Would-be Branders, A Bit of Wisdom: Play It Safe. Stick with Bloomingdale.
By Caitlin Hawke
Along the lines of my "Throwback Thursday, Bloomingdale Edition" and "From the Vault" posts, I continue to traffic in nostalgia for the neighborhood, both old-old and new-old ephemera. In a neighbor's files when questing for something else, I came across this 22-year-old NYT article from March 1997 that I, too, had clipped at the time. My thinking was: if I ever sell, this will prove to prospective buyers what a great neighborhood this is.
Ha! Here we sit two decades later in this charming district -- now basically subsumed under the generic Upper West Side moniker -- wistfully remembering the days both when we were a little out of the way and when the median rent for a one-bedroom was $1800, and a one-bedroom co-op in 300 Riverside Drive went for $245K, a bag of shells to folks in the market today.
By and large, the piece holds up. I think you will enjoy it. If the print in the images is too small, you can read it in the NYT archives here.
And another thing about this piece, I like that the Times had it right with the surtitle: "If You're Thinking of Living in Bloomingdale."
Oh, dear. But first the headline screams "A Family Enclave That Some Call SoCo" -- for South of Columbia.
Whaaa? Gimmearoyalbreak!
I had a friend back in the 90s. A bit sassy. But smart. She lived in this neighborhood when it was unchic by many realtors' standards to do so. Frankly, I thought, let them think that! My neighbors and I could live with that illusion. Preciously, I thought at the time, that friend called this area "Peru" since it was south of "Columbia." Fortunately that didn't stick. Nor has SoCo. On the other hand, I find myself wondering if there is a south of Columbia? It seems the university's reach may know no bound.
So to all the would-be branders: Here's the thing. When you have a great name, don't mess. It's Bloomingdale. It's been Bloomingdale. And Bloomingdale it will be.
You just don't change something that's been around since 1688.
And if you don't believe me, believe Gil Tauber.
Along the lines of my "Throwback Thursday, Bloomingdale Edition" and "From the Vault" posts, I continue to traffic in nostalgia for the neighborhood, both old-old and new-old ephemera. In a neighbor's files when questing for something else, I came across this 22-year-old NYT article from March 1997 that I, too, had clipped at the time. My thinking was: if I ever sell, this will prove to prospective buyers what a great neighborhood this is.
Ha! Here we sit two decades later in this charming district -- now basically subsumed under the generic Upper West Side moniker -- wistfully remembering the days both when we were a little out of the way and when the median rent for a one-bedroom was $1800, and a one-bedroom co-op in 300 Riverside Drive went for $245K, a bag of shells to folks in the market today.
By and large, the piece holds up. I think you will enjoy it. If the print in the images is too small, you can read it in the NYT archives here.
And another thing about this piece, I like that the Times had it right with the surtitle: "If You're Thinking of Living in Bloomingdale."
Oh, dear. But first the headline screams "A Family Enclave That Some Call SoCo" -- for South of Columbia.
Whaaa? Gimmearoyalbreak!
I had a friend back in the 90s. A bit sassy. But smart. She lived in this neighborhood when it was unchic by many realtors' standards to do so. Frankly, I thought, let them think that! My neighbors and I could live with that illusion. Preciously, I thought at the time, that friend called this area "Peru" since it was south of "Columbia." Fortunately that didn't stick. Nor has SoCo. On the other hand, I find myself wondering if there is a south of Columbia? It seems the university's reach may know no bound.
So to all the would-be branders: Here's the thing. When you have a great name, don't mess. It's Bloomingdale. It's been Bloomingdale. And Bloomingdale it will be.
You just don't change something that's been around since 1688.
And if you don't believe me, believe Gil Tauber.
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