May 27, 2011

Womag

1)   Our Chief Development Officer thinks we need a smaller scale grocery store downtown.  In the words of jahn, surely you jest?      Drive by Santy's market, a smaller scale grocery store on Chandler Street.  It just closed.    Sorry, not a chance of this happening.  Can you say Shaw's on Grafton Street.

By the way latest grocery store rumor has Market Basket going into the Biy Y that is closing on Route 20 then blowing into the CVS next door when their lease expires.


2)    Kudos to Gary Rosen on his story about the roadblocks every Saturday in Worcester,.

 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The small Santy's on Chandler is hardly "downtown."

Already a nice size supermarket (Compare) on Main and Chandler...

But I really think what they're talking about here is catering to the hundreds who live/work/go to school etc downtown and have nowhere to buy groceries. Definitely an untapped market.

Steve Foley said...

Isn't Compare Foods alive and well and thriving downtown?

I also agree 100% with Rosen on the Bucket People. Why are we teaching our children to beg? At least the Girl Scouts in the store parking lots are selling something, not just begging.

I think the Fire Department should get a pass to collect for Jerry's kids, but only because they invented the idea.

Bill Randell said...

Anonymous

You are right about Santy's but you have Compare Foods and Price Rite. Person opening a grovery store downtown right now or small bodega will go out of business faster then the restaurants at the GAR hall.

David Z. said...

I respectfully disagree Bill. A downtown small bodega would do very well especially with more Mayo Group housing almost ready to come on-line and market rate housing being rumored as part of the next step for CitySquare along with a hotel.

Do you really believe that anyone living downtown in the Franklin, Portland, Salem Street area and the new units coming on-line in the Canal District are going to walk to Compare Foods?

A neighborhood bodega that these residents could walk to would not only be great for them but help to attract additional interest in DT residential property.

David Z. said...

And as for Shaw's on Grafton Street, again too remote for those living DT to walk to. If the Canal District housing came much sooner, they may have had a chance but I still believe they were oversized for the area.

BTW, the Shaw's building is already coming down as part of the CSX expansion project.

Anonymous said...

I work downtown, live near downtown...lot of friends living downtown...some shop at Compare, but the "other" side of downtown(or canal district) is begging for a small scale supermarket...Trader Joes?

Anonymous said...

I spend a good portion of money on food each month. I live in the VOP and usually go to three stores: 1) Price Rite, near to my work on Millbury St, is where I go for good deals and cheap produce. 2) Price Chopper, both on Park Ave and Cambridge St, since I have a PC card and I can walk to the one on Park. 3) Wal-Mart. I have a vehicle and do see many things cheaper at this behemoth on the edge of the city.

I would LOVE to see a Trader Joe's downtown (on either side). TJ is "chic" but not expensive, is fairly small and compact, but with many healthy options! I just visited TJ for the first time last month to solicit a donation (we got $35 worth of goods) and was impressed, but not worth going out of my way to Shrewsbury. Taking a walk downtown to TJ would be great.

Anonymous said...

Open up a store in Fed Sq catering to the Fed Sq demographic and it will succeed.

Anonymous said...

Rumors of Ocean State job Lot or Marshall's going into Building 19 on Grafton Street?!?!??!?!

Harry T
Worcester,MA

Jahn said...

Folks Worcester got "over supermarketed" in the last dozen years or so. What we're seeing now is the natural business cycle allowing only the fittest to survive.

Nothing like bureaucrats who never had to meet a payroll or worry about paying vendors in a timely fashion suggesting what they think belongs DT for stores or supermarkets. Supermarkets of today are mega markets compared to the First National or A&P of yesteryear. Altho that said, the new Aldi's at Lincoln Plaza has to be about 1/4 or 1/5th the size of todays typical supermarket.

Supermarkets require certain threshold demographics and DT Worcester is no where near thsoe kinds of thresholds both in quantity and qaulity of potential customers.

I mean DT Worc cannot even support a McD's or a BK. Come on guys!

Help me out here. Where exactly is Compare Foods? And I thought Santys Market in the old Mart building had closed up? Santys Markets or the lack thereof IMNOSHO are the result are the direct result of what happens when gub'mint starts deciding to subsidize business. Many of those Santys would never have opened up to begin with were it not for the free flow of gub'mint to certain select groups of people.

I been away for a few days. no puter. No newspapers. I'll have to chase down what Rosen had to sya bout Buckey people. I been saying this ofr years. Sorry folks , but your kids Pop Warner or Little League obligations aint my problem. Here's a grreat idea. Johniie and suzie need money to support their Litte League. Well here's a rake and a lanwmower, Start laboring. Call me harsh huh....making the kiddies work...tough cookies.

Steve, I disagree, why should Firemen get an exemption for playing in the traffic? I mean what a great place to get a disabilty going for ones self. Y'all think they charge Jerrys Kids a 1.6% annual stipend on what they collect?

Imagine my budddy who works in a machine shop telling his boss he'll need a pay raise ( stipend) if hes goign to take on the responsibilty of running the company newest machine tool. His ass would be out the front door in a NY minute !

Thoughts go out to all the real heores today who would never thump their chests about how heroic they are/were. Real heroism, like real charity, is done quietly and behind the scenes w/o fanfare.