Sure most of the merchandise in Family Dollar is not $1.00.

But then again not alot of the stuff in the old Woolworth's 5 & 10 stores sold for a nickel or a dime either.

This is my first post on these boards but the discussion relates to storefronts within my walking distance so I felt compelled to respond.

Peck's... your ugly as hell, but I can spit on you from my backyard and you've never kept me up at night. Your a fixture and your local, keep doing your thing.

ACE. I don't use you but I can see you're useful. My fiance is a regular customer and she makes good money, probably even more then some of the people pining for you to be an art gallery...

Dollar store and other dollar store... wtf go away. You are dirty, sell crap that should cost a dime and are the eyesores of all eyesores. You are taking up valuable real-estate that could be used for... oh i don't know... pizza place? hair salon? super dry cleaners???

Stop complaining about the places that have existed here forever and do good business and start worrying that the Ridge suffers from complete lack of imagination and planning. If the best we can do is add more of the same sh*t we already have then the excitement was all for nothing....

I mostly have a problem with the people who congregate in Peck's general area, not Peck's itself. Seems like the people here have a soft spot for this place, so by all means enjoy Peck Millers. It just seems as though there are some shady things going on in that general area.
I'm not saying Roxborough revolves around me, but we all have our 2 cents....isn't that what this board is for? How many people come on here trashing RDC or any of their properties?
In my opinion, they have made at least the appearance of their properties better. Thank you for your time.

howard100,

I've been living in the East Falls/Roxborough area for 10 years now. I have never once been into Peck Millers and would pretty much never dream of going there. But I have been in this area awhile and have been living literally down the street for a year now. I really have to wonder what you are talking about when you mention the people congregating outside. I have never seen crowds outside Pecks like you would see outside any bar in Manayunk. In fact I've never seen more then 3 people outside. I have also never seen anything I would describe as shady. The people that go to Pecks happen to be your neighbors. BTW a good dive that the locals like is considered a plus in most places. If Pecks has been around as long as people say then they must be serving someone...

As I said before the Ridge does not suffer from these fixtures that some people consider, uh lets say "dumpy", for lack of a better word. Ridge suffers from lack of imagination. I'm not pointing to RDC and frankly I don't know who to point to. But the idea that we need a starbucks when we already got crossroads, that we need subway/primos when we got lennies, that we need supercuts and any other freaking haircut place when we already have 72 fine establishments (hairdresser row if you will), that we need a tax place, some other store, and then another freaking tax place....

I'm sorry it boggles the mind sometimes. PTG does great business because it is a great business. It is well run and theres not a million others. It filled a need. The Ridge has many needs but because of some lack of imagination/money/willpower/whatever we keep getting crap we already have (and in most cases a step down from what we already have).

All I'm saying is lets stop looking at the places we have that some of us would like to see gone and lets focus on filling the empty store fronts we stuff we actually want/need....

i agree that we should have the empty stores filled before worrying about the bad stores that we have. i think the area is coming along nicely, with the addition of some decent stores. i'm not very creative, so i don't know what kind of place you want to see around here.
i dont know if the issue on that corner is peck's or not, i just see strange happenings there, mostly on the green lane side. i know there are apartments in there that may have nothing to do with peck miller's.
Overall i am pleased with the area, just thought i would test the waters and see how everyone else feels about these stores. Most of the people seem to like them, so i will now shut my mouth. The locals have spoken!

Would you feel the same way if Family Dollar was as big and beautiful as SuperFresh but still carried the same merchandise?

Family Dollar is gross. However, I can buy detergent there for $2 and I don't have to get in my car to get it.

This neighborhood is definitely improving. However, Roxborough has families that have lived here for generations - and many of them don't want to pay extra money for their groceries, beers, money orders, etc to support gaudy renovations that will aesthetically appeal to higher income residents.

I do think that more money should be put into basic upkeep of these places you mention, but as far as eliminating the business - Pecks, Family Dollar, and Ace have far outlasted tons of new, more "appealing" places that have come and gone in this area. There is something to be said for that.

Well said, Twinklebug. I moved from Center City to Roxborough about three years ago and was initially dismayed at the lack of "aesthetically appealing" retail establishments on Ridge. However, my 82-year-old next door neighbor and her 90-year-old friend walk up to the Family Dollar Store every week to buy what they need on their fixed incomes. Just last week she bought me a new Sudoku book from there (and yes, it cost $1.00). Not sure what they would do if that store closed.

There's room for everyone on Ridge. I would certainly like to see a few more higher-end establishments open up but not at the expense of those that cater to lower-income residents.

Let us not assume that families that have lived here for generations are any more happy with the stores that you describe. That same superior attitude surfaced years ago with people moving into Manayunk as if the residents were beneath them socially and economically.

What the older families from the area miss are Clover's & Woolworth's. Kohl's doesn't cut it. The dollar stores sometimes make up for this (not everyone can hop in a car & head to Target or Walmart). And why shop at the Acme & pay $10 for something you can get at the dollar store for half the price?