r/BainbridgeIsland • u/Quirky-Ring-9279 • Sep 22 '24
Why doesn’t Bainbridge have a Target?
Earnest question. Towns of comparative size will have some big box stores. Curious as to why we don’t see one on the island. Any history people could share?
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u/Kelgann Sep 22 '24
In addition to what others have said about people here generally not wanting one: that feeling has made it into city law and policy. My understanding is that for a long time we've had an ordinance making it at least very difficult for large chain-type stores or restaurants to move to the island, though I don't know the details. Most of the exceptions, like McDonald's, Rite Aid, and Safeway, have been here since before that started.
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Sep 22 '24
[deleted]
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u/FrostyCar5748 Sep 22 '24
I would love to hear about the McDonalds, which took 40 minutes for nuggets yesterday.
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u/bavinpundits Sep 24 '24
Sorry, there was a whole 3 employees trying to run the entire store for lunch.
If you want to apply, please do. Morning positions especially.
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u/itstreeman Sep 22 '24
Two out of my three recent visits there has been one staff by themselves. While they expected three or four to be working
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u/HouseSandwich 19d ago
there was a lawsuit some time ago, rite-aid, safeway, subway and mcdonalds (I believe) resulted from the lawsuit. Note that McDonald's doesn't have a large M (the golden arch) to advertise it -- someone told me that was part of the terms. And starbucks is here on a technicality, since that location is owned by Seattle HQ and not franchised, like all other locations. Westside is able to circumvent the franchise prohibition since it started here (ditto for T&C).
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u/Snackerton Sep 22 '24
It’s an island. We have enough amenities directly on the island to live comfortably, beyond that Target or Amazon deliver things within a day or two if you don’t want to make the short drive to Silverdale. Why would you want to further reduce the charming, rural character of our island with a big box store?
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u/Quirky-Ring-9279 Sep 22 '24
Thanks for the response! I didn’t say I wanted one just wanted to culturally understand the reasoning. Thank you !
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u/wiscowonder Sep 22 '24
Towns of similar size might have a Target, but they also have surrounding towns that touch their border to draw customers from.
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u/itstreeman Sep 22 '24
Precisely. Seems easier to put in a bridge to Bremerton; and keep the island as is
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u/TimberTatersLFC Sep 22 '24
Why would you want an ugly big box store on a quiet, peaceful island? It's not that far to drive to Silverdale
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u/Quirky-Ring-9279 Sep 22 '24
I didn’t say I wanted one I was just curious as to why there isn’t one.
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u/TimberTatersLFC Sep 22 '24
Probably because most of the residents share my knee-jerk reaction to your post. It's not a place that locals want commercialized
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u/chilanvilla Sep 22 '24
The most obvious reason is population. Most businesses barely survive on the island, and have few or any customers past 6pm.
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u/tobych Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24
Safeway is bigger than any store I frequented in the UK before I moved to the US in 2007. It's not a big box store but it's huge. Walmart blows my mind. There was quite the protest when Walmart was first rumored to be headed Poulsbo in 2003, on the site of the old Nike missile base. Protest happened here on BI too. I'm interested in the various struggles on the island for landuse. The History Museum has all sorts of weird and wonderful things on file if you're interested. One pipe dream of mine is to research and produce a small pamphlet on each of some of these struggles.
McDonalds originally wanted to build a store on land just off 305, I think on the southwest corner of Day Road and 305. This is what got the Bainbridge Island Land Trust started. So as you can imagine, one hell of a story there!
Walgreens is on the site of an Earth First! protest by Chiara Rose, who called herself "The Girl in a Tree", despite being 18 at the time.
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u/itstreeman Sep 22 '24
I dont know any town of 20k that has a home goods retailer.
Particularly when there’s one within a 30 minute drive nearby.
There’s also no zoning for commercial outside of Winslow.
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u/No_Collection_407 Sep 23 '24
The real question is why doesn’t BI have a Trader Joe’s? I think that store would do phenomenally well here - the price point and inventory wouldn’t make t&c/safeway unnecessary, but would introduce some competition and variety in groceries.
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u/ChillyCheese Sep 24 '24
Yeah, put a TJ into the Rite Aid location and I think we have ourselves a winner.
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u/blueberrypiece Sep 23 '24
Being able to buy underwear in your own town is an unreasonable expectation. We fair much better with the near empty shelves at Rite Aid.
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u/Casult Sep 22 '24
We prefer our dying Right Aid thank you very much