Op-Ed: Proposed Walgreens Would Harm Teaneck Businesses

The following is an op-ed submitted by Teaneck resident Michael Rogovin:

The recent closure of several long standing businesses does not bode well for our town and thus it may be tempting for the Board of Adjustment to approve the variances requested to bring a new business that wants to open. However, doing so places short-sighted gratification ahead of long term health, much as eating high-fat, high sugar foods makes you feel good, until you end up overweight. As I will detail below, Walgreens will not, in fact, help the town’s business hub regain momentum. In fact, it will likely hurt in the long run.

While many may clamor for national retailers, this is actually unhealthy for a small town. Unlike locally-based retailers, who live and shop in our area, national retailers siphon profits out of the community for use by highly paid executives and shareholders, few of whom live in Teaneck. Revenue that might have otherwise flowed back into other local businesses, will go out of state. Furthermore, national chains tend to pay lower wages for their employees than locally based businesses. That is one of the main ways they achieve savings. So employees make less and spend less locally. Any short-term gains will quickly disappear, and while some chains support local communities, the net effect is always a loss compared to locally-owned businesses.

As Jane Jacobs noted decades ago, large frontages harm streetscapes, hurting pedestrian traffic. Just look at the CVS stores. Their entrances are parking lot based, they present blank walls to the street. Unlike smaller stores, they present nothing to encourage foot traffic that brings people to shop at other establishments.

In fact, they actively discourage this since their parking lots are for the exclusive use of their customers. Shoppers, even those who use these stores, but then go to shop or eat lunch at another adjacent business, return to find their car booted or towed. We need more shared municipal parking, which encourage shoppers to buy from multiple retailers and restaurants, not private parking lots which only serve a single business. And a driveway in the middle of the block further discourages walkers and creates an unsafe condition.

There is no need for this store. Despite their claims to the contrary, this is not about fancy new models in an under-served community. Teaneck has an existing three CVS stores, J&J, Alvin’s all within a three minute drive of this location, not to mention Stop & Shop, 7-11 and several other stores that offer the convenience items Walgreens would sell. In addition, of course, there is a Walgreens (perhaps they should start by fixing up that store, which is dirty, disorganized and demonstrates how they think our community should be served), and nearby Costco, Target and dozens of other chain and locally-owned drug stores and other markets. They are deceiving the public when they claim that there is a market need. And if there is a need for better drugstores, perhaps they can start by fixing up the dilapidated store at State Street and Teaneck Road, or serving South Teaneck.

In fact, they have a well-planned strategy intended to over-saturate a community, hoping to damage weaker competition, figuring that small stores cannot withstand the short-term losses that the big chains are willing to sustain. What happened to the hardware stores will eventually happen to other retailers.

Finally, we need to work together to create as-of-right development opportunities that encourage pedestrian traffic, smaller-frontage stores, locally-owned businesses and professional space above retail. The only way to do this is to allow and encourage redevelopment of our one and two story retail buildings in our main commercial corridors as four to six story residential/retail. Coupled with increased bus service to both New York and to nearby rail stations, this kind of development would benefit the town with a larger tax base and housing alternatives for singles, small families, empty-nesters and seniors. Well-designed buildings can attract middle-income and affluent buyers who will patronize shops within walking distance of their homes, generating multiplier revenue for the town. Units could be subsidized to help moderate income buyers as well.

The way forward is not through variances that help businesses siphon money out of the community. Government works best when it helps create markets for private enterprise to make critical investments that are carefully thought out to benefit the community over the long term.

Michael Rogovin is an attorney with 23 years of experience in local government and higher education.