It Makes No Sense

[Peggy Gurney]

Thrift stores of any sort would not be permitted to open downtown, whether they want to or not. 

[Towntalk]

What is so telling about downtown Youngstown is the fact that not even the thrift stores for the Salvation Army and Goodwill want to open a second hand store downtown. Salvation Army's store is in Boardman and Goodwill's is in Liberty.

[AllanY2525]

Stores and businesses go where there are customers who can afford to patronize them
the most.  For this reason, they will cater to their customers with regard to where
they set up shop.

One of the first rules of commerce.

The efforts to bring upscale residents to downtown are to build a customer
base that would *make* businesses want to locate downtown versus setting
up shop Boardman, Austintown, Liberty Township.

It's a vicious catch-22 because upscale city dwellers generally want to live in an area where
there are stores and shops nearby.

[Towntalk]

On the one end, people want high end apartments and condo's in downtown Youngstown, yet they are making absolutely NO effort to bring retail stores downtown forcing these deep pocket families to drive all the way out to Boardman or Liberty to shop. If I had an income that would allow me tolive in a high end apartment with all the frills, I sure would not waste my time living miles away from any grocery store or any other retail store. A person of any means would have to be a total fool to live in downtown Youngstown the way it is today.