shopping and transportation demand management in DC

The Financial Times says Walmart has opened 8,000-square-foot grocery stores in Arizona under the name “Marketside by Walmart” and is also testing 20,000-square-foot “neighborhood markets.” Image from San Diego Foodstuff. But these stores are different from urban format general retail stores that Walmart intends for center cities., which could range from 20,000 to 50,000 s.f., although I expect plans for DC are for a store of at least 100,000 s.f. The Target store at DC/USA is 180,000 s.f.

I have been resigned to there being a WalMart in the city eventually because Walmart has gone through a full court press in buttering up various cities, because of limited growth opportunities in the suburbs Walmart has introduced a number of smaller formats more suitable for urban locations. Those limited growth opportunities in the suburbs means that Walmart will be inexorable in terms of pushing for and winning with regard to opening stores in urban/center city markets, and DC is no exception.

See the Associated Press story, "Wal-Mart pushing into urban markets" from September, for more on this issue, as well as reportage on Walmart's entry into Chicago, "Chicago Council approves Walmart expansion" from the Wall Street Journal.

And on other related trends, see "In These Lean Days, Even Stores Shrink" and "Discount Stores Crop Up in Manhattan’s Elite Neighborhoods" both from the New York Times. The latter story reminds me of something once told to me by Herbert Haft, who was one of the nation's earliest retail discounters, starting from a drug store in Adams-Morgan. He said that the most cost-conscious buyers were people who had money.

So the discussion that Walmart will be entering the DC market now, spurred by a tweet from Councilmember Wells, is no surprise.

But the speculation of where the store could be located, as recounted in this piece by Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post, scares me from the standpoint of TDM. From the article:

But where will the stores be? In Ward 5, the Schaffer brothers site at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE -- the object of speculation earlier this year -- is still the odds-on favorite, though a site near Fort Totten is also in the mix. In Ward 7, execs are eying the Capitol Gateway development at the city's eastern corner. In Ward 4, the Curtis Chevrolet site, recently the site of Adrian Fenty's re-election headquarters, is a possibility. And in Ward 6, a site in or near the massive Northwest One is under consideration. What's next? It could move fast...

"Urban-appropriate" just doesn't mean in the city, and smaller, it should also meantransit/walking/bicycle accessible and focused rather than automobile-oriented.

Some of the sites mentioned by DeBonis are transit accessible, most, such as the site at Bladensburg Road or the Curtis Chevrolet site on Georgia Avenue are weak locations in terms of robust transit service (subway).

You'd think the examples of the Best Buy and Container Store at the Tenleytown Metro, and the success of DC/USA in terms of relatively minimal demand for automobile accommodation for its stores, including Target, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and others, would strongly encourage DC Government economic development officials to "require" siting at a location that maximizes transit use and minimizes the generation of automobile traffic. See "At Columbia Heights Mall, So Much Parking, So Little Need: D.C. Losing Millions On Empty Garage" from the Washington Post.

While it isn't perfect, Ikea in Red Hook, Brooklyn provides some transit services to their location, which isn't served directly by the subway. See "Ikea to start charging for ferry service to Hook superstore" from the Brooklyn Paper.

Flickr photo from a Denmark-based Ikea store, by hugh1936uk.

And in Denmark, Ikea stores offer customers the ability to use a bicycle with a trailer for free, to carry goods home. See "Bicycle trailers on loan at IKEA" from Springwise.

Because Walmart is still in the mode where they believe that they have to "give back" a bit more than they are accustomed to when it comes to development projects in urban situations, it would be nice if DC would act a bit gutsy and push forward some seriously strong transportation demand management measures as part of Walmart's entry into the DC market.

For more ideas on how to extract community benefits from Walmart, see "Ikea's big-box store blueprint: Win over community" from the New York Daily News.

From the article:

As its fourth strategy, Ikea devised transportation options to cut down on car traffic, including signing a contract with New York Water Taxi for free ferry service from lower Manhattan and setting up free shuttle buses from three Brooklyn subway stops. Still, fears about traffic nightmares have not yet been overcome.

Broker Andy To of Eastman Real Estate - who has gotten calls from retailers about two available industrial buildings that sit side by side on Van Brunt and Seabring Sts. - was wowed by the retailer's skill in wooing the community.

"Ikea defied all odds and got where they are now," he said. "It's pretty amazing."

Roth offered succinct advice for big-box companies looking to follow in Ikea's footsteps.

"Be proactive with your outreach and understand what the real needs of the community are," he said. "Be upfront about what your plan and vision are. And don't be afraid to say no - be true to your concept."