Faneuil Hall Marketplace could get major overhaul; operator vows to make it relevant to Bostonians again

I thought this was another Baker photo op attempting to win over women voters.

In recent years, with the increase in the number of chain stores, Quincy Market has slowly been becoming more like a suburban mall. Most of the things that the developers list as "problems to be fixed" are actually the features that make the place unique and are thus such a draw to tourists.

The bustling crowds in the food market are part of the thrill. Having to navigate and peer past people to see what's in the next stall is what the market is all about. If you make the aisles wider a) something has got to go and b) you turn it into just another boring food court. Leave the food market alone.

I'm all in favor of adding more places to sit and eat, which has always been a problem. But you cannot lose the brick sidewalk and do we really need more upscale restaurants? That is not a feature that will draw more locals.

I work a block away, but avoid Faneuil Hall like the plague. It just seems so bland and inauthentic. If I want to go to Banana Republic, Wagamama, the Gap, Starbucks, Urban Outfitters or Abercrappy, etc, I can go to the Prudential Center, Burlington Mall or Cambridgeside Galleria. I doubt too that most tourists are particularly impressed by seeing the same lame stores that they can find at home. Back in June I visited the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and two weeks ago, the French Market in New Orleans. Both places were much more authentic than anything at Faneuil Hall; neither had any chains and both had much more variety and more to offer (IE vegetable, meat and fish stands). I thought that if I lived near either of those places, I would probably use them regularly for my day-to-day shopping (though I would probably weigh about 100 lbs more than I do because I can't imagine staying away from Beiler's Doughnuts at Reading Terminal Market, which make the best doughnuts int he world.).

before you go dumping on Faneuil Hall. It is what makes us a world class city. It is the 7th most visited tourist attraction in the world according to some blog I've never heard of based on figures given to the blog by the people who run Faneuil Hall.

http://www.lovehomeswap.com/blog/latest-news/the-50-most-visited-tourist...

18 million people vitis it each year, more than Disney World, the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower.

Does anybody here remember the store in Faneuil Hall in the 80s that only sold pig related merchandise? I want to say it was called "Hog Wild" but I'm not 100% on that. I remember when I was a kid I was obsessed with pigs. They were my favorite animal of all time (and still are only now I am not as obsessed). For 10 year old me in 1985, Faneuil Hall was my favorite place in the world, just because of this awesome pig store. Anything pig related that you could possibly imagine they had in stock. My mom bought me a shirt with a pig standing on two legs dressed up like the Monopoly Banker that just said "The Capitalist".

This is ridiculous! Get rid of the food stalls (most of which are NOT huge chains) for boutique wine restaurants that look like they're out of an airport lounge? Do they really think an 'open plan' is going to attract more locals? Part of the fun of going there is checking out the different food stalls and mingling with the huge crowds - it makes a visitor feel like they're in the heart of the 'big city'. Yes, locals don't want to go there because of the huge crowds of tourists - but it raises the question 'if there are huge crowds of tourists already coming to spend their money, why are you tampering with what keeps them coming?'

Also, plenty of young local kids are coming in from Medford and Braintree to drink at Sissy K's, Ame's Plow or the Black Rose - are they not 'relevant'? Or are they not the sort of Bostonian the developer wants to attract?

If you must attract locals, build new attractions along the periphery of QM - for example do something with that empty greenhouse - but don't slash and burn the food stalls. We locals may be sick of them, but it's all new to visitors! A food court it may be, but it's an historic food court, and it still pulls people in.

Interesting that the new developer thinks targeting the local market will be more profitable than exclusively tourists, which seems to be the current MO.

A couple of thoughts on this--

1. Quincy Market, worn and dingy though it has become, is undeniably successful in drawing a crowd of tourists.

2. That crowd is not made up of urbanites from other cities. As pointed out above, why would anyone from Chicago or Austin want to go to Abercrombie for a generic shirt, just to have one more damn thing to cram in your luggage for the flight back?

3. The crowd that I occasionally interact with in Quincy Market (by which I mean give directions to Dick's while I'm on my weekly run to Haymarket) seems to be people who are visiting Boston not just because it's Boston (history, lobsters, mobsters) but also because it is a city. Shopping, crowds, maybe some food they won't come across is a suburban or rural community more than an hour away from a city. That the stores are in Faneuil Hall makes it more "BOSTON!" but, really, they wanted to visit a City.

4. Anyone spending enough time in Quincy Market to actually shop, rather than buying lunch and a lobstah hat for the grandkid before getting on a tour bus (or drinking in one of the douchebag bars), probably isn't flying anywhere. They're likely visiting from within driving distance, and they planned on shopping as part of their trip. Same as when I lived in DC-- tourists who have a car can buy more than tourists who fly in & out, and a lot of them visit largely to shop. Even when it's at stores they can find closer to home, the assumption is that they'll find something different at a city store-- and that's not entirely specious, as a smart chain is going to cater to expected clientele.

5. So, are there enough of these particular tourists to justify Quincy Market? I can't imagine they will ever dwindle away, given the overlap between fans of Boston sports teams and the driving/shopping tourist demo, but it might be shrinking. Online shopping? Mall burnout?

6. On the other hand, as excited as I am for the farmers market to finally open, I can't think of anything else that would pull me to that area more often-- and to overcome my antipathy. Now that Steve's on Newbury is closed, I occasionally stop by for lunch. And I like the Artists for Humanity store. Durgin Park and, once a year, Caswell Massey (since the Pru store closed), But other than that, I don't need any more chain stores than I can currently get to, since I don't foresee Ikea being in the redevelopment plans. And even though it would be a lot of fun to turn it back into a market rather than a "marketplace," with grocers and local cottage businesses and maybe even stuff off the docks again, that seems unlikely.

7. And, by the way, what the hell happened to the idea of having a new theatre in the area? That kept popping up in the Greenway plans but I haven't heard a peep in years. That might pull me to the area.

Every year it looks more and more like the Baltimore Power Plant, which was way cooler when I was kid before they covered it in horrible signs.