New Haven Independent

posted by: anon on February 15, 2010  6:26pm

Excellent reporting on this major loss. 

There are no easy solutions, given the fact that our federal policies are constantly sucking money away from low-income communities (in the form of payroll taxes, etc.) and into the hands of the nation’s middle-class and wealthy.  Lower-income communities get a few bones thrown at them from time to time, but the largest share of subsidies by far are reserved for the wealthiest homeowners, car owners/drivers, corporations, banks and businesses. 

That all makes it very difficult for stores like this to succeed.  I’m not optimistic that a buyer will be found. 

The best bet might be to lobby for better transit and walking routes to the new store supposedly being built at 360 State Street (which also may have pulled out).

posted by: Pedro on February 15, 2010  7:08pm

This is really terrible news for the area. It also demonstrates the extreme difficulty of urban retail. While malls are also hurting pretty badly, it shows you just how hard New Haven has to work to overcome these challenges. And approving Save-A-Lot would have at least kept some sort of food shopping option in the area. Oops.

The sad thing about Shaws is that it was a poorly run and managed store. Checkout lines were long, and their selection left a lot to be desired. There was also no self-checkout. I stopped using them as my main grocery store years ago. I got the impression that because a portion of the clientele was working class or poor, that the store could be allowed to be run this way because those people had no other options. With the lack of sale it’s clear that Shaw’s treated this location like a 2nd class citizen.

I really hope a grocer will come and save the day, and treat their store like any other of their locations.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 15, 2010  7:21pm

New Haven doesn’t need supermarkets.
It did pretty good without a super market for about 300 years.
This situation presents an enormous opportunity for the surrounding neighborhoods to restore a local network of groceries along Whalley. Place’s like Shaw’s funnel money to distant owner’s and never make meaningful contributions back into the communities that supply their wealth.
Hopefully the city can begin helping people interested in becoming grocery store owners to learn how to operate a small business. I would love to run a small grocery that served a very local and reliable clientele from surrounding blocks, where I could hire neighborhood kids to sweep out front and slowly work up to moving boxes, then stocking shelves, then operating the register than when the time is right passing the business off to the next generation all the while keeping all the money within the community and the city, and I think there are a lot of people out there who would want to do the same, or run a restaurant, or a butcher shop or a flower shop or bakery, but like me, I have idea where to begin. If the city could set up a program that prepared people for managing a store and had ties to a local network of businesses that helped each other along the way, I think that we could get a dense network of stores going all along Whalley, similar to what is on Upper State Street, or Grand Avenue.
I think it is silly to look for solutions from huge corporations, when there is a large demograph of people who need jobs within the community and have much more of a reason to stay locally based than a place like Shaw’s.

posted by: alycia on February 15, 2010  8:42pm

This is such bad news for residents in the neighborhoods surrounding Shaw’s. For those who don’t have cars, this will severely limit access to a variety of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods. I hope our community can rally to find a buyer.

posted by: Tanner on February 15, 2010  8:43pm

Face it the store management realized that the customer base ended up being neighborhoods north and south of Whalley not from Westville, East Rock and Yale students. Westville and East Rock shoppers go to Hamden or Amity. Whalley is not dangerous but has a reputation. How many Yale guests staying at The Marriot are warned not to turn left when leaving the hotel or not to cross to the Popeye’s side of the street.

posted by: lance on February 15, 2010  9:09pm

“Anon”, by a “few bones” thrown at lower income communities do you mean section 8 (free housing), welfare, food stamps, medicaid, free public school, pell grants and scholarships,  low/no income tax, home heating oil assistance and the like?

posted by: Tim on February 15, 2010  9:39pm

Lance -  cant say it better myself. I am not naive, I know a big chuck of my taxes go towards those who contribute little if nothing to society.

posted by: Westville Mom on February 15, 2010  9:41pm

What a shame.  This is all due to horrible management and abysmally low hygiene standards.  Mr. Hameen suggests that Yale should subsidize the store—- Yale would need to MANAGE the store.

I gave up shopping there.  Why?  Because I got flour beetles in my kitchen not once, but TWICE from boxes of pasta purchased there.  But the worst thing was the kid’s birthday cake I bought there.  Some years ago I had a plastic toy thingy put on top and when I cut the cake in front of a gaggle of drooling kiddies, the plastic WRAPPER for the plastic toy came OUT OF THE FILLING!  Some idiot had put the top layer of the cake right on top of the rather large wrapper.  How appetizing do you think that was?

If the “community” really wants to help these shoppers, the “community” will come up with some method of ensuring high standards of hygiene, accountability, and safety for a future store.  A really decent store would attract shoppers from all over the city who, like me, have deserted Shaw’s.

posted by: What on February 15, 2010  9:46pm

Lance:

No, he meant corporate welfare, bailout and buyouts, super tax break, overseas bank accounts to hide funds.

posted by: Pioneer on February 15, 2010  11:14pm

I really agree with you on this one, Jonathan Hopkins. One of my biggest wishes would be for things like Shaws to not only go, but for Whalley Avenue to be redesigned, pedestrian-friendly.. I can really imagine it with better street parking, street-side stores lining the sidewalks with a local grocer, not a supermarket.. Thats one disappointing thing about 360 State Street’s plan. They want to to bring in a full supermarket onto the street. Now, luckily it won’t have a huge surface parking lot, or else that’d completely ruin a good part of downtown. BUT - come on? Why can’t we just have a friendly grocer isn’t huge, carrys everything people need..

posted by: Anon on February 15, 2010  11:15pm

Lance that is incredibly offensive. I agree those subsidies exist - heating oil, section 8 etc, but the notion that a person working for minimum wage or even more than that is by definition someone who is not contributing to society is nasty and foul.

Full time jobs are not paying living wages - I find that selfish, greedy, not contributing to society, using taxpayers to pick up the slack in the form of heating assistance.

The way you talk, I bet you’ve kicked a few lives into the gutter with glee.

posted by: Anon on February 15, 2010  11:22pm

Jonathan, What do we do about an economy so out of wack that people working full time can not afford the higher prices non-chains have to charge?

We live on mass retailing and cheap imports. It seems we can barely survive otherwise. Wages are adusted downward accordingly and businesses expand based on those wages.

I think we need to reestablish a more self-sufficient economy, but wouldn’t that entail tons of legislative action nationally including overhauling world trade laws?

Can we do that on Whalley?

I guess one answer is we might have to do that on Whalley because this store might not sell to anyone.

posted by: dana b on February 15, 2010  11:56pm

A downtown supermarket seems one of the most important economic development projects the city should undertake (again).  Extend the next occupant some sort of tax incentives, work with Yale’s redevelopment group for that neighborhood, but don’t just wait around.  The health of the neighborhood depends on having a supermarket available that you don’t need to board a bus to get to.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  12:21am

Pioneer,
I wish the 360 State grocery were a little smaller, and that the scale of retail were more similar to what is across the street, but not much to be done now, it seems.

Anon,
Its a difficult situation. Historically, poor people have had extremely difficult lives characterized by low living standards, harder work with less return and general inconveniences. Perhaps one answer is that it is simply going to be more difficult and time consuming to get cheap food by bus from another grocery. SNAP (food stamps), is another possibility-I think something like 1 in 10 Americans are currently using them. I wish Shaw’s weren’t closing, at least not so soon. I wish an infrastructure of mixed use buildings could be established first that when Shaw’s did inevitably close the framework for a local replacement would exist, but that is not the case. Also, isn’t there a discount grocery on Whalley between Sherman and Orchard? There are currently other options to Shaw’s in the surrounding neighborhoods and their prices are fair. People may also just have to pay more for the stuff that keeps us alive in the coming decades and make sacrifices from things like housing, transportation, and entertainment. Ideally the upper classes will have to make those sacrifices first, but that is unlikely.
I know if I had a grocery, I would try to get to know my clientele very well, and if there were certain people I knew were struggling, I’d send them home with some free food when I could.
I wonder if keeping Shaw’s loading dock area (or reworking it) would be a possibility. Perhaps that existing system of trucking goods across the country on interstates to large warehouses can be continued at least for some time and once the produce has reached the unloading location, the goods can be deployed to a network of local groceries that are placed every block or two on Whalley between downtown and Westville. This can be seen as a transitional relationship that softens the drastic change of Shaw’s leaving and local groceries emerging.
The larger economic conditions are something that most likely need to be addressed at a much larger scale-national/federal. The types (numbers) of working class jobs that were available to immigrants a century ago, need to made available today for the left-behind groups of black migrants and Puerto Rican immigrants of mid 20th century if we want to see the conditions in our inner cities improve. These issues are not necessarily going to be addressed at the Whalley Avenue level, which is unfortunate but its reality. These solutions come from a national desire to correct historical failures and mistakes and to make a better future for all citizens.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  12:32am

Also, the subsidies from section 8, and the like all combined represent a fraction of the subsidies that were historically made available to the middle and upper classes and which continue into the present as the foundations and continuation of suburbia and the general upper middle class lifestyle of consumption over contribution. The lower classes and working poor control very little capital and require very little subsidies to get life’s bare minimums of a roof (often in the form of very old, cramped housing in crime plagued neighborhoods), and food, so to think that this group somehow takes much money out of the hands of other groups is inaccurate and the outrage is misguided.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  1:04am

And another thing!
One way to increase spending money for people who currently have inadequate wages is to lower the cost of living (which in “net” terms is the same as raising a wage) by providing daily needs within walking distance as a civil right to all Americans, increasing the efficiency of transit and other means that work around the idea of making jobs and services more conveniently located based on where people can find appropriate housing. Unfortunately, poor people often are already living at as low a cost of living as possible, which again the solution comes federally/nationally and a new Shaw’s or Shop Rite or similar chain store is not going to address these deep-seeded inequalities.

And perhaps instead of jumping right into local groceries from nation chains, we transition with the use of regional/local chains. During the period of peak industrialism in New Haven (1850-1910/20/30ish), there was a dense fabric of local groceries:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs046.snc3/13354_1173429571002_1085910074_30446190_2670505_n.jpg
The period after this, during the decline of New Haven, we had a low density but still a network of chain groceries:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs066.snc3/13354_1173429491000_1085910074_30446188_3921323_n.jpg
After 1950, these were almost all gone, which is New Haven went into a massive economic slump which for the lower classes, still has not recovered much at all even when job growth in the highly educated classes has done quite well in recent decades.
Now there is a weak assortment of local groceries, chain groceries and 1 supermarket all thinly spread out across the city. It is probably a good time to decide what we’d like to do:
1) look for a new national chain supermarket and then go on with our lives and forget their instability
2) look for a new national chain while simultaneously looking for smaller scale chain grocers to line Whalley
3) look for several small chain grocers to line Whalley while simultaneously establishing the infrastructure-buildings with ground level retail space-for a network of locally owned groceries

And there are probably some variations on all 3 of those main options.

posted by: newhavenshopper on February 16, 2010  1:31am

Has everyone forgotten about the local grocery store that already exists, Edge of the Woods? It might be a little more expensive than Shaws but not a ton. If you compare the produce in particular, the higher prices are well worth it. Perhaps with a loss of competition from Shaws they’ll be able to lower their prices a bit… or they might raise them, hopefully the former.

posted by: Threefifths on February 16, 2010  8:15am

Bring in Stew Leonard’s ,Trade Joe or WHOLE FOODS.

posted by: cedarhillresident on February 16, 2010  10:00am

Threefifths
I agree! This is a BIG lose to a community where a large part of the people are on foot and bike and public transport. They need a real grocery store to shop at not a corner store or specialty who’s prices are above and beyond what a struggling inner city family or student can afford. With so much new housing croping up there is a greater need for it now more than ever. Not to mention the job lose and a vacant space a an already struggling strip of the city.

posted by: paul s. on February 16, 2010  10:01am

Doesn’t this make the denial of the Save-A-Lot application by the BZA an issue to revisit?
They should have to answer for knocking down an application for a grocery store in a neighborhood where a vital store is closing.
Let’s face it - Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Stew Leonard’s aren’t going to move in here. ShopRite is a regional chain that carries good produce, local when available, and has more competitive prices than Shaw’s. Too bad they took a pass on it. I wonder why - if this area is as ripe for mom & pop stores as other commenters believe - there aren’t more springing up?
A secretive zoning board, a PD that won’t return calls to a city newspaper, and stories like the one about a church expansion going ahead even though a local businessman came forward to complain about being shut down when people block his driveway (and then having that complaint dismissed) don’t create an environment welcoming to small biz.

posted by: Anon on February 16, 2010  10:19am

Whole Foods would never make it on present day Whalley Avenue. Shaws, or whoever said it, was misleading by pointing to competition from WHole Foods as a factor. Shaw’s main competition is from Stop & Shop which responded immediately to the economic downturn by lowering prices on necessities such as milk.

Supervalu versus Royal Ahold (Stop & SHop’s owner) handled the downturn way better and overall floats a better boat.

Supervalu recently brought in a WalMart exec to help turn the biz around and one of his solutions is to greatly expand Supervalu’s rollout of its frankly inferior Sav-A-Lot brand.

Everyone around here knows that PriceRite,which competes with Sav-a-lot, is a far superior discount grocer.

For the staples store location, a price rite would be far more welcome. It is associated with the shoprite “chain” which isn’t really a chain but a co-op and a really good one. We could do a lot worse if they were interested in coming in. But apparantly they are not.

To the person who mentioned Edge, on some things Edge of the Woods prices can not be beat, on spices and some bulk, even some cheese. But Edge’s focus is on whole foods, local foods, natural and organic foods and those are generally more costly. On milk its price was competitive with Shaws,  but not stop & shop.

Jonathan, I appreciate your thoughts a lot. Re my questions about cost of living versus wages was not focused on the poor/working poor. To clarify, the average middle-class family, what there is left of them in America, shops for price almost obsessively. They are shopping at places like Target, stop & Shop, even WalMart.

Where they might have shopped at Macy’s, bloomingdales, now they do some of that shopping at Kohls and discounters like TJ Max.

They are buying clothing, food, appliances, electronics at least half the time from giant chains and the prices are lower because they are manufactured overseas with cheap labor and/or they are lower because they are being mass retailed by giant chains.

It isn’t the case that the educated classes are not hit hard economically right now and it isn’t the case that the poor and struggling are made up of immigrants and minorities.

Even the upper middle class and wealthy would see a change in costs if we truly began to shift to more economic self-sufficiency.  And it would matter, especially in a country where a private 4-yeear college education with room and board and books now costs over $200,000

Even in the best of times, to have a little less emphasis on mass retailing and overseas manufacturing would be an adjustment for everyone economically.

I am not saying it is a bad thing, I think it would be a good thing but it is not a small thing. It is a real lifestyle shift for everyone.

We’re all familiar with the story of Henry Ford who paid his workers enough that they could afford one of the American made cars they built in his factories.

Now, under normal conditions, for middle class and even upper middle class families, we pay wages that allow us to consume discounted imports. The entire nation depends on discounted consumables to maintain its standards of living.

Imagine just for thought, that our stereos, ipods, sneakers, refrigerators, etc were manufactured here and what the price of them would be.

The family that could afford a refrigerator made in America in the 1950s would have sticker shock shopping for one now.

Contracting from mass retailing to local is a little less sticker shock, but still an adjustment.

So, in the case of mass retailing, to withdraw from chains and bring into being vibrant locally owned shops, there will be some change in lifestyle for everyone, not just the poor.

I don’t want to exagerate too much, because I really think small local groceries can pull it off without sky-high prices, but people will pay more there is no doubt about it.

You are right too that on the up side the money stays here, which is no longer the case for larger operations headquartered elsewhere.

The other shop on Whalley is Minores, which specializes in meats but carries other items.

Interesting tidbit, and not sure this is true, but I think Minores is the old People’s grocery store and I think People’s was the first black-owned grocery store chain in Connecticut and it was based in New Haven. It was a local chain. I think Lloyd Parchment of Jamaica Coffee Co may have been the family that owned People’s (?) Not sure.

posted by: Anon on February 16, 2010  10:46am

To add another thought, about the corner stores that exist now on Whalley. It is a bit negative, so I almost hesitate to post it, but they are simply inadequate. In all of them I get the sense of desperation to make a buck. In none of them do I get a sense of wanting to get to know the community, reach out to customers, get to know customers, develop a long term relationship with customers, make a long term honest buck.

Most of them are merely convenience stores. In one, there is a definite price hike on essentials that are on the food stamp list, so, on those items the store is making sure it gets an asolute premium. For instance they charge $4 for a gallon of milk, $2 for a quart. $2 for a quart is double Stop & SHop’s price, and about 50 cents more than the gas stations that line whalley avenues charge. IN this same shop there are signs saying this item or that is approved for food stamp purchases by state of connecticut, so they are highly conscious of these items.

When you suggest that their prices on these items are too high and that’s why you don’t shop there more often they will tell you to your face that they don’t care if they lose your business.

This is desperation marketing, disconnected from customers and not planning for long term growth. It has nothing to do with putting down business roots. You get the feeling that they are based elsewhere and could pull out and leave overnight.

At another corner store on Whalley, one day the owner was standing just outside the door and spitting on the ground as I came in. I am not going to form much of a customer relationship with an owner who not only spits outside his own front door, but does it in front of women.

Old fashioned chivalry, maybe that’s sexist, but what can I say. I can’t take seriously an owner who spits at all, never mind near me.

So that is the paltry reality on Whalley except for Minores and Edge of the Woods which both have real committments to doing real business in New Haven and have established customer bases they know very well.

The corner stores right now on Whalley embody marginal business existances and the sad thing is, I have a feeling anyway, that given the opportunity (Like is represented by the closing of Shaws) they would not seize it to grow beyond that desperate business model.

They run hit-and-run operations. I am curious whether some of them are owned by new york-based companies as well. I know some of the gas stations are.

Anyway, food for thought!

On the plus side, Whalley has activists who care about it. It also is home to some improvements. Some old houses on the north side of the street were refurbished recently. A great new apartment building on the corner of Pendleton went up. Some neat restaurants exist on Whalley - marrakech runs this great new cafe near Pendleton called the Village Cafe with good coffee, good food and free wifi. Down near Edge there is a beautiful new soulfood place, the jamaican barbeque is still going strong and a coffee shop.

There are plans for Chucks to reopen, all refurbished, so why can’t we have some small grocers opening the same way?

The profit margin for grocers is greater than for restaurants. Maybe one of these restaurants can expand into some groceries as well. Push through to the neighboring storefront, or something like that. I am surprised more of them arent offering a limited selection of groceries already, bread or a few drygoods.

posted by: HewNaven?? on February 16, 2010  11:18am

If no one buys this store, which seems very possible, we’re going to be left with a huge void in this community. What about having a year-round farmer’s market in it’s place. Didn’t the city flirt with this idea before?

It’s clear that no one liked the service at Shaw’s, and the quality of the food left much to be desired. A farmer’s market will automatically “fix” these service related problems. What’s better than buying directly from the farmer and shooting the breeze with the guy or gal who grew your lettuce. Seems like heaven to me…

posted by: Tom Harned on February 16, 2010  12:21pm

Jonathan,

Your comment about New Haven not needing supermarkets reeks of elitism. Reading your past comments, I doubt you expressly meant it that way, but that’s still how it came off, at least in my opinion.

While nobody “needs” supermarkets, they are incredibly beneficial to most people. For families trying to make ends meet, they offer an inexpensive place to get good nutritious food. In an ideal world we’d all make lots of money and be able to do all our shopping at farmer’s markets and more expensive locally-owned boutique grocery stores, but this is not the case.

A lot of people out there don’t really care whether their grocery store is locally or nationally owned, they just want a place where they can conveniently get good food at a reasonable price. Shaw’s accomplishes that goal, and judging from the comments of the people quoted in the article, it will be sorely missed.

Perhaps you won’t miss having a grocery store in town, but most of us will.

posted by: roger huzendubel on February 16, 2010  12:27pm

the wealthiest and the poorest all use this store. it is the only real grocery store near the vicinity of downtown. I imagine a buyer wil lstepin because this would be bad for your well to do Yalies all the way down to the people who collect their beer cans for cash.

posted by: SweetBianca on February 16, 2010  12:46pm

Anon your history lesson is much appreciated as a New Haven native and Dwight resident. But I do think a buyer (positive thinker) will be found since this site was a top earner of all grocery stores in CT at one time.  Some 70 percent of the 200 jobs at Dwight went to New Haven residents, a HUGE incentive! 
These chains stand to gain the
most in expanding to inner-city markets and getting there first are showing greater creativity in
addressing challenges associated with urban development and operation, such as smaller sites,
nonstandard product assortments, shoplifting, and employee recruitment and training.
According to the Census, the Dwight neighborhood just west of Downtown has a population density close to those of many of the central boroughs of London, 50-60% higher than that of Chicago or Downtown New Haven, and about 3X higher than that of the East Rock neighborhood

posted by: anon on February 16, 2010  12:55pm

Lance, this item may be of interest. You might want to consider it before the next time you complain about your money going to poor people:

“Other industrialized nations have lower poverty rates because they seek to prevent hardship by providing assistance to all families. These supports include “child allowances” (typically cash supplements), child care assistance, health coverage, paid family leave, and other supports that help offset the cost of raising children.

But the U.S. takes a different policy approach. Our nation does little to assist low-income working families unless they hit rock bottom. And then, such families are eligible only for means-tested benefits that tend to be highly stigmatized; most families who need help receive little or none. (One notable exception is the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.)

At the same time, middle- and especially upper-income families receive numerous government benefits that help them maintain and improve their standard of living — benefits that are largely unavailable to lower-income families. These include tax-subsidized benefits provided by employers (such as health insurance and retirement accounts), tax breaks for home owners (such as deductions for mortgage interest and tax exclusions for profits from home sales), and other tax preferences that privilege assets over income. Although most people don’t think of these tax breaks as government “benefits,” they cost the federal treasury nearly three times as much as benefits that go to low- to moderate-income families. In addition, middle- and upper-income families reap the majority of benefits from the child tax credit and the child care and dependent tax credit because neither is fully refundable.”

http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_829.html

posted by: Edgehood on February 16, 2010  1:26pm

A farmers market is a great idea, but any future use will depend on the landlord. Shaws plaza at 150 Whalley is managed by Sullivan Hayes Companies Northeast, LLC (mentioned in this article from last fall…
http://www.royalpropertiesinc.com/pr09_koolsmiles.html )

posted by: MLS on February 16, 2010  1:51pm

I definitely don’t agree with a WHOLE FOODS or Trader Joes as a replacement in this location -each are found relatively nearby in Orange and generally too expensive for buying all of your ‘everyday’ groceries.  Also, we have Edge of the Woods right around the corner to satisfy the Organic craving.  In my opinion, someone should contact Wegmans – it is a destination store like a Stew Leonards but with even more variety from high-end products to basic canned goods.  Wegmans would be unique to the area, useful for us local New Haven folks to do our shopping, and it would bring people in from surrounding towns to spend some money in our city.  Stop in and check one out the next time you are in NY state or PA.

http://www.wegmans.com

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  2:22pm

Neither the current model for corner store groceries, nor the expensive local groceries are a good model for what we should expect for the future. Many existing local groceries in the city are cramped, dirty, small, have low ceilings, and bad lighting-this is not a good model to follow. We need to do something new that re-envisions the dense network of local groceries that used to exist within walking distance of every single resident’s home while making it work for a standard we are currently used to.

Anon,
Unlike with the working poor and impoverished classes, how to help struggling middle class people is an extremely simple solution. The government, at all levels, must immediately stop subsidizing and providing incentives for suburban living because over time, it bankrupts families and the country with time-delayed and hidden costs. These existing subsidies and incentives should be applied to aging inner city housing. Money should be supplied to fix up old housing in walkable neighborhoods, which are plentiful in New Haven, and parts of Hamden, West Haven, Meriden and Wallingford. The housing is already cheap and under-appreciated, it exists along transit lines and there are neighborhood centers close by. The stores may not exist today, but if families began moving in, the demand for groceries, restaurants, cafes, etc would begin to appear on blocks that are already prepared to hold retail. Families could get rid of their cars, which would save $5-10,000 per year per car. So not only is the housing less expensive, so is the cost to be mobile. That’s where the money can come from to buy more expensive goods. Food and water should be the first items listed for ‘cost of living’. Over the last several decades, that has changed, and I think it has instilled a false sense of entitlement to things that have to worked for and earned. And the greatest sense of entitlement, is without a doubt, in the suburban middle class in America.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  2:26pm

And another thing!

Part of the problem with discount chains is that they are able to discount food because of bulk, which creates a problem. In my personal experience, there have been numerous occasions where I buy a food item in bulk to save money, yet I am unable to eat of it before it expires. In which case, it would have cost the same or less to buy at a more expensive grocery. I now have gotten into the habit of buying a few items for the week, and then stopping by the grocery several times during the week to get what I need for that evening and the next morning. This ensures that I eat everything I pay for. And there have been many times that I’ve had to not use the bus for a week, just to save money to buy a certain item of food, which is possible, because I live in an extremely walkable community that has good bike and transit systems.

posted by: Paul on February 16, 2010  2:30pm

The article lacks a major element - did this Shaws location make money?  No business be it Shaws or ShopRite is in business to lose money.  What are the sales dollars at this location, how do they compare with similarly sized stores, etc.?  The article shows no effort to obtain this information.  Since all but two of the existing Shaws locations (not counting the Bristol one Shaws closed recently) found buyers, I have to assume this is not a money-making location.  There are reasons there are so few grocery stores in urban locations and a big one is simply profit.  Racism and perception may be additional factors, but what is the bottom line for this location?  If it is profitable I see no reason why ShopRite would not have picked it up.  Maybe it can be used for a save a lot location after all, although it appears larger than their existing locations and thus higher overhead.

[Editor’s Note: Thanks for the good opint. we did ask Shaw’s for sales info, and they would not provide any.]

posted by: Paul S. on February 16, 2010  2:54pm

But bulk discounts are a good thing for large households. If you’re feeding 5 people bulk works well: prices are lower, little is wasted.

On the other hand, if you’re buying bulk boxes of cereal to feed yourself in college you’d better like cereal.

Interesting that they don’t release sales figures. They probably wouldn’t, given that they were trying to sell the store and don’t want potential buyers to lowball offers. The location should be profitable; I can’t imagine the store will be vacant for long.

As for the local network of old timey grocers, I don’t see how you replicate it since agriculture is different, distribution modes are different, eating habits are different. It would be difficult for small grocers to offer fresh produce without having it spoil. Groceries are expensive places to operate - lots of refrigeration costs, freezers, equipment, inspections, rent.

It is a small margin business unless you specialize, and even then you still depend on distributors. Volume wins.

posted by: Mike on February 16, 2010  3:38pm

How could this Shaws not make money? Its busy EVERYTIME I go. We just recently discovered how much superior Shaws is over Stop&Flop; and now they close?

If this store stays closed I would be very surprised.

posted by: m on February 16, 2010  3:48pm

I am so happy that Shaws is closing. They prey on the people with limited transportation by marking up their prices. I mean, its in walking distance for a lot of people. Of course most people will pay for convenience but come on! ...

Regardless of all that, this particular store is a dump. The refrigeration units for the meats are always warm and the ceiling tiles are stained with leaking water. Shaws, overall, is expensive and overrated. The meats are gross, and the shelves are always dusty. Plus the staff there are so NOT interested in making your shopping experience worthwile. They are rude and immature.

I hope and pray that Shop Rite comes in. I trust their food and they are always clean! Even a Big Y would be nice. They have GREAT sales.

posted by: Morris Cove Mom on February 16, 2010  4:09pm

How do you choose to close a supermarket in a high-traffic, high-population city?  What school did these decision-makers attend?  Even I know that you need to keep this open, to make steady profits, and to keep providing well-priced food to a busy city’s people.  The fact that Shaw’s and its parent company have not found a buyer as of yet is not surprising.  They may just be trying to cut their losses and run.  Sad.

posted by: Ryan Healey on February 16, 2010  4:40pm

I am very surprised those in zoning in New Haven did not realize Save-A-Lot is owned by the same company as Shaw’s and connect the dots on their own. Clearly SuperValu would not have applied to build a Save-A-Lot next to a Shaw’s they planned to keep open.  Why this was not researched escapes me.

Sadly, Shaw’s was probably not the right partner to build in New Haven. The chain has been poorly managed for along time and they exit from the state is acknowledgment that can’t and won’t compete with rivals. Sad as competition is last.

I suggest New Haven quickly work with Save-A-Lot to remedy the approval problem before it’s too late.

posted by: nfjanette on February 16, 2010  4:40pm

The article lacks a major element - did this Shaws location make money?  No business be it Shaws or ShopRite is in business to lose money.

That, and not the arguments on new urban social theory, is where the focus of this story lies.  I suspect the answer is: no, and the reasons may have something to do with some of the observations from customers about the shopping experience at Shaws.  In my own experience, if I find my day lacking in rude interaction, I know I can often get my fair share - and more - shopping at Shaws.  That’s not a selling point that will attract customers from surrounding areas that have a choice, and choice is a good thing for consumers.

posted by: HewNaven?? on February 16, 2010  5:12pm

Paul S,

As far as farmer’s markets and local grocers operating in a vastly different environment than the past - I think the proponents of change (e.g. Johnathan Hopkins, et al.) already realize that. They realize that though it may not be a natural progression from big-box retail, it is a necessary progression given the contributing factors (i.e. peak oil, obesity, corporatism). What else are we left to do? Return to our old habits which have been proven to be environmentally, physically, and economically detrimental. Will we finally change our minds with one foot in the grave?

posted by: eddie on February 16, 2010  5:35pm

I live on the other side of Whitney but still visited the Whalley Avenue Shaw’s fairly regularly. I did not encounter the problems with hygiene reported by some of the others who have posted comments.

I have no idea if Shaw’s made money, but it was certainly busy most of the time, demonstrating that there was a real need for it. It also seemed to serve as a bit of an economic anchor for the surrounding neighborhood, so the impact of its closing will clearly have a ripple effect.

I’ve seen in other communities food marketplaces where vendors rent space in a central location. I wonder how well such a concept would work here? It seems like the question of demand has been pretty conclusively demonstrated.

posted by: Gretchen Pritchard on February 16, 2010  5:38pm

As for the question of whether the store was/is making money, when chains close stores it’s not usually because the store actually was NOT making money, but because it wasn’t making AS MUCH money as certain other stores in the chain, and they are downsizing the whole chain for corporate reasons of their own.  It is not necessarily a sign that the location itself is unprofitable.  The New Haven Macy’s, 15 years ago, was making money, just not enough to suit the front office.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 16, 2010  6:22pm

Paul S.,
Those are valid points but like HewNaven says, I realize the networks of everyday life are not set up at the local level like they were a century ago. I feel that we have gotten to a certain peak or plateau in our society as evident by the housing crash, financial crash, etc that presents the opportunity to stop, think and decide. All politicians seem to be bent on continuing our current systems even if it means destroying the citizenry, while citizens seem more excited about looking towards a different system even if this has not been articulated yet on a mass scale. I feel that we, as a nation or region (or even municipality) should decide whether we would like to continue pursuing the lifestyles, networks, and living arrangements we’ve been used to for the last half century or if we should create a new vision that is more stable, reliable and sustainable. I tend to go towards the latter, and so the question becomes, what is our ultimate goal and what are the steps necessary to achieve this goal? My goal is to have walkable main streets that are tree lined and spatially defined with calm traffic, mixed use buildings that are more than 1 story and are intimately connected to the place where they exist.
One suggestion I had, was to keep Shaw’s loading dock area and continue to supply trucked goods to it, while having individual shops send employees to pick up the products from this ‘central’ location and bring them back to the more numerous neighborhood locations.
Most likely, the best answers will come from people much smarter than me, but to not even be talking about this kind of stuff seems idiotic and short-sighted.

posted by: Anon on February 16, 2010  8:03pm

nfjanette,

I am way curious also about the profitability of Shaws not only in New Haven but in Connecticut.

Remember, they are pulling out of the state, but only the New Haven and I think the Manchester stores were not bought. Why, why why?

I want to know too but Supervalu is not talking as far as I can see.

Don’t even bother reading Supervalu’s annual report because I read the whole dang thing. Nothing much there except that it was a hard year.

I am sure extra effort would result in some info, but we are left with what we know already:

-Supervalu botched recession survival and now has a WalMart guy in charge who is rolling out Sav-A-Lots like crazy.

—Stop * Shop is doing better than shaws is

—WalMart was cutting into them too.

One thing it is good to know though is that though grocery chains do huge revenues, their profits are on sliver margins so they can’t afford to fool around.

For some reason the New Haven store was unattractive to buyers. It was a busy store, I doubt it was overall tanking by any measure, must be a combo of factors.

It seems safe to assume that New Haven not selling is definitely NOT a good sign and suggests there is going to be some hard selling coming up for us to replace it.

posted by: berrryl on February 16, 2010  9:32pm

This is terrible news.  As a New Haven resident with a car, my family always tried to support Shaw’s and avoid the other stores in the suburbs.  We were so proud of the company for taking the step to work with GDDC and help contribute to the revitalization of this important part of our City’s residential life.  After Staples…this is really bad news.  Mourning the loss of jobs and services and corporate commitment to our community.

posted by: patwallace on February 16, 2010  11:43pm

One thing not mentioned in the article is the closing of the pharmacy located in Shaws.  They found out Friday and will close on Wednesday.  Prescriptions will be handed off to the Walgreen’s at Whalley and Boulevard as I understand it, though, of course, people can take their business where they want.  The pharmacy was a strong plus for Shaws.  The staff were great.  Other than for them we would have done what our insurance company has pushed for for years—-switch to a mail-order system.

posted by: Anderson Scooper on February 17, 2010  12:11am

Is Stop & Shop red-lining New Haven?

It would sure seem so, what with stores in West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Hamden and Woodbridge.

I believe the community should push SS to service all of the greater New Haven market!

posted by: Paul on February 17, 2010  12:12am

As a former student at SCSU that lived in the Whalley Ave. area and now lives in another state where Shaws is the dominant grocery chain, it’s a disappointment to see Shaws pulling out of CT, but not a surprise by any means. I fully blame the over-aggressive Stop & Shop for SuperValu’s decision to pull Shaws out of CT. Stop & Shop in CT is like WalMart elsewhere in the country - a store in almost every town, and almost no competition. A near-monopoly is bad for everyone’s business, and that’s what the wonderful S&S has managed to do with the CT grocery market. What I am surprised about is how Big Y - a company I hope will buy and re-open the Whalley Shaws for the residents’ sake - has managed to stay in CT and survive, despite having less than a third of the number of stores as S&S.

Keep in mind, as well, that Shaws, Big Y, and ShopRite are all American-owned. That’s not true with Stop & Shop. It doesn’t matter how low they price their milk - in this economy I refuse to throw my money at any company that pumps it overseas (and that includes IKEA!). Because of that, and in defiance of the Stop & Shop-opoly, I’ll never, ever again make a purchase inside any Stop & Shop store except for the Dunkin’ Donuts counters. Quote me.

Shaws has amazing stores further north that could put S&S out of business, and have already helped to do so in the state of Maine. Quote me again.

posted by: CT Web Design on February 17, 2010  1:38am

It’s ironic how you can take something like a grocery store for granted but after reading this I see how many lives will be affected. Hopefully there’s a worthwhile solution comes out of this.

posted by: Mrs. Iman Hameen on February 17, 2010  8:54am

This is a perfect opportunity for the community to go in BUSINESS! Pull resources together - churches, ELKS, Knickerbocker Club,
masjids, etc. and BUY THE STORE! Pull it together people!! Stop expecting others to feed
us!! Think about it, then DO IT!! There are plenty of professionals in our community with large supermarket chain experience, corporate, banking and managerial experience…Wake up!
Former New Havener (I.H. -aka R.R.)

posted by: Iman Hameen on February 17, 2010  9:17am

Recently, my brother -in-law, Bill Kilpatrick was honored at an NAACP event recognizing 100 Most Influential African Americans who live in CT.
People from 50 Cent to Diana Ross to Newswoman Robin Roberts to Oprah’s “best friend” Gayle King and local celebrities, of course.  This is a perfect time to contact them all, pull them together and give them this project to do. BUY SHAW’S! It is not enough to fill a room, pat each other on the back and go back to business as usual! What happens after the fanfare? How can an award ceremony become a profit making venture to benefit the very people who applaud, admire and honor you? BUY SHAWS! You already have the committee in place and you already have their ear. In fact, 100 influential ears!! NAACP get into the economics of community building! MOVE SWIFTLY NAACP!!! Signed,
Sis. Iman Hameen (formerly Robin Roper)
I will gladly work on the committee! Let’s do it! For folks who do not know, 50 Cent has a fabulous Children’s Garden in Queens, NY. He’s is going GREEN in more ways than one! I believe it is 100% ORGANIC!! 
Google it!! I will email this article to the committee.

posted by: Nan Bartow on February 17, 2010  10:45am

As patwallace says, Shaw’s has an excellent pharmacy which is staffed by wonderful pharmacists who were never too busy to deal with their customers with caring advice.  Shaws also has an ATM and a bank where the lines were always long.  Now all those services will disappear. The security guard will evaporate also.  I hope that a good supermarket chain will buy Shaw’s and restore these important services.  A supermarket does more than sell food these days.

posted by: Brian Casey on February 17, 2010  10:51am

The store should be run as a cooperative. lease out the space to small vendors.Put in a good bakery,a real butcher,fish mongers,produce,a caterer, ethnic food.Something for everyone. Ferraro’s does just fine, and look where it is located. It is not the poor that made this store fail,It was poor management.

posted by: TZ on February 17, 2010  11:03am

Supermarkets are important indicators of economic health in a community. Whalley without one would be a terrible sign for downtown New Haven. Folks who celebrate this just don’t understand the economics behind food production and distribution in this country. Small independent groceries can only exist if the clientele is relatively wealthy (Edge of the Woods, Nico’s, Whitneyville), there is a tight-nit ethnic community chains ignore (Mexican or Asian markets) or there is a history of small stores that for whatever reason chains have not decided to compete against (Manhattan, certain neighborhoods in San FrFranciscoetc). Whalley has none of those. Without a decent chain supermarket there will be no reasonably-priced produce for people who live in the neighborhood. If folks don’t own a car, tough luck. You can go spend double at Gourmet Heaven or spend for a cab to go out to Hamden. It would be nice if suddenly Whalley sprouted a tapestry of great little grocers. It’s just not going to happen.

posted by: Anon on February 17, 2010  12:48pm

WOAH Anderson Scooper, slow down. If anyone “redlines” and not sure anyone does (that’s a pretty strong statement) it is Supervalu/Shaws/Sav-a-Lot.

Shaws was brought in by lobbying hard for it.

Supervalu tends to put these junky discount grocers in urban areas and Shaws in suburbs. It started on that trend in Connecticut a while ago.

Stop & Shop is better managed, it is widely known to be. It also does not do a two-tiered brand, one good enough for the poor, one for the rest. It serves rich and poor, urban and suburban out of the same full service brand, stop & shop.

They already have a store on Amity up the street.

Look at Meriden, an urban, struggling environment. The stop & Shop there is a showplace. It has got to be the best looking stop & Shop in the whole chain. It is right in the middle of the city.

Meanwhile, what does Shaws do in Meriden? A save-a-lot. Check all the urban areas in connecticut and you will find a sav-a-lot and probably even a history of a shaws that pulled out. Stop & Shop has not done that.

Even comparing sav-a-lot to its Shoprite/wakefern competitor brand, PRice Rite, sav-a-lot is a hit and run on the poor while Price Rite treats budget conscious shoppers with respect.

Sorry, Supervalu’s corporate attitude leaves a lot to be desired.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 17, 2010  1:32pm

Nan,
But perhaps that is the problem. When we put all our marbles into one bag, it creates an extremely risky situation. It’s not just that the bakery is leaving, or the deli, or the bank; its all failing at once because its a super market instead of a network of individual retailers that provide the same services at a much smaller scale.

Brian,
That sounds like a pretty good idea. And if its successful, perhaps the stores will work their way to the exterior to face the street, which would enable the costs of interior heating during the winter and cooling during the summer to be handled by street trees and awnings and then perhaps the buisnesses will migrate to separate buildings, and then perhaps open up new locations throughout the Whalley corridor if successful.

TZ,
Right, because Grand Ave never recovered from post-industrialism, de-centralization, suburban exodus, economic turmoil and the violence and crime plagued era of the 1980s cocaine atom bomb to develop a dense network of local retailers that created an urban fabric very familiar to New Haven’s industrial hay-day; oh wait, except that it did…
And Upper State Street never recovered from having a highway (I-91) rip it in half that destroyed half its building stock to become one of the most desirable places to live with one of the high-occupancy rates in the area, right. Oh no, wait that happened too.
But Whalley, nope, it can never ever happen and we shouldn’t even try or even talk about it. You’re right, my bad.

posted by: Paul on February 17, 2010  2:28pm

Well, the problem is solved then. We resurrect local groceries, return to single-earner households, coerce people to abandon the suburbs and rural areas of the state, and plant trees to cool meat freezers.

Or we force Stop & Shop to open a store in New Haven. (How would that work?)

I don’t see how these ideas are workable. Call me cynical (JH has already called me idiotic - nice to meet you too!) but how exactly will this happen?

The co-op is a nice idea, but wouldn’t that start on the ground? Is there a community group that could or would work on that?

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 17, 2010  3:50pm

To elaborate on my last post, Grand Avenue was revived mainly through the immigrant community’s investment in Fair Haven, which is quite similar to the investments of past immigrants. Wooster Square used to have a tight knit Irish population with culturally related stores and businesses, which then was replaced with Italian immigrants and their unique network of restaurants and groceries. The same goes for Oak Street, which was originally Irish then Italian and Jewish and black, and similar stories unfold throughout the city. Unfortunately, blacks and Puerto Rican, at mid 20th century, when they began arriving in northern cities en mass, were not provided with the number and access to jobs previous groups had been, so they were unable to establish deep routes with local businesses and cultural activities. This has festered over the decades thanks to drugs, cronic unemployment, de-industrialization, decentralization, suburban exodus, etc, which has created very bad conditions in some neighborhoods, but Grand Ave has overcome quite a lit of this to emerge as a vibrant neighborhood center.
State Street was able to recover through its relation to downtown, Yale and its associates as well as the well established middle and upper class residents that existed there already (although mostly west of Orange). After the demand was noticed, State Street flourished similarly to how it had in the early 20th century, which turned the area east of Orange into very desirable places to live for middle class people even though it had previously been work-force housing for factory workers.
Perhaps Whalley needs to provide incentives to attract the new immigrant community and/or attract more middle class suburban familes with low housing prices, a garanteed lowered cost of living and walkablilty for children as well as old folks.

Also, a study was done sometime in the last decade (perhaps it was in the 90s, but I think it was more recent) and I’ll post it if i can find it online. This study asked a large number of people (all ages, incomes, etc) if they preferred to shop in the downtown area (of some medium sized city that I can’t remember exactly) if they preferred to shop in one of the prominent neighborhood Main Streets of the city, which was very nice with tree lined streets with lots of stores, restaurants, cafes, etc. or if they preferred to shop in the nearby mall. I forget the exact percentages, but of the people who preferred the mall (which if it wasn’t the majority, it was a sizable number) a few liked it more because of summer and winter conditions that made the mall more comfortable, but the vast majority of people who said they liked the mall more said it was because there were more shops, closer together that were easily accessbile after inside the mall.
The trend in urban planning, for the last few decades has been to attract huge retailers and corporations that can compete with the suburban big box stores, office parks and so on. When really, cities should be trying to compete with malls by providing more shops, closer together that are more easily assessible to people. Our neighborhood thoroughfares like Whalley, Dixwell, Howard, Congress, etc need to look more like downtown Chapel Street, Upper State and Grand Ave if they are to be successful. And cities need to provide jobs for their populations, not the suburbs, meaning working class jobs.
If I find the study, I’ll post it, because it’s really interesting. The solutions to urban problems are not to make the suburban, its to do better urbanism.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 17, 2010  3:59pm

Paul,
Heating and cooling has to do with interior space, I’m not talking about the freezers. A mall for example, using an enormous about of energy to heat and cool its interior (so does Shaw’s and the like). A tree lined main street with shops uses 0 dollars to heat the sidewalk because its outside and is cooled in the summer by shade trees and heated in the winter by the suns rays penetrating leafless trees.
It would be nice to get another small chain grocery, even a Stop & Shop would be nice. The point is that, if that happens, we cannot sit back and just go on with our lives and become dependent upon another giant chain, we still need to provide options in the community.

posted by: HewNaven?? on February 17, 2010  4:04pm

“Small independent groceries can only exist if the clientele is relatively wealthy (Edge of the Woods, Nico’s, Whitneyville), there is a tight-nit ethnic community chains ignore (Mexican or Asian markets) or there is a history of small stores that for whatever reason chains have not decided to compete against(Manhattan, certain neighborhoods in San FrFranciscoetc).”

TZ,

The reason chain stores have “decided” not to move in and compete with small grocers in certain neighborhoods is because they were vehemently opposed right from the start. San Francisco actually has legislation that forbids the development of chain stores in certain neighborhoods. It isn’t magic that chain stores haven’t moved in to these parts of town. It’s because the community came together and opposed what they viewed would be a socially and economically damaging development, and then pushed for legislation. I feel like this is a matter of awareness. If more of the city’s residents were to realize the true cost of chain stores/big box retail they would immediately form an effective coalition to oppose such development.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on February 17, 2010  4:30pm

Paul,
Abandonment of some suburbs makes sense, reworking other suburbs to be walkable towns also makes sense. Abandoning rural areas? That would be the most disastrous thing this country could do. The rural lifestyle of agriculture, hard work, risk and farming is what allows advanced civilization to exist, without it, we have nothing. Rural living is by far the most important part of our society, unfortunately, it has gone awry and is now dependent on too many other fragile systems, but it can fairly easily reclaim its local roots especially in Connecticut. The advancements made in agriculture that date back to Mesopotamia allow for people to live outside of where food is grown, it is vital to modern living.
Suburbia serves one formal purpose. It bridges the urban and the rural. It should represent a fraction of the total land use in our country. Suburbs can be used to transition urban areas into woodland and into farm land, that’s about it in terms of form. For example, the Edgewood neighborhood, a medium density trolley line suburb, used to transition into a rural park land. Then Westville was build, a low density trolley line suburb, which transitioned into woodland. Then purely automobile suburbs were built and they destroyed all the important American relationships, networks and systems and replaced them with the stuff that is currently bankrupting our country.

posted by: Bill Saunders on February 17, 2010  5:56pm

Walk to Ferraro’s

Save Money & Burn Calories!!!!!

(I do it routinely, even though Shaw’s is only four blocks away)

posted by: notty on February 17, 2010  5:56pm

Hey what about an ALDIs. That is where I shop for everything except my meats. I go to ferraros for the meats, but I have saved a lot of money at ALDIs and I love their prices.

posted by: anon on February 17, 2010  6:09pm

Chain stores are leeches that permanently suck economic resources out of their host communities. Local stores generally have 5-10 times the economic impact, because so much much more of the money is recirculated. 

This may not apply as much to supermarkets, which are able to offer lower costs on food than other food retailers, but is more to the general point that we need to build a resilient local economy, not have all of our money flow into Walmart and then flow directly out to China and Dubai.

That said, I agree that the structural issues (e.g., money constantly being redistributed from the working class and poor families to the wealthiest corporations, homeowners and shareholders) are a much greater problem, though much harder to see.

posted by: Anon on February 17, 2010  10:03pm

I am not advocating for S&SHop; to come in, necessarily, don’t get me wrong.

Just on the narrow question of who runs a better show, Royal Ahold has got a better handle on itself than Supervalu.

posted by: Tanner on February 18, 2010  3:48pm

Not sure if anyone has checked the postings about Shaw’s closing on the Yale Daily News site. Many postings reflect the poor service and dirty look of the inside of the store as well as a perceived anti-white bias from the staff. Who is to blame for this? Management? are they afraid to make changes? The Staff? Ferraro’s has succeeded in New Haven, why? I think New Haven has to look at its self in the mirror before they complain about everything but.

posted by: tony baldwin on February 18, 2010  4:55pm

On one hand, I’m very sad to see Shaw’s go.  I’ve shopped there since moving to New Haven in 2007.
On the other hand, maybe this will give a boost to locally owned businesses, such as Minores, just up Whalley, where I have also frequently shopped, and/or Edge of the Woods (costly, but with good produce).
While I’ve enjoyed shopping at Shaw’s, and I’m definitely concerned for those who will lose jobs at this time when work is so scarce, I have to say, I always prefer to see locally owned businesses prosper at the expense of large corporations, rather than vice-versa.

posted by: Stephanie FitzGerald on February 19, 2010  6:14pm

I feel as if I am watching a recently vibrant, healthy person die.  I was at Shaw’s today (Feb. 19).  The pharmacy is already closed.  The shelves are beginning to empty. It is not a pretty picture.

I feel helpless to do anything.

I am mmourning the close of a friendly, neighborhood supermarket that has served as my primary grocery store since its opening. I live in the Edgewood neighborhood and go to the store two to three times a week. Aside from its bottle and can recycling area, I have found the store clean, with friendly staff.  Whenever I happen to go to a Stop and Shop I find it more expensive, especially the fish.

I will miss Shaw’s.  And I already miss Staples a lot.  I used to stop by and buy something every couple of weeks.

I am very interested in helping out the Greater Dwight Development Corporation find another supermarket to meet the needs of the area.  Please let me know how.

posted by: Anon on February 19, 2010  7:40pm

I love Minores, but maybe this will be a good opportunity for them to spruce it up a little, or a lot.

Put some packaging dates on the meat buddy, make the air a little sweeter to breath in there too.

Luv ya and I shop there, but PUHLEEZE.

posted by: Anon on February 19, 2010  8:55pm

Three suggestions for EDGE of the WOODs:

I didn’t know this, but it turns out Yale runs a student shuttle to Shaw’s that was popular with students.

Students on the YDN version of this story are posting suggestions like using Stop & SHop’s Peapod delivery service for their groceries. Peapod provides home delivery of groceries for about $10.

This got me thinking:

1) When Shaws closes, the yale shaw’s shuttle should start coming to Edge instead.

2) Edge should invest in home delivery, launch a sophisticated web site for people to place orders. Edge should do this now.

3) This last one is controversial because those of us living off Whalley near Norton like Edge’s location and for orthodox community it is close by too, BUT, Edge could take over the Staples location, thus reaching the Yale community that is about to be without Shaw’s. With the larger space, Edge could really expand.

(final suggestion—ALL of the ABOVE)

posted by: hamdenal on February 20, 2010  12:46am

Two words: Super Walmart

posted by: Anonymouse on February 22, 2010  9:14am

Shaw’s was dirty, with poor lighting, bad produce, scary deli practices, and bad seafood (the meat was decent).  It doesn’t surprise me one bit that it closed, and I hope that whatever moves in its place (if something does) learns from Shaw’s closing.

posted by: robn on February 22, 2010  9:57am

This is the end of a war of attrition between the two chains…the winner contracts to take a breath and the less profit bearing neighborhoods get the shaft. The same thing happened a decade ago with big theaters and you can expect it to happen again pretty soon with Home Depot/Lowes and maybe at some point Walmart/Target.

posted by: LMarsal on February 24, 2010  3:41am

I think it is a shame that Shaws is closing it has been an anchor in the community for the last ten years..We need to band together to save the only grocery store in the inner city! Where are all the big mouth preachers now? Community Christain Assoc.? etc. When the people in the community need you to protest where are you…when it is time to sing in the park there you are! Do something now!

posted by: sue on March 6, 2010  11:36am

This is an example of corporate America disregrading the needs of the community which support it.  Their bottom-line is cash.  Shaw’s did a great service to the community through its provision of easy access food and jobs.  There was ample time for Shaw’s parent company to meet with the community, identify their issues and seek solutions had they cared about the welfare of the community.  They did not.  Rather they opted to take the community by ambush and utter surprise, leaving no alternatives. I am also in favor of a community run inoperative. Perhaps this is a blessing and not a curse.  Perhaps it is a wake up call that communities need to really understand the wealthy are not interested in them, other than as “cash cows”.  “Edge of the Woods” is an example of how a small cooperative can grow to meet increased comsconsumerds.  Rather than court big business why don’t we talk with community organizers on how to set up a cooperative that supplies food while employing the surrounding community.  This might be a blessing in disguise if we can pull that off.