‘Revitalization’ becoming a burning issue in Dudley Square

Dave Hadden

Those shopping in Dudley Square in recent weeks may have found it hard to miss the new posters in most merchants’ windows. “Caution,” some of the posters read. “Revitalization equals Gentrification!”

Spread throughout the square by local community group Save the Dudley Square Moms and Pops, the posters predict the hidden and perhaps harsher realities of a new Dudley Square.

These local merchants and activists are organizing a rally on June 3 at 12 p.m. at Citizens Bank to raise awareness about the potential impact of national franchises like Walgreens and Expressions on Dudley Square in the coming years.

Fearing that brand names and bulk prices will wipe out a number of local businesses, the group hopes to galvanize local residents and merchants to continue supporting each other and preserve decades of history.

“Changes like these are inevitable,” says Rusty Pendleton of Funky Fresh Records. “However, people need to realize where their money is going and support the right places.” When asked what he would do if Tower Records were to open across the street, he jokingly said, “I’d blow them up.”

The city-backed Dudley Main Streets Program has the same sense of urgency, but looks at the future from another perspective. The new chain stores, says Main Streets Executive Director Joyce Stanley, are largely a response to what the public has demanded.

“For ten years we’ve been working at making Dudley a more vibrant place,” Stanley explains. “Our polls have shown that people aren’t shopping here mainly because of a lack of parking, safety, quality of goods and brand diversity.”

Stanley is quick to point out that Dudley Square must be seen in the context of the city’s expensive real estate market. “These days you can’t purchase a building in Dudley for less than $1.5 million,” she said. “Years ago, when no one wanted anything to do with us, this wasn’t the case.”

Roxbury’s demographics are also changing. From 1980 to 2000, the black population dropped from 78 to 66 percent, while the Hispanic population nearly doubled, rising from 13 to 25 percent. This growing ethnic diversity, combined with the prosperity of adjacent neighborhoods, is creating a greater demand for variety in Dudley.

These facts, however, do not negate the frustrations of local merchants, many of whom now feel alienated after working in the community during the hardest of times.

Kathy Kim, local activist and daughter of the owner of athletic shoe store Alpha Omega, recalls exclusively hiring youth from the community and “dragging others back to the store by their ears if they were caught stealing.”

According to Kim, “filling the square with chain retailers with no personal investment in the neighborhood is going to wipe out this sense of community.”

This history, particularly in terms of family-owned businesses, is rich indeed. Thirty-year-old Alpha Omega and 100-year-old Kornfield’s Pharmacy are the oldest independently owned stores of their kind in Boston. The same family has operated Looking Good for over 50 years.

According to the posters, merchants are claiming that they are not against chain retailers, but are opposed to “unnecessary” ones that will dwarf services already provided by merchants already there.

And although change may be inevitable, both sides are scrambling for solutions to avoid a scenario where Dudley’s fate reads like another tale of urban gentrification.

Stanley’s proposed solution is quite simple — provide assistance to the existing merchants. “Now that the population is changing, the merchants have to change with them,” Stanley said. “After 5 p.m., most of these stores close down and Dudley looks desolate. We need to come up with a plan to help these merchants grow in terms of marketing, service, and finding a niche.”

Stanley has also explored possibilities for economic incubators for new businesses like the current project at the Haffenreffer Brewery in Jamaica Plain.

The plans of the merchants, while somewhat similar, ring with more urgency and contempt.

“We’ve been asking for basic safety, parking, and utility services for years and have been ignored,” Kim said. “We were ignored when these chains were given permission to move in. Now we’re going to ignore them in return.”

Left in the middle are city officials, torn between revitalizing Dudley with fancy new stores and preserving homegrown businesses.

Though Mayor Menino has said that he disapproves of the Walgreens, he has little power to decide what tenants a developer plans to work with.

In an attempt to come up with a happy medium, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Dudley Main Streets met with local merchants earlier this month to explore ways to service the merchants in this changing business climate. By all accounts, they have a long way to go.

“While the preliminary city meetings are a start,” said City Councilor Chuck Turner, “this dilemma shows that at this point, there is no real cohesive and thoughtful plan between residents, merchants, and developers on what direction Dudley’s development will take.”