Speaking of late hours, not a single 24 hour electronics store exists in the Bay Area. New York has several, including an Apple store and Best Buy. If someone could manage to open a gadget shop Downtown that was open around the clock, there could be a market for this given the strange hours of Silicon Valley engineers. I know I've had times in my career where I could have used a USB cable or extra Hard Drive at 2am. We are in the middle of Silicon Valley and the entrepreneurial center of the universe... we need to have instant resources available for those the people that are changing the world (or those that simply want to buy gadgets in the middle of the night).
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday Wishlist: Downtown Electronics Store
One of the top items on my wishlist is some sort of electronics store in the Downtown area. There are a couple repair shops, but they are not true electronics stores where you can walk in and browse a traditional assortment of electronics. It doesn't have to be a Fry's (although I wouldn't object to one), but just a small 4,000 sqft boutique store with great customer service and late hours would do.
![bestbuyflagship]()
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Nothing open all night in downtown will work. It's too creepy. Can't we start with a place to buy some clothes to go to work?! Or a pharmacy that's not that disgusting Walgreens? If you want to buy gold or pawn your electric guitar, we've got that covered!
ReplyDeleteI buy clothes at the Downtown Ross all the time. For t-shirts check out the Showroom at the Market or head over to the Usuals on the Alameda.
ReplyDeleteI also promise that having something decent open 24x7 will already be a step towards making things less creepy after 2am.
I forgot about the Mosher's clothing store on the side of the Fairmont as well. Haven't bought anything there but they definitely have work clothes.
DeleteUh, yeah. I'm not looking to rummage through piles of clothes at Ross for work - and I don't wear clever t-shirts to work. Moshers, seriously? Maybe for a 60 year old guy going to the country club...
DeleteI get that you think San Jose is fantastic, but this is where this blog loses me. Can we at least be realistic about the lack of shopping downtown?
Anon,
DeleteJosh is pretty realistic, but at least he's trying to be optimistic that, with a bit of trouble, you could find some "apparel" stores around downtown. Not that they'd help, surely we do need more retails downtown, that's for sure. Especially a 24-hour electronics/gadget store.
Not sure what's with the nasty mocking tone? I hope this blog remains what it has always been, a rational discussion blog by SJ lovers who, despite their city's many flaws, see fit to discuss about it.
And discuss without resorting to mocking one another. I don't think I could ever fault Josh for being exuberant, to be honest.
The day of the national electronics store like bestbuy in the picture are numbered. I dont think the margins today work for a 24hr electronics shop anywhere.
ReplyDeleteWe need more people living downtown first. San Jose should be doing everything in its power to attract developers to build dense housing with street level retail. That include making the recent tax cuts on such developments permanent for the foreseeable future. The businesses will come organically after the population is there to sustain it. Look at Santana Row as a model for success. Condos and rentals bring in the long term population and those people create buzz for those outside of the district to explore.
This is not rocket science. When there is true demand and sustainability private investors will pounce on the opportunity. It is the beauty of using greed to enrich the lives of the populous.
What are you talking about? There are over 9,000 new housing built in the Greater Downtown area over the last 30 years. There are around 40,000 people living the downtown area, according to 2012 census, and I don't mean the whole district 3. Downtown SJ is better off than most downtowns. Haven't you been to Dt Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Detroit, LA, Portland, Minneapolis and others. They have way more issues than Dt. SJ. If you read their local papers, there are bunch of people putting downtowns, including Vancouver, BC and Seattle Washington. In SJ, you have a nice downtown, but there are so many competing neighborhoods, downtowns and cities in the region that tempers the retail situation along with the economy.
DeleteThey're putting down their downtowns like Vancouver, BC and Seattle. San Jose is not alone in this criticism of its downtown.
DeleteI'm sorry Truth Police, but all of those cities (sans Phoenix and Detroit) you mentioned are light years ahead of San Jose when talking about their downtowns. Also, most of these cities are about half the size of SJ, yet still have a a more interesting and thriving downtown. Have you been to Minneapolis? Portland? Even Dallas? This is one of problems in this town...everyone thinks we're on par or superior to the rest of the country, but we're not.
DeleteI could probably buy some work clothes at Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, etc. in any one of those downtowns... and who knows, maybe even a USB drive.
DeleteGuys, you guys are beating a dead horse. We ALREADY KNOW we have a retail problem in downtown SJ. We KNOW. I don't know what's with you guys insisting on pointing out this problem.
DeleteAnd no, we don't think we're on par or superior to the rest of the country. Ask most San Joseans, and they don't even know what is in their city, but they know quite a bit about most other cities.
How can you even compare San Jose to Portland? Portland is a city by itself that pretty much commands an area nearly 100 miles in diameter, and built way before SJ. Same goes with Minneapolis-St.Paul. Same goes with Vancouver. Same goes with Seattle.
Guys, you guys need to give our city TIME. None of those cities above were built over 20 years, they were there since the very early 1900's...
We're not trying to be like them, we're just trying to be San Jose. What's wrong with that?
Anonymous, don't you know how dead Dt. Phoenix and Dallas are? They're way deader than Dt. SJ. I was just in Minneapolis last year and Portland 3 weeks ago. You're way off! Dt. Portland does have more retail than Dt. SJ but it doesn't have the art district like Dt. SJ and the whole downtown is a ghosttown at night or just so quiet at night. Let's get real here. San Jose has the San Pedro Market, new city hall, Martin Luther King library, arena which Dt. Portland doesn't have. It does have retail in its downtown because it's the only city in the region and no sales tax, so Californians can buy these goods at a bargain. If it weren't for those no sales tax ecentives, downtown portland would have absolutely nothing. Oh, don't forget those super agressive pandhandlers there, including Seattle. Dt. Seattle can be scary and rough. I was just there. Grass is always green on the other side, I guess. I've been to most downtowns since 5 years for leaisure. Dt. San Jose is further along in revitalization than most cities in terms of cleanliness, safety, pedestrian friendliness, cohesiveness and all around well put together. Is downtown perfect? NO. San Jose is ahead of most big cities interms of downtown progress. It already has the offices, housing, hotels, transportation, streetscapes, parks and amenities. I even include the Market Center as part of downtown.
DeleteTruth Police: You lost any credibility by comparing SJ to Seattle or Vancouver. Both of those are international destination cities on par with San Francisco and Miami.
DeleteSan Jose is about 60-80 years behind any of those places and it shows.
I own and live in San Jose, but I am a realist the density and city policies are not providing compelling arguments for DT retail.
Hey, I was just in Seattle 3 weeks ago. San Jose has a better and more gentrified downtown than Seattle's. Dt. Seattle can be scary with rough panhandlers. Yep, they have more and much more retail, but Dt. SJ is more cohesive and more varied than Seattle's. If you want a local scene in Seattle, Capitol Hill or Ballard. In SJ, downtown is it!
Delete^^^ Haha. Wow, thanks for the laugh Truth Police. Please share what you're smoking so I can bask in that bliss as well.
DeleteHey, why don't you move to Seattle or Vancouver, BC, and smoke some grass with down and outs in Dt. Vancouver Eastside or Dt. Seattle's Third/Pine? Well, we sure don't have that doping area in Downtown SJ for you to smoke in.
DeleteTruth Police: Seattle and Vancouver are vibrant and attractive with varied neighbourhoods and access to amazing waterfront views. San Jose is a nice sleepy city which is more comparable to 2nd tier cities like Bellevue, West Palm Beach,and Houston. This is by no way a swipe at the city it is just the reality of the lack of core population and focus on downtown.
DeleteThe population of Dt. SJ is 40,000, according to 2010 Census and council district 3, with 9,000 new housing added in the last 30 years. That's not lack of housing and focus on the city's downtown. They've added 9,000,000 of office space and 2,500 hotels with parks and transportation. Lack of focus on downtown?
Delete" They've added 9,000,000 of office space"
DeleteSure, but according to CBRE 23.5% of that space was vacant in Q1 of 2012. Compare that to SF's 10%, Portland's 9.7%, Oakland's 13%, or Seattle's 16%. Just to put things into perspective, Detroit wasn't far behind at 25.6%.
Have a look:
http://www.cbre.us/AssetLibrary/USOfficeMarketView_Q12012.pdf
Let's face it, San Jose's downtown can barely compete regionally, let alone on a national scale. I admit it has some promising qualities and the infrastructure is in place, but we have a long way to go before we can begin to compete with cities like Seattle, SF, Vancouver, etc. I for one, hope that development downtown is expedited in the coming decades so we can begin to do so.
With Amazon setting up its fulfillment center in Patterson, same-day or next-day delivery is going to be standard for a lot of products that we order. I really can't see an electronics store in downtown penciling out. Downtown population density would have to be significantly higher to even try to make that work.
ReplyDeleteI totally awknowledge that Dt. SJ has one of the highest vacancy rates in the country, thanks to the "A hole" suburban high tech corporations who love the suburban campus setting that destroys our quality of life. still, I think Dt. SJ is very lively and nice. If weren't for the suburban mindset of these Silicon Valley companies, San Jose would really have been glorious!
ReplyDeleteI would take anything downtown that stays open all hours or into early morning. It would be nice to be able to eat, drink coffee,browse or purchase goods when you don't feel like being home, but don't want to go to bar or club. I see so much potential in San Jose. The San Pedro Market is a nice start but SJ seems so far behind sometimes.
ReplyDelete