Balducci’s CEO Resigns After Penn Quarter Decision

they may reinvent themselves under yet another name and solve their identity crisis.

I do not know if there is an apparition – but I seem to notice things being moved around during the day time inside the would-be Balducci facilities. I pass by the facility on my way to work and again on my way home and I cannot help but notice things being moved around

Keeping our fingers crossed!

I’ve noticed they have painted the facade and some other maintenance. It seems as if they’re trying to get the unit attractive to re-lease.

Will the new Safeway store place a curse on the vacant 7th Street site? Would-be grocers, looking at the bottom line, may be loathe to move into 7th Street, knowing many PQ residents may eventually shop at the new Safeway. That being said, we need a niche grocer that sells goods that the new Safeway will not touch.

We doubt it. The new safeway is going to be a good 7 blocks away from the Jefferson space (almost twice the distance of the Whole Foods on P St and the Safeway on 17th). The Jefferson space is below 428 condos and across the street from 385 apts – that’s a captive audience of shoppers. Also, grocers love competition!

I’m a big believer in the marketing theory that placing two or more of the same type of merchant near one another is good for all parties. In the case of groceries/supermarkets/etc., different merchants serve different needs for me. When I lived in Cleveland Park, I’d go to Brookeville Market for some things, Magruder’s for others, and Yes! Organic Market for still others.

Any grocer that goes into that 7th Street space will have a license to print money.

sorry to burst your bubble but if the landlord perks up the deal…something could happen. until then..no dice.

What is with that last anonymous comment? Left by someone in the know? At any rate, I hardly consider the Jefferson space to be “close” to the planned Safeway. When I need milk at 8:30 at night and CVS has closed, 5th & K is nowhere near 8th & D.

Anonymous 9/21/2006 11:12:29 AM, are you in the know? If so, perhaps you know something more about JPI’s financial situation than we mere mortals? To me it would seem JPI and Balducci’s have two choices: make nothing and pay a lot; or find a replacement.

I’m no economics PHD, but I think common sense would dictate that a replacement is more likely than not and sooner rather than later. Unlike many landlords, who use vacant spaces as tax write-offs, JPI (who those who live in the Lafayette and CB know, is desperately trying to cut and run from that particular project) and Balducci’s have a huge financial incentive to find a replacement….and the city has already indicated that it will cut who ever goes in there some nice breaks.

So oh wise and wonderful, all knowing Anonymous, please give us some more wisdom on why 1) a grocer would not want to go into a vibrant, crowded, mixed use neighborhood in which there are no other grocers; and 2) why JPI and Balducci’s would choose to sit on their collective

I’m not the “wise and wonderful” that you addressed your questions to, but to answer them anyway… (1) Because the space is too small and too high-rent to allow most (not all, but most) grocers to make a profit, and although those us without a car don’t think so, the new Safeway will be very close and will be very big competition for a low population area of town like ours. (2) There is nothing “forcing” JPI and Balducci’s to find a grocer to take over the space. There are financial incentives to do so, but in the end they could choose to go a different route.