Locke Street - Page 6

LikeHamilton · #**101** Posted **Mar 21, 2008, 9:35 PM**

Anyone take a picture of it?

oldcoote · #**102** Posted **Mar 21, 2008, 10:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

Anyone take a picture of it?

I kid, I kid...

BCTed · #**103** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 12:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

man, anyone on Locke St today?? it was like the attack of the starbuckian suburanites. holy smokes. don't get me wrong...i'm sure the folks at the Green Monkey are loving life....each time I walked by there were half a dozen people in there milling around with these giant starbucks cups.
Speaking of which, what the heck do they serve in these foot and a half tall cups??? You can see the Starbucks people from 8 blocks away because of these huge, tall white things they are carrying.
Gee, I can't figure out why America is so fat! haha.

At any rate...it was amazing to see how many people obviously came to Locke today because they knew starbucks had opened. folks were oohing and aahing in the shop windows and coming in and out of shops saying stuff like "I had no clue there were so many neat stores here" and "what a great neighbourhood" etc.....
Yep, things have changed in Hamilton while you've all been cooconed inside Walmart the past decade. haha.
Welcome back to the city....sad that it took 2-foot tall cups of poorly-tasting, overpriced coffee to bring you back....but regardless, welcome back.

Where did the suburbanites come from?

matt602 · #**104** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 12:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTed

Where did the suburbanites come from?

Downtown Toronto.

BCTed · #**105** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 1:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt602

Downtown Toronto.

That's silly. There are plenty of Starbucks outlets in the suburban wilds of downtown Toronto.

raisethehammer · #**106** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 1:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTed

Where did the suburbanites come from?

step out your front door and take a good look (without beelining to the car, for once).

SteelTown · #**107** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:16 PM**

Went to Starbucks today at Locke. It's probably one of the best Starbucks I've been to. Nice and cozy with plenty of space. Everything is dark like dark black floor with dark chairs and tables. Nice fireplace (it's fake) but nice couch in front of it. They have a wider selection of food than typical, nice banana bread. I got grande cappuccino and a friend got honey latte (which was really nice, took a sip)

All they need is a magazine rack and it'll be perfect.

DC83 · #**108** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

All they need is a magazine rack and it'll be perfect.

Hopefully it would contain H Mag, Hamilton Magazine, & the View besdies the Obvious Spec & National Post!

Glad to hear it's nice. I'm waiting for a less-busy weekday afternoon to check it out. If there's one thing I hate about Starbucks, it's the hoards of ppl usually in them.

OH... they charge for WiFi, too don't they? I guess I'll be spending more time on my touch in Infussions rather than Starbucks.

SteelTown · #**109** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:37 PM**

All Starbucks store has WiFi, in Canada they use Bell Hotspot. I think they do charge but isn't Locke covered under the free downtown WiFi service?

raisethehammer · #**110** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:39 PM**

no, free WiFi zone ends at Queen.
I was walking on Locke today thinking that the street could really use a bookstore. hopefully someone will open one up.

SteelTown · #**111** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:42 PM**

The reason why I like the Starbucks at the Meadowlands is because it's next to Chapters and I get to read the magazine for free well drinking my cappuccino. Cheap me!

Oh and I forgot to mention they have parking at the back of the building. There's a driveway beside the building taking you to the parking lot.

When I was there this morning there were people drinking out on the patio lol, a bit too cold to do that if you ask me.

DC83 · #**112** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The reason why I like the Starbucks at the Meadowlands is because it's next to Chapters and I get to read the magazine for free well drinking my cappuccino. Cheap me!

Not cheap at all! I'm pretty sure that's the reason why Starbucks / Chapters went with that format. I love BIG book stores where I can walk around for ever, finding tons of books, then sitting on one of the many seats/couches/whatever and read them. OBVIOUSLY I'm not going to read a whole book in one sitting, so if I like it, I'll buy it.

This is why I love Ham. Central Pub. Library! There's a HUGE selection, TONS of seating and, well, the books are free! haha But I'd rather read a book in a Library than at home anyway. I'm weird like that!?

If they opened a Indigo or Chapters or even a Renaud-Bray (do they have those outside of Quebec?) in the core, I'd be there very often.

raisethehammer · #**113** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 7:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The reason why I like the Starbucks at the Meadowlands is because it's next to Chapters and I get to read the magazine for free well drinking my cappuccino. Cheap me!

Oh and I forgot to mention they have parking at the back of the building. There's a driveway beside the building taking you to the parking lot.

When I was there this morning there were people drinking out on the patio lol, a bit too cold to do that if you ask me.

SHHHH, don't tell anyone about that parking. the last thing we need on locke is a bunch of crazed maniacs roaring through the sidewalk there looking to park for their coffee.
They should put a huge patio back there....like the Courtyard is doing this summer behind their building.

SteelTown · #**114** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 8:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC83

Not cheap at all! I'm pretty sure that's the reason why Starbucks / Chapters went with that format. I love BIG book stores where I can walk around for ever, finding tons of books, then sitting on one of the many seats/couches/whatever and read them. OBVIOUSLY I'm not going to read a whole book in one sitting, so if I like it, I'll buy it.

This is why I love Ham. Central Pub. Library! There's a HUGE selection, TONS of seating and, well, the books are free! haha But I'd rather read a book in a Library than at home anyway. I'm weird like that!?

If they opened a Indigo or Chapters or even a Renaud-Bray (do they have those outside of Quebec?) in the core, I'd be there very often.

Ha! I'm the same way, I can't focus at home, I do all my homework or studying either at work, college or Starbucks at Meadowlands. In fact I do all my homework at work haha. I do most of my studying at Starbucks. One thing that sucks at Mohawk is lack of studying space, cafeteria is too noisy and the library doesn't have enough space and it can be noisy as well.

The old Bank of Montreal building along James would be great as a book store.

thistleclub · #**115** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 9:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I was walking on Locke today thinking that the street could really use a bookstore. hopefully someone will open one up.

There was once a used book store on Locke, but it was bought up by West Town to accommodate their northern expansion some years back. It seems unlikely that another used book store would be able to stand for very long, though a new book store with an enlightened magazine stand would make a nice addition.

oldcoote · #**116** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 10:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thistleclub

There was once a used book store on Locke, but it was bought up by West Town to accommodate their northern expansion some years back. It seems unlikely that another used book store would be able to stand for very long, though a new book store with an enlightened magazine stand would make a nice addition.

Walk on over to Westdale.

Bryan Prince is the best bookstore in the city.

thistleclub · #**117** Posted **Mar 22, 2008, 10:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldcoote

Walk on over to Westdale.

Bryan Prince is the best bookstore in the city.

Agreed. (I've been a customer since his Cross Street days.) Was just dreaming aloud. It would be nice to think that the old city could support another independent book merchant without draining business from Bryan. Again, maybe just wishful thinking.

rousseau · #**118** Posted **Mar 23, 2008, 2:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I was walking on Locke today thinking that the street could really use a bookstore. hopefully someone will open one up.

Bam! You hit the nail on the head. I always knew that Locke was lacking something, but could never put my finger on it. Actually, if anything Locke should have two or more bookshops.

emge · #**119** Posted **Mar 24, 2008, 7:57 PM**

RePinion · #**120** Posted **Mar 24, 2008, 8:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The old Bank of Montreal building along James would be great as a book store.

Yes it would be. Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately!) it's occupied by Gowlings and they don't intend to go anywhere else anytime soon.

Personally I think the downtown needs to retain high-end white collar places of business like Gowlings as much as (if not more than) it needs a good bookstore.