Walking down Wickenden and Thayer streets – the two major commercial areas on Providence’s East Side – one notices a stark difference. Both streets have about 80 storefronts, but the variety is not as similar as it once was.
Thayer Street has at least 15 chain stores, such as Starbucks Coffee, The Gap, Store 24, Dunkin’ Donuts and Urban Outfitters, which are inserted between some of the stores that initially attracted these corporations to the area.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Meanwhile, Wickenden Street has a collection of mostly independently owned small businesses, like art galleries, restaurants and antique shops. There are only two chains on Wickenden.
Maureen Samos, who has owned the antique store This & That Shoppe on Wickenden Street for over 25 years, said the two streets used to have a lot more in common.
“In the late seventies and early eighties they were more similar, and then Thayer Street started picking up,” she said.
And when the business picked up, so did the rent, she said, while Wickenden Street’s rates remained more modest.
Samos and her husband Charles own 13 buildings in the area. Many of the buildings house businesses, such as A Taste of India, Z-Bar, and Café Zog. She believes Wickenden has retained a certain amount of its character for two reasons: There are still a good number of houses on the street and there are not as many chain stores as are on Thayer Street.
“I think we have more private homes still left, which I think contributes to the flavor,” she said. “We don’t have all the commercial stuff, and fortunately I think that means the rougher people don’t want to hang around here, who might make the customers feel uncomfortable.”
Phillipe Maatouk runs two adjoining businesses on Thayer Street. Kartabar is a bar and restaurant and Phillipe’s is a pizza place with slices and wraps. Maatouk has run businesses on Thayer Street for over 12 years, but he said it has been difficult since opening Phillipe’s and Kartabar earlier this year, because the rent is so high.
Founded in 1958, Morrison Office Supply is among the oldest stores on Thayer Street. Current owner Bryan Creighton said that while his rent is more reasonable than the rates of some of his neighbors, the business model of the area is not advantageous for a small business owner.
“Luckily we’ve got a captive market here,” he said of the students in the area who give him most of his business.
Thayer Street property owner Steve Lewinstein said the rent is high on Thayer Street because the demand is high.
“Thayer Street is a very successful street and it always has been,” he said. “There are a number of tenants who can’t even get in there because nothing is available.”
Lewinstein said the presence of the nationally known stores help the smaller ones thrive.
“The nationals bring traffic in,” he said. “It’s not a 10-mile street, so people tend to browse the entire strip. And if there are more people on the street the mom and pop shops are going to do well.”
Chris Zingg, owner of In Your Ear Records on Thayer Street, which has two other locations in Massachusetts and another store called Zingg Music in Barrington, has had the good fortune to see chain competitor Sam Goody come and go.
“I think depending on how you do your research, Thayer Street is not the absolute gold mine some of these corporations seem to think it is,” he said. “And if they don’t do their research and try to cater to the neighborhood, it sometimes just doesn’t work.”
