November 27, 2015Featured, RetailComments Off on Online Retailers Opening Physical Stores
Target in Chicago’s former Carson Pirie Scott department store, is a traditional brick & mortar retailer still trying to expand online sales. February 2014 image
Increasingly online retailers are opening brick & mortar stores. But don’t expect big boxes filled with merchandise, purchases will still be shipped:
For instance, New York-based Bonobos offers four styles of men’s pants , 20 color options and about 30 sizes in its clothing mix. That’s over 2,400 different possibilities.
“If you were actually to stock that in inventory, the amount of space you would need would be exorbitant,” said Erin Ersenkal, the New York-based company’s chief revenue officer.
Customers leaving its stores “walk out hands-free” as the Bonobos website says, their order shipped directly to their home or office.
By only stocking clothes that customers can try on for fit, and then shipping them, “we’re able to take all the energy that would have been focused on inventory management and shift it to our customers,” he said. (USA Today)
Retailing is continually changing. It’s nothing like I remember from the 70s when I’d go to Sears, TG&Y, & OTASCO with my mom. Or even the 80s when I worked at Toys “R” Us and Dillard’s.
For online retailers, a physical store or two lets them study what customers want. Today I won’t be anywhere near a physical store. However, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday — put in your zip code to see local small businesses.
Construction of the 2,2 mile Loop Trolley continues, the track work in most of the Western portion was largely completed by November 10th.
With track completed in the main Delmar Loop crews are now working on platforms and such.
The issue of what vehicle will operate on them, however, remains an issue. A decade ago Citizens for Modern Transit restored two vintage cars, which sat outside along the Delmar Loop and in front of the Missouri History Museum. They’ve since been removed from display.
We’ve had two fully restored Ex-Milan Peter Witt single-ended cars for a decade. Click image for the Wikipedia entry on this car design named after the inventor, Cleveland Railway head Peter Witt.
When the Loop Trolley opens late next year you won’t see either of them on the route. The why requires diving into some technical issues, but I’ll try to simplify it.
The Delmar Loop is called that because decades ago the original Westbound streetcar made a loop around buildings and then returned Eastbound toward downtown. Similar loops existed in Dutchtown & Wellson.
When the new Loop Trolley was conceived it was to do a circle on the West end near the University City Hall and loop around the Missouri History Museum. Looping the track allows the driver to stay in one position to operate the vehicle in both directions. This meant the vehicles only needed driver controls at one end — single-ended.
But the Loop Trolley route was simplified to meet budget, ironically, it won’t loop!
Like our light rail, both ends come to a dead end. To go the other direction, the operator must switch to the other end — double-ended. Thus, the Loop Trolley needs double-ended vehicles.
Seattle’s King County has five vehicles that will work, they’ve been in storage since they ceased their waterfront streetcar line a decade ago:
Metro’s green and yellow waterfront streetcars used to run on a track along Alaskan Way and part of S. Main Street. The streetcars were powered by electricity. They were built in Australia for the Melborne and Metropolitan Tramways Board between 1925 and 1930. The cars are double end, double truck, and designed for two-person operation.
Manufacturer: Melborne shops or James Moore Fleet Numbers: 272, 482, 512, 518, 605 Seats: 43 passengers Length: 48 feet Two of the 1928 Australian streetcars began service along Elliott Bay between Pier 70 and Main Street in 1982. Three more streetcars joined the fleet between 1990 and 1993 when Metro extended the line to the International District. The streetcars featured Tasmanian mahogany and white ash woodwork, capturing the elegance of travel in a bygone era.
The waterfront streetcar line is named after George Benson, former City of Seattle and Metro Council member. Known as the “father of the Waterfront Streetcar,” Benson was the driving force behind development of the historic streetcar line.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 16-RFP-102339-DGR LOOP TROLLEY SEATTLE CAR REHABILITATION
HERITAGE TROLLEY REFURBISHMENT
Loop Trolley Transit Development District (LTTDD) requests Proposals for the refurbishment of One (1) Melbourne W2 vehicle and the Option (at the District’s discretion) of One or Two more Melbourne W2 vehicles. The Work shall also include shipment of the vehicles, delivery of manuals and drawings, and testing as described in the Technical Specifications.
Site Visit:
A site visit will be held at 1:00 pm on December 7, 2015. The meeting will convene at the Metro King County’s Frye Warehouse, 1501 Sixth Ave. South, Seattle, WA (across Sixth Ave. from the bus yard).
Proposers will be given access to the cars at this time so they may put together their proposals.
Clarifications may be addressed at this time but technical questions and responses will be handled by Amendment.
Questions Due: December 14, 2015 by 2:00 p.m. St. Louis Time.
Proposals Due: January 19, 2016 by 02:00 p.m. St. Louis Time.
So they want the price to restore just one Melbourne W2 car, with the option to restore one or two more. If you’ve ridden Memphis’ trolley then you’ve likely been on a Melbourne W2 car, one caught on fire in 2013.
Restored cars cost a fraction new modern ones do, but they’re also costlier to operate.
Last month I visited Cleveland to check out the best Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route in the country, see Cleveland’s Healthline Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Part 4. Earlier this month I was back in Ohio, this time in Cincinnati.
During my 3-day visit for a Streetsblog meeting we checked out the upcoming Cincinnati Streetcar. Expected to be operational by the end of September 2016, the tracks, overhead wires, & platforms are all in place.
My first sighting of their streetcar project was the tracks near The Banks (development between stadiums) turning to cross the highway and enter the central business district. Second St to Main StThe platform here is little more than the sidewalk.Most platforms are higher than the adjacent sidewalk, but very closeThe platforms, built within the parking lane, are higher than the sidewalk to allow for level boarding.Same platform from the other direction. This platform had ramps at both ends, some only have one ramp.Warning signs are up to alert cyclists to the danger of the tracks.A colorful welcome at one platformLooking eastThe overhead wires are visible in this view, looking East along Central Parkway from Race StLooking West on Central Parkway from Walnut, the streetcar track cut into the median to make the turn into the near land on Walnut. At numerous intersections cameras are able to detect the streetcar, causing the traffic signals to go into a special mode to stop all traffic — in this case allowing the streetcar to turn right across several lanes of traffic.On Walnut the streetcar turns into the right travel laneThis platform on Elm @ Elder is next to Findlay public market, 1.5 miles from The Banks. The streetcar will connect these points and everything in between.The far end of the initial line is Henry St., now closed to cars because streetcars will enter/exit maintenance yard to the left. This is at the edge of Cincinnati’s Brewery DistrictThe maintenance facility is a new structure.End of the maintenance building as seen from the yardThey’ve received their first of five vehicles, #1175. Their last streetcars ended in #1174. Each costs $2.9 million
Their streetcar will run north-south on their grid of streets. Where we’ve butchered our grid, theirs remains largely intact, albeit mostly one-way couplets. I traveled over a mile on each of four parallel streets: Elm, Race, Vine, & Walnut. Their rights-of-way are also much narrower than ours are now — they didn’t have someone like our Harland Bartholomew aggressively widening streets by forcibly taking the front bay of buildings.
What we call a trolley or streetcar, Europeans call a tram. Same thing, different name.
The vehicles are CAF Urbos 3, which are 100% low floor. If Cincinnati decides to do a light rail line out to the suburbs in the future they can use the same vehicles. Yes, modern streetcars use the same vehicles as light rail. The difference comes in how the route is designed. Kansas City is using the same vehicle for their streetcar line, which will also open next Fall.
If we do street-running light rail, or a streetcar, these would be in consideration. To meet requirements for federal projects, they have at least 60% US content.
Like most cities, Cincinnati had streetcars in the 19th century, a subway was started but abandoned. Cincinnati hasn’t had rail transit in decades. See their official stteetcar page here.
An event ia taking place tomorrow afternoon in a once-thriving commercial district: The Wellston Loop.
“Wellston Loop Family Reunion & Exhibit” will take place on Saturday, November 21 from 1 to 3pm. A sidewalk exhibition of recent photographs and historic documents will highlight the community. The event will offer free food, drink, music and videos. The primary venue will be the former J.C. Penney Department Store (on the National Register of Historic Places) at 5930 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63112.
We’re inviting members of the surrounding community (past or present) who would like to share stories, photographs or videos of the neighborhood (Wellston Loop, Hamilton Heights and Wells/Goodfellow) from any era to submit them for inclusion and display.
Another significant building in the former shopping district is the Wellston streetcar transfer station from 1909. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places. This building has recently been awarded funding for a complete historic restoration scheduled to begin December 2015. It is the only building of its kind (streetcar station building) left standing in St. Louis.
July 1963 image of The Wellston Loop from page 59 of the district nomination to the National Register, click to viewJust inside the city limits is the old Wellston Loop streetcar building, 2013 imageThe main location Saturday will be In front of the former JC Penny store at 5930 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, click image for map. 2013 photo
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