[Texas 12]

So it would be better to stay away from the A+P. Do they have a Walmart or Super Target in a safe area?

[Texas 12]

Thanks for the pitures! The ones of seaside were very good! Not sure about the A+P...I think I will pass on that store.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Texas 12

So it would be better to stay away from the A+P. Do they have a Walmart or Super Target in a safe area?

For Walmart and Target you would have to go to neighboring Stratford. Neither of these though are super stores. There is just not the land in the area for these types of stores. Jay

[acebritty]

they are also is the process of completing a target at the trumbull mall. they should be opening soon as i see they have a recruiting boothe set up at the mall.

[reason180]

Originally Posted by Texas 12

I would appreciate any input on safe area's to shop in the Bridgeport area. From what I have read on this site it may be better to go to the sorrounding towns.

You are going to find out that Bridgeport isn't that bad!

The A&P on Park and North isn't bad. I go to a restaurant across the street from there all the time and I've never had a problem. I don't find somebody asking me for spare change very scary. A little bit south of there is an area known for drug dealing, a lot of people from the suburbs roll through there to buy their drugs.

If you like cooking check out International Market on Main Street. Lots of different "ethnic" ingrediants.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by JayCT

For Walmart and Target you would have to go to neighboring Stratford. Neither of these though are super stores. There is just not the land in the area for these types of stores. Jay

The challenge isn't so much the land issue. The challenge is getting those companies to stay in the city. Like, for instance, the Shaw's that moved into a brand new large store on Sylvan Ave. It couldn't have been open for more than 4 years before it closed. This store seemed to be relatively busy, and its' only competitor was just a limited selection PriceRite store a mile away in a less secure(IMO) location than Shaw's. It's puzzling to me why they gave up on it.This location could be easily converted to Wal-Mart, Target, or maybe even Lowe's specs. So far, no takers for this property.

The city can come up with the land as evidenced by SteelPoint. The question is whether to do things piecemeal, or go for the whole enchilada.
It would be great if steelpoint came to fruition. Was it a mistake for the city to keep holding out for a grandiose development? Hopefully it wasn't. Time will tell.

I almost forgot to mention that the Target is on the Trumbull side of Hawley Ln. Stratford developed the CVS and the Big Y shopping center since Trumbull had already wrecked Hawley Ln. by shoving Target, Best Buy, and that ridiculous McDonalds(Trumbull's only fast-food drive-thru) down our throats. Trumbull's master plan says to stick the garbage on the town borders.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

Like, for instance, the Shaw's that moved into a brand new large store on Sylvan Ave. It couldn't have been open for more than 4 years before it closed.

This is true of many Shaw's stores regardless of location. In my area, the New Britain and Southington locations closed. This says more about Shaw's misjudging the Connecticut market more than anything else.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

This is true of many Shaw's stores regardless of location. In my area, the New Britain and Southington locations closed. This says more about Shaw's misjudging the Connecticut market more than anything else.

I'm not sure it's a "misjudgement". It seems more like a shift away from city stores. You work in Shelton, right? Is their store in Shelton ever busy? Everytime i've gone by, for many years now, i've never seen many cars in the parking lot. The Stop&Shop across the street is always a zoo. The Shelton Shaw's has always seemed to be a stark contrast to what i would see at the Bpt. store(busy).

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

I'm not sure it's a "misjudgement". It seems more like a shift away from city stores. You work in Shelton, right? Is their store in Shelton ever busy? Everytime i've gone by, for many years now, i've never seen many cars in the parking lot. The Stop&Shop across the street is always a zoo. The Shelton Shaw's has always seemed to be a stark contrast to what i would see at the Bpt. store(busy).

It's not. I've stopped in there after work and have had to wait up to 15 minutes to check out. But that's because only two registers and one express (<20 items) register were open. It seems to appeal to an older crowd.

Truth be told...I didn't see too much difference between Shaw's and Edward's/FiNast. They're not the same scale as Stop & Shop meaning that (Super) Stop & Shop has 20 - 24 aisles.

Getting back to your observation about shifting away from city stores, I'm not sure that was the gameplan. New Britain's Shaw's was on the Plainville line (near DMV). The one in Southington was hardly in a city (think Wallingford which, by the way, still has one). Southington's neighbor, the city of Bristol, still does, too.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

The challenge isn't so much the land issue. The challenge is getting those companies to stay in the city. Like, for instance, the Shaw's that moved into a brand new large store on Sylvan Ave. It couldn't have been open for more than 4 years before it closed. This store seemed to be relatively busy, and its' only competitor was just a limited selection PriceRite store a mile away in a less secure(IMO) location than Shaw's. It's puzzling to me why they gave up on it.This location could be easily converted to Wal-Mart, Target, or maybe even Lowe's specs. So far, no takers for this property.

The city can come up with the land as evidenced by SteelPoint. The question is whether to do things piecemeal, or go for the whole enchilada.
It would be great if steelpoint came to fruition. Was it a mistake for the city to keep holding out for a grandiose development? Hopefully it wasn't. Time will tell.

I almost forgot to mention that the Target is on the Trumbull side of Hawley Ln. Stratford developed the CVS and the Big Y shopping center since Trumbull had already wrecked Hawley Ln. by shoving Target, Best Buy, and that ridiculous McDonalds(Trumbull's only fast-food drive-thru) down our throats. Trumbull's master plan says to stick the garbage on the town borders.

Retailers go where the customers are. The Bridgeport Shaw's did not have the customer base to support the store. Shaw's went through a reorg where they evaluated the viability of every store. Maybe there were shoppers but they weren't spending enough to support the store there.

As for changing this Shaw's to a Super Target or Super Walmart, keep in mind those stores are usually over 120,000 square feet. The Shaw's is about 60,000 square feet. You would have to double the size of the old Shaw's store and double the parking to build a super store in there. There is not a lot of land in the area that could support that size store. Jay