Urban grocery stores round up

DC is overstored for grocery stores, at least west of the river, while supermarkets in the poorest area ("east of the river") are minimal.  There are so many stores that it's hard to find tenants for all the proposed spaces.  

The Washington Post article, " A developer promised a supermarket for a new neighborhood. Now it can’t deliver," describes how a developer in Greater Brookland wants to cut the size of a previously approved supermarket space by half--likely for a specialty grocer, like Sprouts, rather than a full line store like Safeway or Giant.

NYC proposes city-owned stores in "food deserts" ("New York might experiment with city-run grocery stores. How do they work?," Washington Post). Chicago has proposed something similar. I think that's insane.  Governments lack the capacity to run an operation like a supermarket which requires a lot of skill and ability to pivot--I think of DC's Eastern Market, under management by the local government real estate office as a perfect example because of their failure to act with alacrity.  

OTOH, some public markets like in Baltimore seem to be reasonably well managed.ru

In Seattle the large multi-store cooperative PCC has reopened a store it closed in Downtown, but with a much greater focus on grab and go and prepared foods ("PCC back in downtown Seattle with a smaller store and downsized ambitions," Seattle Times).

The PCC Corner Market, as it’s called, is roughly a third the size of its 20,000-square-foot predecessor, with a much narrower selection that the co-op hopes will outperform the original store, which closed less than two years after opening after lackluster sales. 

The new format, which focuses on deli, lunch and breakfast items, and lots of grab-and-go selections, essentially replicates what was generating most sales in the first store. Although that store’s deli did a brisk trade, it couldn’t cover the expenses of a full-sized store in the middle of downtown still missing much of its pre-pandemic workforce, Srinivasan said. “It just didn’t pencil.”

The new downtown format, by contrast, is tailored to a lunchtime worker-and tourist-crowd. There is a plethora sandwiches, hot pizza and a salad bar, but fewer dry goods and PCC staples like fresh produce and meat.

“I think this model makes a lot of sense,” added Maria Diamond, who works nearby, as she emerged from the store Tuesday. “I think the full store was a lot for this community to support.” PCC’s smaller format, its first, may also reflect moderating expectations for downtown recovery. In June, downtown worker foot traffic hit its highest level since March 2020, when COVID-19 emptied out downtown offices, but is still 66% of what it was in June 2019, according to cellphone data posted by the Downtown Seattle Association. PCC signed the lease for the original store in 2018.

(The Downtown Alliance) Rendering of a new building proposed at Salt Lake City's Pioneer Park, designed to house portions of the Downtown Farmers Market and activate the downtown green space year-round.

Salt Lake proposes a public market building at Pioneer Park ("Finally, a solution for Pioneer Park? SLC, Downtown Alliance to make it a year-round home for the farmers market," Salt Lake Tribune), home to one of the nation's best Saturday farmers markets held during the spring and summer, with an abbreviated winter market following.  

For the same reason that PCC shut their original store, customers wanting prepared foods, not foods they need to prepare. I don't think it will work.

Blocks downtown are big and a lot of the residential buildings are a ways away, so walking won't be that convenient.  

Another indicator of failure being more likely is that is food halls in Greater Downtown only have marginal success ("Food hall in SLC development closes after not getting enough customers, manager says," SLT).

The standalone location of Ruby Snaps cookies, which are sold from the shop and also wholesale.  Photo: Fransico Kjolseth.  Salt Lake Tribune).

For people not living downtown, they will have to pass dozens of grocery stores to get there--there are at least 20 supermarkets within a 3-5 mile radius of where we live plus lots of specialty stores (Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Indian, Japanese, Chinese). 

I do think a plan could work if focused on artisanal food producers like Ruby Snaps cookies ("Dough Girl's new name is a "Snap") or kolaches ("At this Sugar House spot, selling cupcakes then sandwiches then brownies have all failed. Here’s what’s next," SLT).  I say this as one standalone store focusing on brownies shut down about a year ago.

I understand the need for activation, but this isn't the solution.  I do think it could be okay on the day that the farmers market operates, but that's for a few Saturdays per year.

A kind of salvage store chain in Boston, focused on providing lower cost food for lower income patrons shut down ("Local nonprofit grocery store chain Daily Table to close all locations," WGBH/NPR).

Daily Table, a nonprofit local grocery chain in Boston, Cambridge and Salem, is closing its four locations in the coming days. With federal cuts to hunger relief programs, along with the rising prices of food and other challenges dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic, its board of directors decided to shutter the remaining locations after shrinking its footprint earlier this year.

“It’s a very sad day for us because for 10 years we’ve been able to serve communities,” Doug Rauch, Daily Table’s founder and chair of the board of directors, told GBH News. “They counted on us for truly affordable fresh fruits and vegetables — and not just fresh fruits, vegetables, but prepared meals, too.”

For the past 10 years, Daily Table has served neighborhoods across Greater Boston by working alongside each community to make affordable, nutritious food accessible to all. More than three million customers went to the grocery stores, the board of directors wrote in an email to customers.

Also see: 

-- "Grocery stores in cities: the failure of the "15 minute grocery store"," (2023)
-- "Eastern Market DC's 150th anniversary last weekend | And my unrealized master plan for the market," (2023)