Apparently Brooklyn is a 'super alt' place where 'tons of effing hipsters live' and every1 likes to be authentic, support local vendors and buy organic, but now that a bunch of poor/middle class ppl live there, they basically needs cheapness + convenience + decent quality so now Brooklyn is getting a bunch of chain restaurants/stores/everything.

Do u have chain stores in ur area?
Do u prefer the cost, convenience, and experience of a standardized franchised experience?
Do u support 'mom and pop' stores, or are they failures because they didn't have a business model to 'go national'?
Should Brooklyn get a Walmart?

For many residents it signaled that dreaded chain stores — symbols of all things corporate and uninspired — were about to breach the industrial neighborhood turned bastion of the young, do-it-yourself and arty. Bedford Avenue, which runs parallel to the waterfront for the entire length of Williamsburg, is a lively mix of the kind of retailers that have all but disappeared in Manhattan: independent coffee shops, record stores, drugstores, boutiques, jewelry stores, bookshops and even a local bank, Cross County Federal Savings Bank.

Do u think chain stores / restaurants / grocery centres / Whole Foodses are chill places 2 shop?
Have u ever moved 2 a relevant city and missed the convenience of

Now CVS is building a store in the Edge, another waterfront high-rise a block north of the Duane Reade on Kent Avenue. And it looks as if Starbucks may replace the ever-popular Bagel Store on Bedford Avenue when its lease runs out next year.

“Duane Reade is greed,” Jonathan Schmidt said after shopping at Kings Pharmacy. That store is directly across Bedford from the new two-story, 24-hour Duane Reade, which features aspirin, liquor, cosmetics, stationery, frozen food, cold cuts and produce, including three kinds of cherry tomatoes. “It’s becoming the East Village.”

Here is some Brooklyn Lady with a Baby. It seems like it is hard 2 be a parent in Brooklyn because they don't sell diapers in the bulk 4 ur baby since u r supposed to be 'green' and use cloth diapers or something

A newcomer to Williamsburg from Manhattan, Ms. Lind said she found the neighborhood to be very inconvenient. Many of the chic stores refuse to take credit cards. And, she said, the quaint gourmet coffee shops charge too much. She said she sent an e-mail to Food Emporium imploring the company to open a supermarket in Williamsburg.

“For some reason,” she said of her neighbors, “they don’t want corporate stores. They don’t want convenience.”

do yall <3 convenience, or do u want to 'stay authentic' even when ur a consumer.

Here is some guy who was quoted saying 'gentrification' just 2 try 2 sound smart:

“I guess you’d call it the gentrification of Williamsburg,” Mr. Winick said.

Wish I could be a landlord in Brooklyn who was 'getting rid' of the cheap mom-and-pop tenants and making 'big bucks' from huge corporate giants who would pay me whatever I want.

“Williamsburg used to be known for a type of idealism,” Mr. Rossillo said. “Williamsburg landlords have taken a different view. If they can squeeze blood from a rock, they will.”

His said his landlord wanted to double his rent to almost $15,000 a month when the lease is up next year. When he complained, the landlord said that Starbucks was willing to pay that much.

“I can’t pay it,” he said. “I don’t have Starbucks money. I’m a small business.”

But the landlord, Samuel Backer, said he was not trying to push out “the little guy.”

“I’ve given them every opportunity to renew the lease at fair market rents,” he said.

Do u think small shop owners think they deserve 'special rights' 2 keep them from having to pay 'tons of money' even though that is the current market rate?

Is Brooklyn the new suburbia?
Is it no longer 'alt' 2 want to move 2 Brooklyn bc there are just a bunch of chain restaurants?
Will this make Brooklyn 'more affordable'?
Do u hope Times Square moves 2 Brooklyn?
Now that Brooklyn is 'gentrified' / retailed-out, will there be a new alt city?
Does Portland let gimmicky franchises in2 their city?
Should I just move to Houston, TX and embrace The_Suburbs?
Is WalMart a new relevant alt hangout?
Do u think this is what Brooklyn will look like in 5 years?

Does this look like 'utopia' 2 u?