Keep Track of the Erie Canal Harbor
If you just can't get you're information pertaining to the Erie Canal Harbor quick enough, you may want to check out the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation's new website. There you will find all of the project details as they surface. Need to know what's happening with the demolition of The Aud? Or what the event schedule is for the Inner Harbor? Maybe you're new to Buffalo and want to research the history of the project. If the Inner Harbor is of interest to you, then bookmark this new website.
If you're a boater, then you will want to know what the site plans are for next boating season. Or if you're into development, then this is a good way to keep track of work-proposal requests, RFPs, RFQs, etc. Keep track of who the Board of Directors are, project statuses and budges (here) and Canal Side partners.
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onestarmartin
The site is very intersting. I had to laugh at the "Bass Pro" numbers though. They are basing them on 5.400 customers a day? Where on earth are they getting 33,000 customers a week?
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sally
That basically amounts to everyone in WNY (1.6 million) going there once a year (once every 296.29 days to be precise) That is of course assuming that no one from Ontario or other parts of the US go there and that no one go there more frequently than once every 296.29 days. Since the Galleria attracts over 6 million per year or 16,438 per day the 5,400 per day certainly seems within reach
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chrishawley
There's been studies issued by opponents of subsidies to sporting goods stores that show, definitively, that Bass Pro and Cabela's grossly inflate their visitation numbers to bolster arguments for hefty hand-outs.
Sally, your comments are incisive because it shows how ridiculous it is to tout that a single store, at the foot of Main Street, will attract a third of the number of daily customers as the entire Galleria Mall, with its 200 stores, several department stores, movie theater, restaurant complex, and quick NYS Thurway access and free parking.
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sweeper
While I think 5k is a lofty number also (3k seems more likely), don't underestimate the number of complete hicks we have in this area that would cream their pants upon entering this store, and frequent it quite often. It won't be as many people from the city, but from the north and south that will flock to this store, as well as Canadians. Lots of hunters around here. Bass Pro's seem to be a destination for people, it'll draw from as far away as Rochester, Erie, and the entire Southern Ontario areas, if not further. And don't forget it also has easy access from the NYS Thruway.
Even if it only provides me with something nice to look at as I walk to Sabres games, I welcome it. Hopefully it'll spur the fringe development along the Inner Harbor (resturaunts, etc) so there's something to do near the arena aside from a couple bars in the Cobblestone district.
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chrishawley
The project timeline seems to express that all the original cobblestone streets will be reconstructed at historic grade "by May 2008." So where are they?
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tjhorner1
That website is AWESOME....if it was still 1998!
Just because the Erie Canal district is historic, doesn't mean that the website has to look that way too. And the "Photo Gallery" section. No excitement, no pizazz. No feeling of "I need to get down there NOW to check that out". Kinda embarassing.
Is this site designed to monitor the progress of the district, or market it? If marketing is the target, a redesign is probably needed, ASAP. See the Buffalo CVB site for an example of a good marketing site for our area....
Once again, I'm just sayin".....
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vgs
chrishawley - while the numbers are probably overstated you have to remember that it is not a "single store at the end of Main St" and that is what many posters keep referring to it as. IF the project happens it includes a retail component that is in the 500-600K sq ft, that is half the size of the Galleria (pre-expansion I believe). The developement is also to include a museum, hotel, residential and office space, not to mention the draw from the arena events. An attraction like this and like the Galleria draw much farther than just Erie County and Western NY. When looking at a WNY project like this and factoring in Ontario you are looking a substantially larger metro population than what is on record for WNY. This, if done as planned, and combined with the historic element of the area has the potential to draw from a 200 mile radius (Cleveland, Erie, Toronto, Rochester, Syracuse and all points between).
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pier1sailing
If this project happens, it will make the projected visitor numbers look low; boating,hunting and fishing is a life style- how many are registered in the Greater Niagara region? Out of 22 million people, I bet the number is high. To enhance Lake Erie with a Bass Pro shop is a perfect project for this area-I just wish it happened faster.
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chrishawley
No vgs, I have to disagree with you.
The website says the Bass Pro shop alone will attract 2 million customers per year. The site makes no claims about the number of yearly customers of ancillary retail development.
I took the liberty of looking up the top visitor attractions in the world according to yearly visitorship, listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine.
Bass Pro claims it would attract almost as many people every year as the Taj Mahal (2.4 million), the Hermitage Musuem in St. Petersburg (2.5 million), the ruins of Pompeii (2.5 million), the Pyramids of Giza (3 million), and Yosemite National Park (3.44 million).
So yes, I question their numbers.
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allfit
Chris, we get it, you don't agree with the government subsidies to private companies. Just state that openly instead of going at it sideways through the numbers.
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PaulBuffalo
Chrishawley, you present fun reading but it's not a fair comparison. A 75,000 square foot specialty retail store in New York City can easily have foot traffic numbers of 1-2 million per year. Destination retail, if done correctly, can achieve and beat those numbers. The average IKEA store can see 10,000 visitors a day.
Will a BassPro in Buffalo see two million visitors per year? I think there are many challenges: easy access to the store; the ability of BassPro to keep their store fresh and up-to-date to encourage repeated visits; and, unfortunately, the economic crisis. Buffalo is a very challenging market, but BassPro seems a smart retailer that can achieve success here.
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Biniszkiewicz
Count me among the skeptics of these projected customer counts, especially in winter.
I've been to a Bass Pro store in a mall in Charlotte. I buy sports equipment now and then (kayak, skates, skis, camping, those sorts of things). I just don't get it. I fail to understand how they intend to draw these numbers once the novelty is gone.
I wish Bass Pro luck because I would like to see retail thrive in this neighborhood (I am skeptical it will), but I think it is fundamentally unfair of taxpayers to subsidize one competitor in the marketplace (I also oppose economic development zones and other tax incentives on similar grounds; I believe the playing field should be level. Lest others question whether we should aid suburban competitors via subsidized road development, etc., I agree we should not).
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chrishawley
PaulBuffalo, you are right of course, but who will claim that Bass Pro will attract as many customers as a Virgin Megastore on Times Square or a Crate & Barrel on Broadway in SoHo? Well, besides Bass Pro and the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation...
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vgs
The numbers are certainly ambitious and questionable but this is being planned as a very large comprehensive project and you cannot seperate that from Bass Pro, the people (maybe not as many as they say) will come in droves. Who cares anyway really, if this come off we are going to have a pretty cool inner harbor entertainment district. We have waited for ever for something like this to come around and we are sitting here debating foot traffic counts. How pathetic!
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PaulBuffalo
Chrishawley, if an average IKEA can get 10,000 visitors a day as a destination retailer, I think a Buffalo BassPro should be able to get one million visitors a year. The two-million number seems ambitious but I'll be glad to be wrong if they can get so many visitors.
I agree with Biniszkiewicz that winter weather on a cold waterfront will be a challenging environment and, hopefully, BassPro will tailor the store environment to encourage that winter foot traffic. I am skeptical that BassPro will cause spillover to other retailers, though, because I don't think there is sufficient density in the area.
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