigger29 on Aug 31, 2006 19:06:37 GMT -5
You mean you won't freeze in Atlantic City? Why can AC stay open all year and Wildwood can't. Just because of gambling. Those people there don't stay inside all the time, they walk the boardwalk too. I said it before, first we get the convention center, then we get the hotels to fill it, and at the same time, we need to convince stores to winterize. Gateway 26 and a fudge shop open all year just aren't enough. The Wildwoods is still a work in progress, just because we have never had it (open year round) doesn't mean it can't work. Thom People can come out of a meeting in a casino they are staying in & go directly onto the Boardwalk. They can stroll the boardwalk until they freeze, Knowing they can get right back into the warmth of the casinos & their room. I think 90% of the reason AC can stay open all year is the gambling and meeting facilities in the same hotel.[/quote] I think that, and especially, because gambling is a very powerful lure, plus all the high-rise casinos etc., adds a bit of glamour to it. I still think a convention in November through March in AC is a pretty marginal venue anyway, but the gambling and big hotels, etc. are definitely an attraction. Not many folks want to "stroll the boards" in January to look at nickel and dime stands (most of which would be closed anyway) and rides that are closed for the season, as would be the case in WW. Just my opinion. You're right about the nickel and dime stores but that is why I keep stressing that the Wildwoods is a work in progress. AC has had that boardwalk with winter stores for more than 100 years, a lot longer than since the advent of the casinos. They have been year-round longer than 1976. The Wildwoods is just starting to make the changeover, I hope. Thom
|
|
|
Post by thelastresort on Aug 31, 2006 20:20:08 GMT -5
I guess, maybe I haven't been saying this, but I would much rather WW stay a bit "quaint" (if that is the right word?) and be a 5-month-a-year town, as opposed to putting up 25 story motels, big chain stores and restaurants, etc., to make it a year-around town.
And even with the big slammer motels, fancy restaurants, etc., I honestly don't think it could compete with AC for year round convention business, it is just too close geographically. Maybe some other places like Ocean City MD or some of the other places like VA beach can do it to some degree because they are far enough away from other options. But I'm just not optimistic WW would be able to pull it off. Hell, I love the place, but I'm doubtful if l would go between Nov and March, except maybe just as a pass through for an hour or so on my way to Cape May for a weekend or something like that.
|
|
|
Post by Al Alven on Aug 31, 2006 22:54:55 GMT -5
I would honestly rather see a Starbucks or a Cold Stone come in and take the place of a few of the real "low end" shops that populate the Boards. I hate Cold Stone. You can't even get an ingredient breakdown on their Web site, and that tells you--if you couldn't tell by looking at the products--that they are full of synthetic nonnutritive crap. Wildwood doesn't need that. If they want upscale, what they need is a unique, Wildwood-born-and-bred ice cream parlor offering premium quality homemade (read ON THE PREMISES) ice cream. Like Duffer's, but better, right on the boards. The chains are more spawn of the devil. Look at NYC. Mayor Bloomberg, great worshipper of commerce that he is, has let all kinds of chain junk in there on his watch, and as a result, NYC has become a far less interesting place. Some of these politicians behave like addicts when it comes to adding shiny new stuff to their tax base. If you can't stop, you shouldn't start. I don't participate in the great popular pastime of Starbucks-bashing, and I'd be delighted to have one on the boardwalk, but I wouldn't trust Troiano and company to know where to draw the line after that . Right. Everybody with big bucks is ready to build condos but no one is prepared to invest in the establishment of high quality INDEPENDENT shops and services? I can't believe that. Wildwood should hold out for the Groff's model. God forbid that boardwalk ever starts to look like Willowbrook Mall. What's the point? Why wouldn't visitors want to take a break from the same old cookie-cutter retail they have back home? People love the one-of-a-kind shops down in Cape May (well, the womenfolk do anyhow ;D). The Wildwoods have always had their own distinctive character. They ought to be fighting like hell to hold on to what's left of it and build on it anew. Al, have you looked at the price tags on stuff in Sand Jamm? More upscaling. And it's so phony. Most of the people who visit down there aren't real surfers and those who are bring their gear with them, I'm sure. And that building is so big and intrusive. It shouldn't have been built on the beach side of the boards, IMO--it belongs on the west side. I also think it's a bad model for that type of retailing on the boards. I buy at least one garment on every visit that says "Wildwood" somewhere, I'll keep doing it as long as I keep visiting, and I wear them, frequently. That habit should be cultivated. I'd like to see the boardwalk get a high-quality Wildwoods souvenir shop--hell, I'd like to open one (in my next life probably...). Part of my dislike of Sand Jamm is all that branded clothing. Sand Jamm should be promoting the Wildwood "brand," instead of Wildwood promoting the Sand Jamm brand. I share your concern about the need for the boardwalk to be updated and upgraded a bit, but I think it's crucial that it be done with a high level of discrimination. Kathi, I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree about Sand Jamm. I’ve know the guys who have run/managed Sand Jamm for some time now, so maybe I’m biased. But, they took a very modest Boardwalk business, established a very solid and loyal clientele through their hard work and dedication, and simply grew to the point that “expansion” was the next logical step. This is a “Wildwood” business through and through. Sure, they sell a lot of branded clothing and such, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. I also own a fair amount of Sand Jamm merchandise that proudly showcases “Wildwood” in some way. I think this place is actually an excellent model for what the “upscaling” of the Boardwalk could and should be. Now, I agree that their prices are rather high. I’m certainly not going to pay $59.99 for a pair of swimming shorts or whatever, but they do offer quality merchandise. I know that the main reason they expanded was because their new skate shop at the old location was doing so well, and they have found a really nice niche market with that. Good for them. As for the building itself, I suppose it just comes down to a difference in preference. I did not like the idea of them building this structure on the east side of the Boardwalk at first, but I have come to like it since its completion. I don’t know what it is, but rather than finding the building intrusive as you do, I actually believe that its addition has given that area of the Boardwalk a “cozy” little feeling. Maybe it’s the loss of the comforting and familiar Shore Plaza and (to a lesser extent) the old Hunt’s Skyline Golf sign, but I feel that the addition of the Sand Jamm/Magic Brain complex has added to that area in a positive way. I also feel that the Sand Jamm façade is very striking. I like the palm trees and the new neon. In some ways (though most will probably disagree with me here), it sort of reminds me of a modern day “Nut Hut.” Just the way the outside kind of jumps at you… it’s memorable in its own way, and I think more people will come to appreciate it as the years go by. Again, though, I'll admit that I could be biased because I have been a longtime supporter of this entity. But, I really like the fact that places like Sand Jamm, in addition to the Cook's Shop, Magic Brain and even decent (and fairly recent) additions like the Doo Wop Diner and Route 66 Cafe are excellent examples of independently-owned businesses that are helping the Boardwalk improve its overall image.
|
|
|
Post by nance on Sept 1, 2006 3:17:10 GMT -5
Wildwood is basically, I think, a summer resort and to think of trying to keep it going all year round; I don't think is a good idea. They're going to lose out in the "slow" months. It would be better for it stay the way it is. Who will go to the beach, walk the boardwalk, or anything when it's 20 degrees out? Not me! And the only thing that draws the Atlantic City crowd is the gambling. Everybody thinks they're going to be a millionaire.
|
|
|
Post by thelastresort on Sept 1, 2006 8:42:54 GMT -5
Wildwood is basically, I think, a summer resort and to think of trying to keep it going all year round; I don't think is a good idea. They're going to lose out in the "slow" months. It would be better for it stay the way it is. Who will go to the beach, walk the boardwalk, or anything when it's 20 degrees out? Not me! And the only thing that draws the Atlantic City crowd is the gambling. Everybody thinks they're going to be a millionaire. Agreed. And as I've said before, who is going to work the penny-ante shops in January? The college kids are back in college, and the exchange students have gone back to their countries.
|
|
|
Post by JerseyDigger29 on Sept 1, 2006 9:24:11 GMT -5
I guess, maybe I haven't been saying this, but I would much rather WW stay a bit "quaint" (if that is the right word?) and be a 5-month-a-year town, as opposed to putting up 25 story motels, big chain stores and restaurants, etc., to make it a year-around town. And even with the big slammer motels, fancy restaurants, etc., I honestly don't think it could compete with AC for year round convention business, it is just too close geographically. Maybe some other places like Ocean City MD or some of the other places like VA beach can do it to some degree because they are far enough away from other options. But I'm just not optimistic WW would be able to pull it off. Hell, I love the place, but I'm doubtful if l would go between Nov and March, except maybe just as a pass through for an hour or so on my way to Cape May for a weekend or something like that. I can understand how those of you outside the Wildwoods want to keep it "Quaint" and seasonal, but with respect, none of you live here year round and are used to working your tails off for 4 or 5 months only to try and make the unemployment stretch until the next summer. The Wildwoods has always been a summer resort and tourism is our ONLY industry here - except maybe for commercial fishing. Unless you're a doctor or lawyer, or a rich real estate agent or motel owner, etc, you work and work and have nothing to show for it. A lot of locals are tired of living one and a half seasons a year. Maybe this is why we want so desperately to make the Wildwoods year round. BTW, I firmly believe we can do that and still keep it quaint, as long as we have heated hotels and enough winterized boardwalk businesses to support conventioneers. You open one store for the winter and soon there will be two, and then three, and then... Thom P.S. Just a respectful hint to the Moreys, if they're reading this: If we ever hope to go year round, the Convention Center will not only need those heated hotels and bdwk stores but we should also consider having at least a small indoor entertainment complex somewhere around the middle of the boardwalk. In the old days, we had the indoor kiddie rides and merry-go-round at Cedar Avenue. And although that didn't go year round, for many reasons, not the least of which was the lack of a competent convention center, it was indoors and capable of opening in bad weather, giving vacationers a place to go. A possibility might be enclosing the front section of Mariners Landing and making that year round. That way, weekend conventioners might be able to bring their families with them in the winter and the South Jersey locals would have a fun place to go at nights. With warm hotels and a central, winterized, enterainment facility, more and more surrounding stores will begin to blossom year round. This idea isn't so far-fetched if you consider the "Mall of America" (?) or our former Ocean Pier. They showed that successful indoor amusements and entertainment are possible, if you have a sufficient surrounding tourist infrastructure like the convention center, hotels, and some businesses. At least, it's worth consideration, don't you think?
|
|