Opinion: There’s Still Plenty of Potential for Retail in Downtown Amherst
Downtown Amherst. Photo: amherstma.gov
This is an AI collaboration. I made a list of my ideas and opinions, clearly worded, and AI rejiggered them. I know some people have been annoyed at AI articles that I have made for the Indy, but there were only a few factual errors, and the data gathering was far and wide. I do not want to be ruled by robots (or fascists) any more than the next guy, but it is only fair that we also appreciate the upside, even though the downsides are more attractive to the dark side. And FYI, I love to write, and do that plenty.- Ira Bryck
Opening a retail store in downtown Amherst, MA might sound like an oddball life decision right now, given the local landscape and national winds buffeting “brick and mortar.” But, sometimes, the things that are hardest to explain are the ones worth dwelling on. Here are a few musings on why planting a flag—okay, a cash register—here might be more sensible, or at least more interesting, than it first appears.
Downtown’s Retail Drought
Amherst’s downtown has never teemed with shops like Northampton’s Main Street or even—let’s admit it—the malls of Hadley and Holyoke. Most of the area’s “serious shopping” has been ceded to those megaplexes. Now, with retail in retreat everywhere (add in the death of many former tenants at Hampshire Mall), downtown is drier than ever when it comes to shops. The upshot: a new store stands out. Much like a snail-mail postcard stands out, precisely because no one else is sending them.
The Student Surge…and Slump
Half the humans here are college students, who appear for nine months, eat and drink voraciously, and then vanish like cicadas, leaving behind streets that feel unusually quiet in June. The town’s family demographic—”year-rounders,” if you will—has declined. This “town-gown” dynamic tilts the retail mix toward late-night pizza and not so much toward, say, children’s bookstores or shoe repair shops.
The town’s drive to house more students, via private dorms rising downtown and older neighborhoods tilting toward “student slum” status, has only sharpened this character. Some longtime residents are reportedly fleeing, and much as a healthy ecosystem needs more than one species, a robust retail economy might want to serve both students and non-students.
The Online Elephant
People are buying less clothing, and most “stuff” now arrives on porches in brown boxes, courtesy of monstrous online retailers. It’s a challenging time for physical stores, sure. Economic uncertainty is the only certainty. If this sounds discouraging, it’s worth remembering: history is studded with bold new ventures launched during bleak times—because, paradoxically, shaking things up looks a bit more possible when everything feels up for grabs.
Why Bother? Some Unfashionable Reasons
- Amherst still has buying power, thanks to a confluence of students, visiting families, summer conferences, and a culturally savvy local populace.
- To open a business here is, in a sense, to become “big news”—both because it’s rare, and because local residents are rooting for something unique. People longing for a bakery, a creative deli, an innovative “compartment store,” or a culinary pop-up with guest chefs would likely make one cross the street (even in traffic) to check it out.
- The Massachusetts SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and E-for-All offer free guidance, mentoring, and business training—an underappreciated asset for new entrepreneurs.
- Opening one shop—bizarre as it may seem—can attract others, gradually making “commercial gravity” work for downtown again.
- If the business succeeds, it’s a sellable investment—meaning that the risk isn’t just a roll of the dice, but a real investment in personal and civic “infrastructure.”
Standing Out (Like a Well-Stamped Letter)
In a world where everyone is digital, doing anything analog has impact. A great retail store in downtown Amherst is a bit like a handwritten note: it gets noticed, draws attention, and—if it’s got soul—stirs up the urge to connect. This remains a town where people pride themselves on doing business in person, encountering each other face-to-face, and supporting main street, for political and tribal reasons (we like to touch what we buy; we want to know who’s behind the counter).
The Entrepreneurial Experiment
- Tough times foster invention. Many of today’s iconic businesses started during economic thunderstorms.
- Community support for local and unique enterprises is real, especially in a town with historic ties and broad, if occasionally quirky, tastes.
- Service businesses—catering to both student and permanent populations—have plenty of room to innovate, whether take-out, delivery, or something truly new.
Ira Bryck has lived in Amherst since 1993, ran the Family Business Center for 25 years, hosted the “Western Mass. Business Show” on WHMP for seven years, now coaches business leaders, and is a big fan of Amherst’s downtown.
Ira et al.,
John Page here from the Amherst Downtown BID. I agree with your call for more retail, we’ve shared in that call as well, though I would hate to gloss over our existing retailers and those like you describe that have joined us recent years:
-The Closet getting ready to open this month!!!
-Aster and Pine Market
-Restless Books
-Buttercup Bakery
-Floral Affairs
-Julie Nolan Jewelry
-Art of Intimates
-Reapparel / formerly X-Change
(Not to mention UMass and Amherst College retail stores)
Let’s show them some support and love for they stay in business!
Plus you can’t forget retail staples like:
-Amherst Books
-The Toy Box
-Zanna
-Amherst Optical
-Clay’s
-Mystery Train Records
To name a few!
We’ve even experimented with lots of pop-up Artisan Markets like right now every Thursday 3-7PM!
Any effort to expand retail in any downtown deserves: (1) A serious professional study from an outside – not local please – consultancy so there is an understanding of retail saturation and consumer preferences to name just two research areas. (2) While it is great that Amherst benefits from a flow of students seasonally: a local business person recently expressed the view that this is not a consistent year long purchasing stream which businesses need. (3) What do Town residents wish to see? Perhaps they are happy with the status quo? What will existing shop owners think? Or local building owners and developers? (4) And will they increase or sustain their support of an expanded Downtown? (5) I have proposed several times over the past year that Amherst should commission a professional outside study to see if a Downtown Hotel without inside food and beverage would generate year long foot traffic to increase Downtown consumer spending. Witness the downtown Fairfield Inn in Keene New Hampshire. A hotel also generates hotel and meals tax revenues in addition to property tax revenues. Hampshire County has recently seen several new hotels constructed and none in Downtown Amherst. And given how small the hotel market is Amherst may have lost a positive tax base asset opportunity. (6) Will increased retail require expanded parking which many stakeholders do not wish to allow. And recently, parking was removed from the Downtown. End Thoughts: Amherst has very few downtown vacancies which on the surface is a very good thing when other towns are struggling with not just vacancies but sub par quality retail storefronts. So these issues deserve a measured and thorough analysis.
here’s one from 2018:
https://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/44885/Amherst-Retail-Analysis-Final?bidId=
https://www.amherstma.gov/2214/Economic-Development
But also, “your results may differ” if your store or business solves a problem in a new way, provides a user experience that adds value, captures something about Amherst/Western Mass trends and demographics in some new way, has been a breakthrough success in similar towns, or is just the good old better/faster/cheaper.
Also, a few years ago I got a list going on nextdoor about what Amherst area people would enthusiastically support as a downtown business. The list was long, aside from missing cuisines, just sensible places to buy necessities and transact business. As someone who enjoys hanging out downtown and supporting its businesses, I’d gladly do more of my buying in my hometown. The developers who are begrudgingly including 30% of their first floor for commercial use (negotiated down from all of the first floor!), to get a mixed use status, might do even better for themselves to build a town that is more obviously filled with more of where to get one’s needs met, and send a signal that we are open for business for the “year-rounders” aka families, retirees, faculty and staff, visitors, and students.
When we moved here in 1974, there was a wholesome variety of businesses in the downtown .There were 2 shoe stores,;2, at least, hardware stores; 2 privately owned pharmacies; mens’ clothing and jeans , and 2 jewelry-gift sbops;.Some residents recall the fabric and yarn stores, the shops for women and children. I recall 4 bookstores and the funky shops that students and young families loved. Of course today we regret the loss of the Hastings store..still missed. There were at least 2 early opening opportunities for breakfasts. What happened? The mall opened, and residents and students took their shopping there. The huge Lowes and Home Depot which the local hardware stores could not compete with. Gradually the local shops closed or moved elsewhere. E ven someone new to town suggested in a letter to the Hamp Gazette that we did not need a service station and funeral home in town center. Also, the population changed over the years, thus the needs and availability changed. Added to this was the popularity of Northampton and its offerings..with some of Amherst’s shops either expanding to there ,or completely moving there.
Mr Page of the BID:
I am curious what your organization has to say about all the construction vehicles parked in town, that are taking spaces from those who would like to support the local businesses?
Or the situation where Laughing Dog Bicycles business has been negatively impacted by these vehicles ?
Thank you
All of these comments above are very worthwhile and positive. All the more reason that the issue deserves some professional analysis. Decisions to expand the retail capacity of a downtown or to recruit a hotel investor should be based on some thorough study from outside experts with no local agendas. That the Town of Hadley can contain so many hotels over the past years – is it 5 or 6? and now with two recent new constructions? But that the Town of Amherst has not added any new hotels and in fact recently lost a 20 room hotel is not good.
In my response 2 days ago, I neglected to mention that Amherst also had an excellent supermarket in town center located where CVS is now. It was owned and managed by the Vincent family, and even brought people from out of town here to shop. Unfortunately the market was forced to leave the town center location when issues arose re the status of the building.
I particularly miss the Carriage Shops where small dealers could get affordable rents, good parking, stuff I needed like violin and viola strings, tzchatzchas, . .
Ann August easily filled my needs for gifts for kids and mother-in-laws…bought all my kids leather shoes from Matthew’s… No place like Louis’foods or the local banks.
Very few merchants address my needs now.
There was a mosque above the Carriage Shops and the Pub had clown (or was it magic?) shows weekly. We went to a yarn shop and music shop there. It wasn’t so long ago (2018) that we had beers at the Pub after passing the Zero Energy Municipal Building bylaw at Town Meeting! Seems like the loss of downtown vitality coincides with the change to Town Council.
I wonder why 4 of the 5 new buildings owned by Harrison Street/Archipelago all have empty storefronts. Why haven’t these buildings attracted and retained businesses? Are they asking for too much for rent? Apparently their student rentals so lucrative that they don’t need to rent the storefronts. Gallery space, clothing store, ceramic painting studio or art classes, high end used clothing, gift shop, a Paper Source store …..
Thanks to Ira Bryck for reminding us that we will all benefit from a downtown that offers more than pizza and beer and that with some creative thought and support, a more vibrant downtown is possible.
I have a long list of businesses that have departed from Amherst Center since I arrived in town 43 years ago. Among my “most missed” are Collective Copies and Copy Cat (we really need a downtown copy shop), Fentons (sporting goods), Food for Thought Books (a left-leaning worker coop and an epicenter of progressive discussions), Glazed Doughnut Shop, Hastings (stationary and sundries and all the little things you needed and couldn’t find elsewhere), Henion (bakery), Loose Goose Café, Michelson Gallery, The Merchantile, at least two used books shops (Valley Books and Raven Books – there may have been others) and downtown groceries (including Louie’s Foods, Yellow Sun and Amherst Food Coop).
I am delighted to see that the businesses that continue to draw me into Amherst Center appear to be thriving. These include every downtown coffee shop – all of which seem to be packed all of the time, Amherst Cinema, Hair by Harlow, Go Berry and Cream, Pita Pockets, Protocol, The Toybox, and the Whisky Bar at Amherst Coffee.
Did Collective Copies move or close? ….
oh, never mind — seeing their website says they have consolidated their Florence & Amherst locations … to Florence.
Collective Copies, Amherst Copy & Designworks, The Blue Marble and Hope & Feathers are just a few of the businesses that have left Amherst for Northampton or Hadley where the taxes are lower and the rents more competitive.
Maybe the new $50 million library will bring them back.
The town also just lost Levellers Press [https://www.levellerspress.com/], housed in the same space as Collective Copies. That Amherst is a higher ed. powerhouse but now has no local publisher suggests to me that we keep giving away anything that nurtures our unique, local, cultural capital.
Who remembers the very busy Jewish Deli on South Pleasant Street, I think in the Collective Copies building.? Was it Ratner’s? Long before Black Sheep was conceived..