Lost & Found Windows of Opportunity
Decatur Metro | September 29, 2011 | 1:10 pmWe all know the story of Decatur’s CVS plaza and the city’s hard-won campaign to convince the developer to place the drugstore along the sidewalks of Ponce and Commerce. Unarguably, a huge win for our city. If the CVS building was tucked back into a corner of that massive lot, that Decatur intersection would still be an unpleasant place for pedestrians.
But, while the fight was won to move the building, it’s obvious that CVS wasn’t willing to compromise more than that. And that story can be told by observing its street-facing windows.
You can almost hear the CVS corporate interior designers saying, “OK, they can move the building forward, but hell if we’re going to change the interior layout!” (Apparently, I imagine that corporate designers swear a lot.) So while we get a nice row of windows fronting our sidewalks, they are covered with funky red panels, because…well, it’s a building living in the city that grew up in the ‘burbs. Drivers care little about the placement of a building’s window. Behind these particular windows, you won’t find window displays, but the back’s of the cashiers’ heads as they ring up an endless line of customers or the rear-side of an extra display that couldn’t find wall space.
This layout is so familiar that it’s no surprise to most these days, but it is still regrettable. How much more enjoyable would that strip of concrete be today with a hugely ornate Halloween display instead of panels of red raindrops? (Maybe these panels were Peter Gabriel’s inspiration?)
But of course this is Decatur. For every shortsighted, corporate “this is the way we’ve always done it” decision, there’s local innovation and reinvention. We take the lemons grown out of the 1960s and turn them into sweet, downtown PLACES, which hold near-universal appeal to bipeds. So it wasn’t hard for me to locate some windows of found opportunity. Case in point…
Cakes and Ale. Even though the (local!) owners of this restaurant had to work within the constraints of certain preservation guidelines in order to receive the tax credit for its build-out (i.e. this had to be a side-door and not the front door), the Cakes and Ale remodel brings windows (and a glorious door!) to this once blank, chocolate frosting-covered wall. (Since this pic was taken, C&A has even added wooden planters and an outdoor dining space to this area to further define it.)
It’s projects like these that give me great appreciation of Decatur’s less-than-perfect spaces, and (almost) appreciate the urban missteps of earlier decades. Decatur is not the greatest example of Old South architecture, or does it retain the most hardcore street grid west of Savannah. But most of the time, Decatur knows better than most communities how to make the most with what it’s got.
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I wasn’t here for the CVS debate but all things considered, the outcome could have been much worse. True enough, the building’s facades are uninspiring and uninviting artifacts of corporate branded architecture and CVS could do much more to activate the wasted space along its Ponce and Commerce street fronts. But it does appear that there was some effort to address both streets with the chamfered corner and the parking lot sort of tucked in back.
Cakes and Ale succeeds because of how it activates the sidewalks in front and on the side. This clearly is a win for good urban design and historic preservation. There’s no wasted space and it is clearly oriented towards pedestrians. The new dining area on the side was a brilliant move to expand the building’s usable space beyond the bricks and mortar envelope. A real win for Decatur and for historic preservation.
Nice Peter Gabriel reference!
I never shop at CVS and neither should you. So long as we have people like Ira Katz at the Little Five Points pharmacy watching our backs we don’t have to.
False. I doubt that Ira Katz has peanut butter M&M’s.
Here’s to Ira Katz and the Little 5 pts Pharmacy!!! I’ve been driving the 5 extra miles to do buisiness with a true independent pharmacy for over 20 years. He knows exactly what i’m taking and always lets me know if something isn’t going to mix well.
He takes the time and he knows my name. Try going to the CVS pharmacy and find
1: the same pharmacist you saw the last time you were there
2: get anyone at the pharmacy counter to smile at you or even look up at you without you prompting them first
3: anyone who knows your name or care to
Drugs is drugs..service is everything
Phew! I was just about to go there to pick up some medicinal cream (no, you don’t want to know) and boy am I glad I saw this. But now it’s got me worried. I also plan to have dinner at either Big Tex or Ted’s and then drink some beers and play some darts at Trackside. Please, please, please tell me if these are also things that I should not do.
I’m nosy, so actually, I do want to know. What is your medicinal cream for? Your OTP rash should be well cleared by now. Just something mild, or do we need to wipe down the seats after you at Trackside?
As a rule, you should always wipe your seat before sitting at Trackside regardless…
Walrus beat me to the punch about Trackside, though I’ll point out that you should definitely extend his logic to the bathroom…
And if you *must* know, it’s actually not so bad, just a bit of burning on the old feet. It may be fun to the stay at the Y-M-C-A, but I would not recommend showering there 😉
the old wolf camera should have been turned into a book store/coffee house
There used to be a “book store/coffee house” across the street (where the Snowball place is now) that failed.
I’m pretty sure they would have leased it to you. Seriously though, I think the CVS shopping center is one of the better strip malls. I’m not a particular fan of CVS, but it is awfully convenient to have one downtown (at least for me and other downtown-area denizens). Also, I love Pastries a Go Go, and Mellow Mushroom remains my favorite pizza in the city. Most recently, I was pleasantly surprised that my credit union opened a branch there. Would I have preferred a bookstore/coffee shop there? Sure, but last I checked we have 3 bookstores and 3 coffee shops downtown. Not to bad, says this book loving, caffeine addict.
Honestly, I never look at the CVS anymore so it doesn’t bother me. Not sure I would notice anymore even if the parking lot were on the corner. But, I admit the world might, and I stress might, be a little more pleasant with such an attention to detail. If the world were populated with people like me, there would be no birthday cards or planning trips to the beach, etc. And hence (ugh, another “hence” – what is wrong with me?) no need for CVS.
I just moved to Decatur about a month or so ago and I’m just curious.. (hopefully I wont get destroyed for this) but.. what was all the commotion about? I’ve driven by this CVS about 5 or so times and I have never even noticed the red signs on the windows. Let alone did I think, why on earth is a CVS here.
Am I missing something?
Oh, lord. We need to send George to the City’s re-education program … called Decatur 101 …. that the City holds a couple of times a year.
Mock me all you like. Or, you know, engage in the discussion.
Since George is new to town, if he attended Decatur 101, he could learn about the fight over that property when the shopping center was being proposed and why the city didn’t want a big giant street facing parking lot because it didn’t fit in with their downtown redevelopment plans and why the compromise was reached to put the CVS on the corner where it sits today.
Apologies if you weren’t in fact mocking me. I don’t know how to interpret the term “re-education”.
Maybe I was a bit snarky or sarcastic … but not mocking. I think they do a great job with Decatur 101 … but it is kind of fun to re-interpret it as sort of a Decatur brainwashing program. Again, not that I think that it is. Just kind of funny. I’m weird, I know.
Do I get to drink Koolaid and wear a fancy robe at Decatur 101? I kid.. I kid..
I guess when you come from a location full of super-corporate shopping centers and very few “mom & pop” shops, you don’t notice them as much. I will say this, I definitely do prefer the local businesses but I’d rather buy a tube of toothpaste at Kroger/Walmart for 2 bucks then get one at a local business for 5+. (This is used as an example, please don’t go to walmart.com looking for toothpaste prices to prove me wrong, because I probably am)
Toothpaste is super cheap at Big Lots.
You drink the Kool-Aid… and you learn to identify the “evil-doers”. They are usually big, successful and non-union. You know the type: WalMart, Starbucks, CVS, Walgreens, Target (some give them a pass), Borders, Home Depot, etc. Some are ok, as long as they are not too close to Decatur: IKEA is a good example.
Some refuse to shop at these bad places, others do (in disguise).
There is a general anti-big-corporate chain mentality here, some of which I understand and some of it I don’t. I can understand objecting to a WalMart and its big footprint, but some of the objections seem to be more about aesthetics than any real differences. Sort of like how some people think Target is any less of a big corporate chain than WalMart. Or think a consumer good made by exploited and forced labor is more acceptable if sold by an independent retailer. I support local businesses every chance I get, but I don’t consider them to be automatically superior to chains.
If I was poking fun at big corporate in this post, it was mostly to get a laugh. My main point was that they under-utilize their window space in favor of a traditional layout that’s completely unsuited for their surroundings.
I agree that much of the anti-big corporate attitude is misdirected.
I wasn’t necessarily commenting on your post so much as the general attitude in Decatur, that and the post telling us where we shouldn’t buy our cotton balls (shout out to JT.)
Aesthetic concerns are real concerns.
+1
in an aside about walmart: My husband was in a DeKalb jury pool in a case involving Walmart recently. The jurors were asked how they felt about Walmart. One woman replied, “I think they are the antichrist!” The very quick attorney then asked, “Well, if the antichrist were the victim of a crime, could you judge it fairly?” The potential juror paused to consider, then allowed how she thought she could.
Oh, come on now! Another George in Decatur? We few legacy Georges need to set a quota, erect a roadblock, or limit residency in some way.
I feel my old name value is diminished. I shall now call myself Hieronymous. (Not that anyone cares since I hardly comment any more. Which reminds me, when is DM going to fire up a new hot topic? Any involuntary movement of toys over at the “misfit toys” playground lately. 😉
There used to be a department store in Roanoke, VA, called that.
“limit residency in some way”
But you have, haven’t you?
I agree with George. What’s the big deal? So what?
It’s not a big deal on its own. Decatur has enough examples of urban principles being applied correctly that it’s not a big deal – anymore.
But if every business in Decatur acted like CVS, papering over their street-front windows, you might feel like it was a slightly bigger deal. It’s a testament to the city-at-large that it’s not such a big deal. But it’s still a “lost opportunity”, which is what I called it.
Don’t be too hard on CVS. It is standard operating procedure for drug stores and grocery stores to treat their storefronts that way. They aren’t a department store. At least there is some clear glass and be glad it is retail and not another restaurant.
Don’t blame it on CVS. Blame it on the developer. I don’t think CVS cared where they were. It was the developer who said the front corner location wouldn’t work.
And, in all fairness to CVS, that corner looks like many other CVS stores with front corner entrances. Think, for instance, of the one at Chesire Bridge and Lindbergh, although it does have parking in the front. On one side, the checkout backs up to the window – probably not someplace they’d clear out the window. On the other side, a stock shelf backs up to the window – maybe an opportunity to be creative, but they’d have to rearrange that stock somewhere.
But that’s my point. The store is just a cookie-cutter model of other CVS stores, which is a lost opportunity to engage the street.
DM- Very interesting to think about it from the pedestrian’s point of view! It wasn’t so long ago that all merchants made full use of window displays to lure folks in… the CVS windows likely don’t have ledges to set things on. That doesn’t mean that Corporate couldn’t get creative if they had appreciative passers-by who’d turn into shoppers! The red panels are meant to screen the sun glare… It’s fun to imagine zombies and goblins (costumes!) lurking from the red windows! Oooohhh! Spooookyyyy!
You are correct, but I don’t think CVS, with thousands of stores, is motivated to change anything. The customers still come in.
Standing in line at the CVS checkout counter a few months ago, it occurred to me how isolated the interior of the store was from the sidewalk life outside. Based on what I could see from where I was standing, I could have been anywhere within CVS’s market reach…Tucker, Alpharetta, Birmingham, wherever.
That’s probably exactly how they want you to feel.
Accidentally posted before I finished…
DM I agree with you. CVS sits squarely in — could even define — the category “could have been so much better/could have been a whole lot worse.”
While I don’t think that the CVS Plaza is the most attractive part of Decatur, it has its appeal. With 17 Steps, Pastries A-Go-Go, and the Delta Credit Union ATM there, I often have a reason to stop in. That row of stores is attractive enough and has a sidewalk albeit it does not front the street.
The CVS itself functions a bit like a mart for the West Ponce area. There’s enough basic refrigerator items and basic dry foods, plus toiletries, school supplies, seasonal items and a few hardware, car, and baby items that it’s a decent first stop when one has desperate last-minute need for an item on off hours when other places aren’t open–e.g. safety pins, school posterboard, lice treatment, debit gift card, envelopes, milk, crackers, Swedish fish, etc. There was a time when the parking lot seemed to get a lot of panhandling and scammers but I haven’t noticed that as much lately.
As an example of how the CVS is part of our community, there was a kindergartner 5 years ago who got mixed up during the first week of school and got off the bus in Downtown Decatur instead of at her stop (which should not have happened if proper bus protocol were followed but that’s another thread….) The kindergartner recognized CVS and headed for it, went inside and found a security guard, and was properly hooked up with her family.
Hee! Swedish fish! Why do I sense a bit of list building to mask a candy run going on here?
(For me, hardware runs= Mary Janes and Squirrel Nut Zippers! :0)
I don’t know why Swedish Fish are so special but they are. I only discovered them recently in life but they are the most coveted candy in our family. And they are just scarce enough in the stores still to make them a special treat.
traffic count + giant parking lot + giant logo sign = corporate retailers success formula.
Nothing else matters. Good urban design is in direct conflict with their goals.
My mom was a corporate designer and project manager for the Wal Marts. Dear goddess does she swear
I wish CVS had something like the funky jars full of mysterious liquids in the window at McKinney’s. In fact, I wish every storefront in Decatur had something to set it apart — which is kinda the point. Fortunately, it has plenty of personality, even if it lack architectural panache. We’ve got the Brick Store with its home-made hobbit door, Leon’s with its bocce court, the Nawlins funkiness of the sno-ball joint, Sawicki’s window plastered with poster’s for every cause, Decatur CD’s collection of giant CD covers, the fire-engine red of Mac McGee’s, etc. But you can’t blame people who fled to Decatur from cookie-cutter suburbs for getting nervous anytime a corporation shows up. The nightmare on Caroline Street should serve as a caution…
Dectaur CD needs to get some new giant cd covers. All the ones they have on their wall are old, and some of them are the worst album those artists have ever released.
The CVS should have never been allowed to be on the corner—these type of corporations never play nice–even in urban conditions such as San Francisco (not sure it is a CVS in SF, but some large chain does the same think in the Mission). CVS could have been placed within the development had a drive throught (hate them) and still been successful.
What I have been upset with is the city allowing the bank to go on the corner of the street. It is and will always be a dead zone —in no way does the bank activate the corner—at least people come and go out of the front door of the CVS. Most people use the drive through for bank services. In all the years it has been there I have never seen anyone use the bank front door.
If both CVS and the bank want this proximity they should have to scab a “Liner Building” (only have to be 20 feet deep and run the length of the building) alone Ponce so that a more active store front could enliven the streetscape.
It’s the Taco Mac corner I now worry about—what developer will come along and totally kill the corner of any possible street life, thus rendering 3 corners as really bad examples of good urbanism?