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Costco (42-46 Overlea Boulevard) Demolition of Heritage Building, Former Coca-Cola HQ

Are there any photos of the interior? Apparently it was kept in its original, Mad Men-esque state all these years and never renovated.
 
Towered said:
Are there any photos of the interior? Apparently it was kept in its original, Mad Men-esque state all these years and never renovated.
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Interesting….
Original interiors are rarer than the building themselves.
I filmed at Saarinen’s General Motors Technical Center in Warren Michigan a few years back and they had made a really effort to maintain and restore the original 1950s interiors wherever possible.

good photos of the restoration here:
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/2011/06/16/a_look_inside_gm_technical_centers_restoration/

 
Edward Skira said:
And Costco is inexpensive. How would that not help the locals?
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Costco is great if:

- you have a car or other means of transporting bulk purchases
- you can afford the membership fee
- you have the ability to store bulk purchases, especially the perishable ones

Some will dismiss these issues but for some low income families they can be significant barriers.
 
Even if you have a car, my experience is that a lot of the bulk stuff at Costco really isn't much cheaper than buying it at No Frills. And having all of this stuff puts pressure on people to eat more, get fat , etc.

I love the GM Warren technical centre restoration...amazing place.
 
My take on Costco is for the most part; Produce and any sort of "food" product is more then No Frills and the like (even when comparing the size i.e. price per gram or the like); With one exception; Meet - I find it is generally quite a bit cheaper then just about all competition, but yes it is in bulk quantities (e.g. chicken breast). Household products (e.g. tissue paper / laundry detergent / ...) also tends to be cheaper then most competition (i.e. no Frills / Walmart / ...).
 
taal said:
My take on Costco is for the most part; Produce and any sort of "food" product is more then No Frills and the like (even when comparing the size i.e. price per gram or the like); With one exception; Meet - I find it is generally quite a bit cheaper then just about all competition, but yes it is in bulk quantities (e.g. chicken breast). Household products (e.g. tissue paper / laundry detergent / ...) also tends to be cheaper then most competition (i.e. no Frills / Walmart / ...).
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you really don't want to go there talking about how 'cheap' the meat is at Costco. google 'factory farms' and 'Costco', or don't.
but don't talk as if it is somehow a bargain.
 
thedeepend said:
you really don't want to go there talking about how 'cheap' the meat is at Costco. google 'factory farms' and 'Costco', or don't.
but don't talk as if it is somehow a bargain.
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No I'm quite familiar with this; But similar arguments can be made regarding the other low price alternatives folks were comparing it too; So I was purely basing it on the end price to consumers regardless of the quality or moral ramifications of said price.
 
arvelomcquaig said:
Costco is a disgusting extreme of our quantity-over-quality(-and-ethics) consumer culture. I hope this doesn't get built.
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Once you've climbed down from your soapbox perhaps you can look into the actual history and business structure of Costco.

- They pay their workers much better than most retail outlets and actually provide them with decent benefits. They are able to do this because they use the money that would otherwise be used for advertising; something they don't do. (Their members magazine is paid for completely by ads from suppliers.)

- Bulk purchases can cut down on packaging compared to buying in smaller amounts and also reduces the number of car trips taken to shop.

- Among larger scale retailers they are one of the leaders in trying to use as much locally-produced products as possible.

They aren't perfect and they suffer from many of the things that ail all larger retailers but to claim that they are an extreme example of what is wrong with modern consumerism is far too simplistic.
 
I agree but there arguments to be had against where the acquire their produce and how that produce is raised / grown; But to be fair, and to me this is what is missing above, this need not only apply to costco, rather just about every grocery store chain in Canada and across the world ...
 
To be honest this is a pretty mixed income area (yes more so on the low / medium low class). Also its touching leaside, I can see Cotco doing very well here.
 
What soapbox? Criticizing a store for dealing in a particularly bad kind of consumption has nothing to do with a soapbox.

The points you make are good, and I'm glad that those things are the case, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't criticize them for that which they do wrong. They're VERY far from perfect. If McDonald's started treating their workers exceptionally well but continued the rest of their practices, it wouldn't mean that they're suddenly worthy of applause and unworthy of criticism.
 
I think a Costco is going to be great. The easy solution would be to demolish the bottling plant and incorporate the offices as part of the new building. But of course that's going to be much to expensive- if they're going to demolish it, I hope they at least save the Coca Cola sculpture out in front.
 
What soapbox? Criticizing a store for dealing in a particularly bad kind of consumption has nothing to do with a soapbox.
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Never underestimate how badly the suburbanite will defend his unsustainable lifestyle.

Must everything turn into a discount store????

And Costco is probably the worse kind of big box discount store. Main reason being it does not carry enough selection of any kind of merchandise. You could never go there shopping for groceries for instance, because they will never have everything you need. You tend to go there and end up buying sh*t you never intended to buy (and a wagon-load of it to boot). It may actually be an even more depressing experience than being in a Walmart.

And the joke is...you have to actually buy a facking membership to this sh*t show. Ha Ha Ha


I hope they at least save the Coca Cola sculpture out in front.
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I noticed it wasn't in any of those pics posted. I hope it is still there. Walter Yarwood...great artist and member of the famous Painters Eleven. It's very specific corporate art though, so i would imagine Coke taking it and reinstalling it elsewhere.
 
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