Early this afternoon I walked over to Blue Back Square in West Hartford. I needed to stop by Barnes & Noble. On my way over from the Raveis office, I passed a new storefront going in on Memorial Road, next to Rizzuto’s.
A bright red sign with some multi-colored graphic blocks advertises that Six Flags Rollercoaster Cuts will be occupying the space this spring. The sign and a visit to the website proclaim that it will be “a hair razing experience” with Chaos and Coasters, Cutz, Candy and Costumes with Characters and Photos. Sounds kind of like Chuck E. Cheese, with haircuts. For the safety of the children and hair dressers, I hope that haircuts are not administered while riding roller coasters…
But on a more serious note, a quick Google search reveals that the future Blue Back Square location of Six Flags Rollercoaster Cuts seems to be the only one in existence. Huh. So, this seems to be a good fit for the “unique” factor of Blue Back Square, as I know they initially tried to draw more boutique-y stores which wouldn’t overlap and cannibalize business from other retail areas in West Hartford. The success of the “unique” factor has been questioned by some, as there are several stores which do have other locations around town and most are national retail stores. At this point, I don’t know if there is any hard data which demonstrates that business has indeed been cannibalized, or if sales have remained stable and grown at the collective locations as more business has been brought into West Hartford overall.
So, what have you heard about Six Flags Rollercoaster Cuts? Any thoughts on if it will be a success? There is certainly a good base of potential customers in town and the surrounding areas. Will they flock? And what about Six Flags’ decision to expand into a completely different market? They are known for running amusement parks. Will their business acumen translate to this industry?
