The Future of Convenience?
In this article Jeff Patterson discusses the future of convenience stores. Here are some of his ideas:
Picture the following scenario:
Mr. or Mrs. suburban Anoka pulls into the parking structure adjacent to the train station along the Northstar Commuter Rail Corridor in Anoka. It is 6:50 a.m. He or she has 10 minutes to complete some errands and buy some essential sundries before boarding the 7 a.m. train headed for downtown Minneapolis. He or she can buy coffee, a breakfast sandwich and a newspaper before boarding the train.
If there is extra time, the same transit rider could drop off dry cleaning to be picked up later, leave the car at the nearby “convenience auto” stop for a wash and an oil change and deposit the toddlers at day care or pre-school.
The transit commute home in the evening presents more possibilities. How about a take-away, prepared food counter where a broasted chicken or take ’n bake pizza could be secured for the evening meal or a “mini-fitness” workout locker room?
Is the future of convenience going to be attached to major transit hubs and rail stations? Mr. Patterson demonstrates that things can always change as long as you look at it in a different way. You see a lot of this around automobile hubs and stops, but why not for mass transit as well. The Regional Rail in Philadelphia is already on its way by turning old stations into coffee shops and places to eat. Hopefully the Northstar will be new not only in the transit it provides, but also the services that are located near stations.
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