newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ERIC MODEL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

JOURNEYS INTO NEW JERSEY

Christmas shopping habits have sure changed in just a few years. With the advent of the internet, online shopping has become a phenomenon of our times. It is now possible to do all of one’s shopping at home, by phone or in front of a computer.

To many it sure beats having to deal with the crowds, parking and the impersonality of the mega mall.

But it wasn’t all that long ago that Christmas shopping meant heading down to Main Street.

The Main Streets of those times were characterized by a range of stores. They were in towns with real town centers (Not a “Towne Centre” as the highway signs like to proclaim these days). They offered public spaces, and were part of the larger community. And the stores were for the most part locally owned and operated.

Before chains and big box stores, there were local book stores, clothiers, bakeries and coffee shops – as well as movies, and local department stores.

Clearly, the world is a different place today. The automobile opened up entirely different paths of mobility – often commercial areas grew outside the core of a town, and almost always along a highway.

Though now dominated by the likes of Home Depot, Staples, Barnes and Noble, Chucky Cheese’s and regional malls, we’d like to think that there are Main Streets that still endure.

During this holiday season we’re on the lookout for a Main Street that works for you – a Main Street that is inviting, that makes you feel good, and that provides you convenient access to the goods and services you need - in a way that fosters a sense of community and a sense of place.

We grew up with Main Street in Hackensack as such a place. There were the Fox and Oritani Theaters, department stores such Arnold Constable, Franklin Simon, Sears and Bambergers. Then a multitude of smaller businesses ranging from the card stores, clothing, hardware, appliance, jewelry and upholstery shops; the coffee shops, and book stores too – all locally owned and operated.

It had a hometown feel (though we came from neighboring River Edge), and a feel that was different than other commercial areas in the region (Englewood, Bergenfield, etc.).

Now it has been supplanted by Paramus and everything that represents – both good and bad.

A couple of years ago CNN went to downtown Red Bank at the start of a Christmas shopping season to get the feel of a traditional commercial district that has been successful at revitalizing itself. One interviewee at that time described Red Bank as “very interesting: The stores are very eclectic, it's a nice mix, you get to walk outside between stores, you know, it's a throwback to what we considered good times more reminiscent of something Romantic, I guess.”

We think there are other similar places, so we’re turning to you to ask: Is there still a New Jersey Main Street that speaks to you?

We’re in search of Main Street much as Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame might describe as a little Main Street “that time forgot and that the decades cannot improve.’’

We hope you let us know, and we’ll share them with you.

Eric Model explores the "offbeat, off the beaten path overlooked and forgotten" on SIRIUS-XM Radio and at www.journeysinto.com.