Now that Urban Outfitters has confirmed that they are opening at 1652 Barrington St. in May via job listings at URBN.com.
I ask the question, Is Urban Outfitters on Barrington a Good Idea?

There are detractors that are going to say we don’t need big american chains, I’d like to agree but I can’t.

A large chain like UO in our downtown will only spur on others to come in. Like any shopping centre a downtown needs anchors and UO will make a great anchor for downtown. The university/high school crowd right now who are more likely to hop on a bus and head to the mall will now start coming downtown to shop and discover other great little businesses I can only imagine this will be a great thing for a shop like Biscuit.

The biggest drawback I see though is the rents on Barrington are going to become less afforadable for the little guy, as happened on Spring Garden when bigger names moved in (and out)  but that is the joy of side streets  I actually hope a couple more anchors choose downtown, like a Gap or H&M.

Seeing a Urban Outfitters downtown will encourage other large players to think about Halifax and fill our streets, and that is a good thing!