Urban Outfitters To Open In Greenwich

Urban Outfitters, for those of you unaware of the trendy store, caters to college-age people who have a bit more edge to them than the GAP. Okay, a lot more edge, and the GAP sadly has been taken over by pea-brained stylists who have been single-handily destroying the brand. Don’t beleive me? Trends translate to in-stores sales which translate into earnings per share which translate into stock price and we have thus in purest market driven form:

Yes that thin blue line represents the GAP stock over a 10 year period, the last 10 years in fact. And Urban Outfitters is opening in Greenwich. Greenwich. I understood when they opened in New Haven. If ever there was a city in Connecticut that catered to its twenty-somethings, New Haven is it. In the last 10 years, New Haven has in fact done a fantastic job branding itself as a hip, trendy, exciting place to be. Just ignore the crime zones. Meanwhile Norwalk just can’t get out of its own way.

It was only fitting that the story about the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency transferring back $4.5 million and employees out of the Economic Development Corp. was the “business” news. Really. Same people, same old story, politics in the guise of stupidity, er reverse that, take precedent over actually fielding a competitive economic development team. You can’t spur economic growth in a city when the entire structure of government acts utterly opposed to economic development. Let’s recount the ways;

1. Anti-affordable housing.

2. Anti-business.

3. Anti-development.

If you take offense to any of this, good, you’re part of the problem. If you’re nodding in agreement, good, there’s a revolution afoot to change all this. For the anti-government crowd, anti-taxes crowd, I’ll take you seriously when you give up social security, medicare, driving, driving on roads, your home mortgage tax deduction and start actually paying the cost of your clean water and breathable air. Until then turn off the TV and walk over to the library and read a book. If along the way you find the sidewalks crumbling, missing or are just plain scared of encountering traffic instead of people, remind yourself that this experiment was brought to you by the people who want more economic development rather than petrifying the remains of Norwalk’s downtown.

  • Just Me

    I went to the GAP awhile ago to buy some shirts for a family member. I don’t know what group they are geared towards, but I couldn’t find anything at all I thought would actually be worn by the person receiving the gift. Next time, I might do better at Urban Outfitters.

    From what I understand regarding the boon doogle with the Norwalk Development Agency and the transfer of funds, it appears that the Council was not advised of the change in advance and from what I heard out of the mouth of one of the employees who was transferred, neither were the staff who were involved.

    It didn’t sound like the NDA was DOA, only that the cart got before the horse. Sadly, I think some comments were expressed at one meeting by Redevelopment staff that really fueled the fire. However personally satisfying it may be to tell someone to put something where the sun doesn’t shine, it does not make for good cooperative relationships in the long run.

    At one point, someone commented that the Redevelopment Agency had done this once before in regard to the North Walk housing. Just by happenstance, I know someone who was a key player in the North Walk project, so I gave that person a shout. The individual told me that while it was clear what Redevelopment was doing, how they were going about it wasn’t, which the individual felt was the source of the problem. When I asked if it seemed like the new project was “transparent”, the answer was a very quick and a very firm “No”. Remember, this was from someone who formerly worked for the City, is familiar with this type of project but is no longer in this area. There is no ax to grind or hidden agenda for this person.

    So, bottom line, I think there is some serious fence mending that needs to be done between the Redevelopment Agency and the Council. Unfortunately, the rest of us will pay for it via stalled progress.

  • Enlightened

    More importantly, Fairway Market is coming to Stamford soon! Now that’s a big deal!

  • BLARNEY

    How come there is no “Olive Garden” in Norwalk? The closest one is in Orange. It is not gourmet dining, but the place is always packed, no matter what state or city you find one.

    It took them decades to put an “Outback” in our area and that is always packed.

    In this economy people are looking for places that serve good food at reasonable prices, and no matter what one you go to you can be pretty sure that the food is of the same quality.

    I guess that is why McDonald’s is popular all over the world, you can be pretty sure that the food is the same as the one next door to you in the USA, even if it is in Hong Kong.

    • Steward

      Good food at reasonable prices in Norwalk? A couple of favorites, La Sorpresa on Cedar or Julie’s on Fort Point. A chain like Olive Garden? I prefer to support some great local talent!

      • BLARNEY

        YOU are correct for so many decades Rt 7 has been called the longest 16 miles in Connecticut that it seems to take the same time to get to either

      • BLARNEY THE GOURMET “NOT”

        Where is Julies on Fort Point St? Next to Fisherman’s World or in the Hat Factory building

        • Steward

          Fisherman’s World. Try the chicken! … and anything in the little glass cabinet!

          • BLARNEY THE GOURMET “NOT”

            I just noticed the name of the place. I will have to give it a try. You sound like a person who loves the smell of frying grease. I love it too.

            I think it is a trait that we have inherited from our prehistoric ancestors.

            God played a mean trick on man, everything that is fun to eat is bad for you.

    • just asking

      West Virginia was recently found to be the fattest state in the US. It also has more chain and fast food restaurants than any other state (per capita). Think there’s a connection?

      • BLARNEY

        I can tell you the fattest county in the US, it has to be Lancaster County PA in Penn Dutch Country, On one intersection they have an Olive Garden, Spaghetti Factory,Texas Longhorn Steak House, and a Carrabba’s Italian Grille. Multiply this by every intersection in the county and city of Lancaster

  • just asking
  • OLD TIMER

    The closest Olive Garden is in Danbury, 18.6 miles from Norwalk, The next closest is in Orange, 24 miles from Norwalk. While maybe not your idea of gourmet, the food is good, the portions are generous, and the prices are reasonable. What more can you ask ? I won’t go that far for a good italian meal, there are plewnty of smaller places close by that are excellent.

  • http://GetfiZz.com kHyal™

    Having freakishly long legs The Gap online store is one of the few places I can find jeans that fit. In fact, their latest design “the legging jean” is the best-fitting jean I’ve ever bought. They don’t stock the extra long versions in stores, so I don’t bother going into the retail stores.

    However, Urban Outfitters is uber-hip and used to contain really fun and well-executed design products, home goods and apparel. I went to the New Haven one last month and it was scantly-stocked and everything looked cheap. I’m hoping that was just a blip in the retail space time continuum, because with designers like Mike Perry and Nate Williams on their side, you wouldn’t think they’d have a problem keeping it hip and vibrant.

    Of course if you looking for cool, you can always point your browser to blipworld.com and weatherskwirl.com and shop it over there!