Poor Little Rich Girl

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Poor Little Rich Girl is officially moving into the West Coast Video space.

I understand the landlord turned away a Verizon store and a couple of other big chains first, because he didn't want the Square going in that direction. So, hooray local businesses!

Comments

[spatch]

If that's true about the landlord's actions, that's really awesome.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

The owner of Poor Little Rich Girl told me so. He really wanted to get a small business in there. Cool, huh?

[ron_newman]

It's wonderful. I just hope we can get something cool into Poor Little Rich Girl's current space.

Cell-phone stores have helped ruin other places like Coolidge Corner and Harvard Square, so I'm glad we've managed to keep one out of Davis.

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Isn't there one on Holland right near the Au Bon Pain?

[ron_newman]

yeah, but it seems to double as a computer training school or something. It used to be 'TSR Wireless' but that company went out of business. Also, it's not taking up a prime commercial location, like the Harvard and Coolidge ones.

[dreamgirly19.livejournal.com]

tmobile might have helped ruin harvard square but it is def paying their employees well. i have two friends work there and they make a lot of money, they also do some community work within the square which is good

[ron_newman]

I'm not sure where T-mobile is in Harvard Square, but I was thinking of the Sprint Store which pushed Harvard Square's only grocery out of business. It then itself closed a couple of years later, leaving an empty storefront.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Somewhere really obvious -- next to the Body Shop, I think.

[spatch]

Totally commendable. And that's a heck of a lotta retail space, too.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

It's huge!

[cleanup-davissq.livejournal.com]

Well done landlord guy! Cellphone stores are dreadful.

[ron_newman]

Bravo! Do you happen to know the expected move-in date?

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Hopefully mid-September. West Coast Video has to actually leave and then the place has to be cleaned.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yaaay! That must mean PLRG is doing quite well. The new space is much bigger. Room for more inventory. :-)

[ceo]

Where's their old location?

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Teeny tiny store next to Rossini's bakery.

[ron_newman]

Next to La Contessa, not Caffe Rossini (which is a good 3/4 mile further east)

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Oh right - that one! I get them all confused.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Oh goody. Because overpriced resale shops that specialize in skinny sizes are totally useful to a non-gentrified population. Go boutique used stuff. I think I'll continue to shop in actual thrift shops.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

It's true; that store blows true chunks.

[ron_newman]

Perhaps with a larger space they'll have a wider selection of sizes and styles?

[cleanup-davissq.livejournal.com]

You said it -the "non-gentrified population" are not skinny!! If you're too chubby to not be gentrified, lay off the Macky Dees and you might find a size in PLRG! Too funny! You want big townies -I got ya big townies right 'ere!

[ron_newman]

Brian, that was uncalled-for.

[cutieperson]

it's a *vintage* store, not a *thrift* store. if you treat it as the latter it's not surprising you wouldn't be satisfied trying to shop there.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

My point is that I can find high-quality vintage items at thrift stores. The only difference now is that shop owners go to thrift stores (or yard sales), pick out all the higher quality stuff and sell it at a tremendous mark-up. Nothing inherently *bad* about the practice, it's American capitalism at work. It just isn't a useful use of space for someone like me *at all* and so I'm not all rah-rah excited about it like the OP. I don't have much use for a fast food wings place either, but there it is and I'm sure plenty of people *do* find it useful. I just resist the immediate assumption that indie business = good things for all. Sometimes that's true, sometimes not.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I should have said in my initial post: PLRG is a consignment store. I give her clothes I don't want, she sells them, and I get about half of the selling price. Then I can use that credit to buy clothes I do want (at an additional 20% discount), or get a check. I rarely end up spending actual cash money there.

PLRG is, to me, no competition with the Goodwill or Garment District (which also consigns, but deals more in volume). And, believe me, I *love* the Goodwill...and sometimes consign the stuff I find there at PLRG.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Yes, but are you say, a size 24? I've had friends who tried to submit plus-size clothes for consignment and she refuses to take them. The store's not for me, not every store has to be for me and I don't have to like every store. I just wasn't as rah-rah excited as everyone else, so I voiced that.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. As others have said, hopefully in the new space there will be a better range of sizes, men's clothes, etc. But even if so, to each his/her own.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I can find plenty of stuff there and I'm not skinny.

I work at a place where I have to dress nicely, so I'm quite happy to be able to buy upscale stuff at lower prices. All my work shoes have come from there (I have an awful time finding dress shoes).

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Do you have a cellphone?

[journeystar.livejournal.com]

Oh that's good about PLRG. I agree with ron_newman-maybe with the new, bigger space they can make room for more diverse consignments both style-wise and size-wize. Yay local businesses!

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Honestly one of the things I like about it is that the style is *not* diverse...I'm too dumb about fashion to be able to find good stuff if there's a large variety, so I'm really relieved when other people have exercised taste for me. All I have to decide is whether I like the owner's overall style, and then I can feel reassured that anything I buy from there will not be a Hideous Fashion Mistake ;). Whereas, say, department stores overwhelm me. My ideal world would have plenty of stores with a wide variety of clothing for the people who are good at finding the hidden gems, and specialized clothing stores representing a wide variety of genres, but it wouldn't have a store that works for me turning into one that doesn't ;).

poor little rich girl

[petula73.livejournal.com]

I find it hilarious that someone could even complain about this store moving into a bigger space.

The girl that owns it is young, she's a local, and she is heading into her 5th year of business...She did it all on her own!

So what if some things are expensive, the point is, if something costs $1200 originally at neiman marcus and she is selling it for $40 how is that a gentrification of anything?!

Yes, you can thrift too, it's not like you had to do one thing or another...She has a great eye, is hardworking, and is really nice to boot.

I would say this kind of move is exactly what the square needs! More local business!!!

[ron_newman]

Does the store sell any men's clothes (or plan to expand in that direction)?

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Not right now - the current place is tiny. But if you're interested in that you should definitely go say something, as I know other guys who'd be interested as well. And all bets are off with the new space.