Remember when the Townspeople in West Hartford were being told that there would be an "arts cinema" in Blue Back Square - and not just another movie house? and they were also being told that there would be no big box chain stores? especially ones that might compete with smaller mom and pop operations to put them out of business...
First there was Barnes and Noble - helping to kill off Bookworm, and now this fall there will be a Toys R Us Express in Blue Back Square, which no doubt will take business away from a town icon; Toy Chest.
Businesses, like Au Bon Pain and Homeward Bound have left Blue Back Square because they just weren't getting the traffic and sales that they anticipated. Other stores are just hanging on, especially in this economy.
Barbara Lerner, project marketing manager for Blue Back Square said, "While we have seen some businesses leave Blue Back Square, the promising news is that we have great interest from new retailers that can't wait to become part of the center's growth."
What she means is they need more smoke shops and liquor stores... ahem... wine bars, in order to attract sales. They also need big chain stores that can absorb revenue losses. Perhaps some day they will get a mix of stores that make some sense. Right now it seems to be a bit of a mish-mosh, and an expensive one at that.
Some days it is so dead in Blue Back Square that the retailers have to market to one another passing out coupons and samples in order to generate interest.
Even the wait to Cheesecake Factory is down to 15 minutes.
UPDATE: 1st quarter 2011 - the store closed. No surprise there.
