An assignment last Friday morning took me to a place where many Lowellians never venture to. I am not talking about the lower Highlands, I am talking about Andover.
After a quick jaunt up 495 North and only a few exits past Tewks-town, I pulled Putt-Putt off onto Route 28. I sailed to what I would call its downtown, (does Andover have a downtown?), and was amazed by the sights. Here it was 9 AM on a dreary Friday morning in February. The sky was gray, the temp was a balmy 32 degrees and snow clouds were spitting on my Marc Jacobs cashmere trench. Miserable...but on my left was people jockey for sreet side parking spots in front of Starbucks, on my right more than a dozen people carrying colorful shopping bags as they sprinted from store to store.
Looking down the side streets of this quaint little shopping mecca was a similar sight. Parking lots were filling up with Volvos, Audis and my fabulous Carolla took one of the last spots on Chestnut Street. I was there for a fashion shoot at First Date for the Valentine's Day spread in today's Lowell Sun.
Why was I so enarmoured with the Big A? Because this could be Downtown Lowell.
The coffee shops were littered with students from Merrimack College sipping non-fat lattes while reading the New York Times on their Mac Books. Shoppers darted in and out of unique bodegas that sell everything from beads to shoes to chocolate.
Here in DTL we have the potential. There is already the Mambo Grill, Brew'd Awakening, The Coffee Mill and many others finding a niche. Also, Centro and The Blue Taleh are making a splash. What is wrong with the picture here? They are all restaurants. Where is the retail?
I have to say that an afternoon at the big commercial heaven called the mall always ends with a trip to the food court or a martini and piece of cheesecake at some ordinary chain. We have the built in audience of foodies already here, why not a gourmet goodie hawker with Euro spices on Middle Street? UMass Lowell has one of the best sound recording programs in the country, why not a hip clatch that sells political tees and green products, where local bands can sell their EPs?
This sounds granduer but seeing is believing. DTL has the buil-in audience, it now has to find something to captivate them.
Where would you want to shop in DTL?
I would love it if Lowell could turn its downtown into something similar to Andover or Newburyport without the snobbery. If they took adavatage of the college coeds this city could thrive like other small university towns.
That is exactly what I am getting at here Shopaholic! How about stores that cater to the clientele downtown. How about a Newbury Comics? That would be an awesome addition to dtl since Bananas closed there has been no music stores.
Small boutique type shops would be killer.
Rumor has it there is a wine and cheese shop in the works and a cigar shop. Great additions but lets keep the ball rolling....
Anyone else have some ideas we could e-mail to the DTL Business Association and good ol Bernie L?
Stores like an Anthropolgie or Puma would bring people downtown. There needs to be a name brand but then small unique Greenich Village type boutiques will spring up around it.
Lowell needs to stop worrying about the homeless people and where they are going to hang out. The only people the homeless bother is yuppies, so I saw send the yuppies to shop at the mall and the rest of us will go downtown. There are homeless in Cambridge, Boston, New York, LA....they don't seem to bother the businesses there.