Most of us felt the earth shake a bit last Friday, April 5, from the New Jersey earthquake.
Thirty years ago, you could say things were shaking in terms of our area’s economy in April, for better or worse.
Probably the biggest “tremor” was felt when The Daily Star of April 4 reported, “Bresee’s Oneonta Department Store will be closing its doors after almost a century on Main Street as a Main Street anchor — leaving 95 employees without jobs and generations of customers without a shopping tradition.”
Not surprisingly, the community was saddened by the loss of this tradition. The store soon re-opened as Bresee’s Kitchen and Bath.
Another store tradition had closed on Main Street earlier in 1994, but as The Star of April 26 reported, “A discount retailer will move into the former Woolworth’s store…this summer, the building’s owner said Monday.
“Merchandise at ‘Building 203’ will be similar to items that Woolworth’s sold, said James Bredin, owner of the Oneonta Hotel and the retailer’s landlord.”
Regarding the changes in downtown, Bredin commented, “Downtown isn’t dying. It’s just changing.”
Working to keep the downtown economy healthy, The Star of April 5 told readers, “The Downtown Oneonta Improvement Task Force approved a plan Monday to spruce up downtown, as stores, including Bresee’s, close and competition builds on the Southside.
“About 55 merchants, property owners, city officials and others met at City Hall Monday.
“Barry Warren, director for the Center for Economic and Community Development at the State University College at Oneonta, put the plan together after weeks of meetings with city officials, merchants, property owners and others.”
It wasn’t just Oneonta experiencing a shift away from downtown shopping by strong competition from outside city or village limits retailers.
The same day The Star reported the closure of Bresee’s, with a dateline of Norwich came news, “Wal-Mart confirmed the expected Monday by announcing it will be the occupant of a 93,358-square-foot discount store on state Route 12 south of the city of Norwich.
“Wal-Mart has a reputation for moving into areas and driving stores — other discount stores and downtown shops — out of business. That has caused apprehension in Norwich, which has shops mostly on North and South Broad streets and Jamesway and Ames discount stores on the edge of the city.”
An Oneonta Walmart store on Southside arrived about a year later.
A couple of industries not experiencing the economic rattling were doing well in the region. These included filmmaking and beer brewing.
As The Star of April 20 reported with a dateline of Cooperstown, “Village residents may face traffic delays this morning, but tourists visiting Cooperstown will get more than they bargained for.
“Crews will be in town all day to film scenes for the Warner Brothers movie ‘Cobb,’ which tells the life story of baseball great Ty Cobb, played by Tommy Lee Jones.
“Much of the filming will center around village streets, but camera crews will also be getting some shots of Doubleday Field and Otsego Lake.”
Once “Cobb” was released in December, one might’ve been inclined to enjoy an adult beverage while viewing later on a DVD. Perhaps from a local microbrewery.
As Star readers from April 6 found out, “Three Franklin entrepreneurs plan to turn a penchant for brewing beer into a paying proposition.
“Kenneth Walter, Harold Leitenberger and Paul Robinson banded together to form Dry Town Brewery. It will be located in the former Kruser slaughterhouse located across from the Franklin Town Hall on Route 357.
“The partners hope to finalize site selection for their new enterprise soon, Walter said. Their first choice is in Franklin, but two additional possibilities include the Railroad Industrial Park or the Village Printer building, both in Oneonta.”
The industrial park site was eventually chosen for the new location.
This weekend, Hartwick College is on the move in 1929.