After Being Found In Violation Of Chain Store Ban, Roller Rabbit Reopens Downtown Boutique

Shortly after the trendy pajama boutique and lifestyle brand Roller Rabbit arrived in downtown Nantucket last summer, it made headlines. Just not the kind it wanted.

The Roller Rabbit store on Centre Street was found in violation of Nantucket's so-called chain store ban, otherwise known as the formula business bylaw. In a July 7th enforcement order, Nantucket Building Commissioner Paul Murphy ordered Roller Rabbit to "immediately cease all business activity. Its sign at 44 Centre Street came down at the peak of summer.

Yet less than one year later, Roller Rabbit is still in business in downtown Nantucket, having recently reopened its doors for the season. How was this allowed?

The company simply made a few minor tweaks, and Murphy agreed that the changes brought it into compliance with the chain store ban bylaw.

The store is now dubbed "The Roller Rabbit General Store," and the company has altered its design from its other locations, and modified its merchandise so that 50 percent of the items are not Roller Rabbit products, which are not carried in its 13 other stores across the country.

"The store will be an entirely unique concept - not a Roller Rabbit mono-brand store, but a multi-brand retail concept with 50 percent or less of the product belonging to Roller Rabbit," wrote Hānnah Kinser-Sampedro, Roller Rabbit's vice president of visual merchandising and store design, in a Jan. 22 email to Nantucket building commissioner Paul Murphy that was obtained by the Current. "The store will be called The Roller Rabbit General Store, which is not the name used for any of our existing locations, nor will there be any standardized imagery, interior design, uniforms, etc. This concept is intentionally distinct from our traditional Roller Rabbit stores in both name and execution, but most importantly product assortment - we will have a multitude of different brands both local and national that are not our own...We believe the above complies clearly with the stipulations as written in the “formula business” bylaws."

After reviewing Roller Rabbit's changes, Murphy agreed.

"Based on what you have provided to me, you will be allowed to open in the FBED (formula business) exclusion district," Murphy replied to Kinser-Sampedro on February 3.

Roller Rabbit has now signed a two-year lease for the 44 Centre Street location. 

The episode is notable on several fronts. Last year's order by the town for Roller Rabbit to cease all business activities was the first time that Nantucket's formula business bylaw - commonly referred to as the chain store ban - has been enforced. It's unclear who submitted the complaint to the town.

It also shows how easily national brands can get around the bylaw that was intended to prevent them from opening in downtown Nantucket. While the changes technically bring Roller Rabbit into compliance with the chain store ban, the company is still displaying its name and logo on the downtown storefront.

Nantucket's chain store ban, which island residents overwhelmingly approved during the 2006 Annual Town Meeting, applies only in the downtown area that was designated as the Formula Business Exclusion Overlay District in the town's zoning maps.

The bylaw, first proposed by Nantucket Book Partners owner Wendy Hudson, was implemented "to address the adverse impact of nationwide, standardized businesses on Nantucket's historic downtown area," according to the town code. "The proliferation of formula businesses will have a negative impact on the island's economy, historical relevance, and unique character and economic vitality. These uses are therefore prohibited in order to maintain a unique retail and dining experience. Formula businesses frustrate this goal by detracting from the overall historic island experience and threatening its tourist economy."

Hudson sponsored the bylaw in part as a reaction to the arrival of Ralph Lauren in downtown Nantucket in 2005. The Ralph Lauren location on Main Street is exempt from the ban as it predates its passage.

Under the bylaw, chain stores are considered any retail sales establishment, restaurant, tavern, bar, or take-out food business that "is under common ownership or control or is a franchise" with 10 or more locations anywhere in the world. It further defines chains, or formula businesses, as those with a "standardized menu or standardized array of merchandise with 50% or more of in-stock merchandise from a single distributor bearing uniform markings."

The bylaw does not apply to grocery stores, such as Stop & Shop, and some downtown Nantucket businesses that were in operation prior to the passage of the bylaw - such as Ralph Lauren and Lilly Pulitzer - are considered to be grandfathered in and are not subject to the ban.

Since Roller Rabbit was found in violation of the ban last summer, there has been a renewed focus on the formula business bylaw by downtown merchants. Some have questioned whether some growing brands are now strategically opening a Nantucket store before they hit the 10-location threshold, and then expand beyond that afterward. Others are considering a citizen petition to tighten the bylaw and the definition of a chain store, making it more restrictive.