RSS FeedAnother Store Concept That Could Work On 7th Street
Scenic Artisan pointed us to a short post by Urban Places and Spaces that points out another brand concept appropriate for the vacant grocery store space on 7th Street. Sunflower Markets is part of the SuperValu conglomerate based out of Minnesota and runs stores at less than 15,000 square feet per store. Unfortunately, most of SuperValu’s stores are in west or midwest markets. After a recent excursion to New York City and seeing numerous small grocers on the upper East Side (such as the Butterfield Market) and in midtown, PQ Resident felt like inviting each one of them to move down to Washington and set up shop in the Penn Quarter. The economics could be inviting and the space is definitely available.
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Comments
Sunflower, as a concept has validation from a major supermarket chain with superior financial resources. clearly, they are too far removed from the East Coast to be our, the Penn Quarter’s, candidate but the concept is out there and it is a good one. the trick is to put together the right circumstances for someone to “bite.”
Sunflower is owned by Supervalu. Commenters appear to lack an understanding of what Supervalu owns. I guess you’ve never heard of a local supermarket company called Shoppers Food Warehouse, and the predecessor company that owned it, Richfood, a food distribution company based in Richmond.
Well, Supervalu owns this operation. So its not like they are unfamiliar with the market, or lack food distribution capabilities in this region.
In any case, I still think that the Belvedere Square model is the way to go. See: “Nurturing independent businesses through creatively reducing capital requirements.”
And this post too: “(Urban) Grocery Stores.”
great point Richard. missed the whole Shopper’s Food Warehouse ownership and Richmond distribution. thanks for weighing in.
To anonymous 2 who said “I would be VERY surprised if we see a store(in the Balducci’s place) within 2 years.” I would say, I can’t predict the future but for what you say to be true Balducci’s (or whoever they transfer their lease to), a store who was so cost conscience and worried about overstretching it decided to pull out, would have to be willing to pay obscenely high rent for two years without any return.
Like I said, I can’t predict the future, but Balducci’s has every incentive in the world to either go into that space or find a replacement as quickly as possible. With community action, JPI wanting to get someone into that space, and help from the city (along with that space being a prime location) and the fact Balducci’s has to pay high rent every month without return…should all work to get someone into that space (Balducci’s or another) sooner rather than later. Once a company makes the decision to go on, it should only be a matter of months as it is already zoned to be a grocery store and renovating it to suit what ever company goes in there’s needs should not take too long.
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Sunflower Markets, if one follows conventional wisdom, won’t establish a store on 7th Street; grocery store chains rely on a distribution system, and the DC Sunflower store would be too far from the primary distribution hub. We need a store that has a nearby distribution hub.