Fast Food and Chains — Is Barrington’s Business District the New Route 6

Fast Food and Chains — Is Barrington’s Business District the New Route 6

 

Barrington, Rhode Island’s most affluent community, and is in the midst of transformation.

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According to Census data, the median household income in Barrington is $145,028, which is more than 1.5 times the median income for Rhode Island as a whole. 

Just 25 years ago, Barrington was a dry town with a sprinkling of retail along County Road. Businesses were overwhelmingly small and locally-owned. 

The first liquor stores were allowed to open in town beginning in 2011.

Barrington's burgeoning commercial corridor has added a new fast-food restaurant, and banks have taken over much of the prime real estate. Now, the area is looking less like a historical village and more like the Route 6 commercial area in nearby Seekonk, MA.

 

 

Banks, Banks, and More Banks

In recent years, real estate has been gobbled up by bank chains — national retail branches have replaced other businesses.

Now, in less than a quarter of a mile, there are no fewer than six banks in the immediate vicinity of one another on County Road — Chase Bank, Santander, Webster Bank, Washington Trust, Bank of America, and TD Bank.

Along with Bank Newport just up the road, there are now seven bank chains in the prime retail corridor for a town with a population of just over 17,000.

Banks go where the rich people are. 

"According to the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances, branch location is cited most frequently as the most important reason for choosing where to open a main checking account (43% of respondents). Despite advances in mobile and online banking over time, the proportion of respondents citing branch locations as their most important reason has remained roughly unchanged since 1989 (between 43% and 49%), writes Jung Sakong and Alexander K. Zentefis for the Federal Reserves Bank of Chicago.

 

 

Newest Fast Food

The Barrington Planning Board approved a plan to build a new Chipotle restaurant on County Road in March of 2023.  This gave Barrington its de facto, third national chain quick-serve restaurant. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts have been in the community for years, but now Chipotle, the new addition, is scheduled to open soon and is advertising for staff. Among the jobs the chain is looking to fill is the "Kitchen Leader" position, a position that pays more than $50,000 plus benefits.

Previous attempts to develop the location - once a gas station - were shot down because the plans included a drive-thru. This Chipotle design does not include a drive-thru.

 

 

New restaurants have cropped up in Barrington from East Bay Oyster Bar to now a "Plant City X" in the Barrington Shopping Center. 

Some of the vestiges of local, “old” Barrington remain on County Road, such as Newport Creamery to Gray Jewelers, and Bagels, etc. in the shadow of the town library.

With the new commercial development is additional traffic.