Could SJ support another Whole Foods or Wegmans? (Collingswood, Haddonfield: sales, tenants)

[avg12]

The one in North Wales is near the Montgomery Mall which will get Wegmans. I think Giant-PA and ShopRite service areas nearby and along with Target, there is no reason to shop at Bottom Dollar.

I wonder how the Marlton Bottom Dollar store is doing. It's in a off highway location (N. Maple Ave) and probably is barely known to anyone who doesn't live immediately near it, and it's immediate area with the exception of apartments, is mid-high income suburban area where many probably prefer Whole Foods, Costco, Wegmans or ShopRite.

[CH101]

Whenever I drive by the Cherry Hill Bottom Dollar, it never looks busy.

[avg12]

Originally Posted by CH101

Whenever I drive by the Cherry Hill Bottom Dollar, it never looks busy.

I hope that one closes. I was upset to see it leased there in the first place. I'd rather see redevelopment/reconfiguration of that entire plaza, and Trader Joes in that plaza which would draw more destination traffic.

So many destination stores are going to Cherry Hill (west area by mall), including Pottery Barn and GUESS that left Marlton in favor of Cherry Hill Mall, since that area has a wider base attracting Philly residents as well.

[CH101]

BIG NEWS for Ellisburg Circle shopping center. I was looking at listings on metrocommercial.com for the empty retail thread, and I saw that they have a "printable flyer" for Garden State Pavilions updated on December 27th, 2012. http://www.loopnet.com/Attachments/0...29328596D2.pdf What does this have to do with Ellisburg Circle? Well they have a map of area retail on page 3 of the PDF, and for Ellisburg they have Whole Foods listed as "proposed".

The center's owner (Federal Realty) still lists the space as unoccupied on their site: Ellisburg Circle | Federal Realty Investment Trust Maybe all the work that they are doing is to lure Whole Foods and close the deal?

[avg12]

It's possible WF might have signed a non binding letter of intent, but not the lease yet.

I hope WF upgrades the restroom there. Safeway/Genuardi's left it very disgusting. I would go to that plaza often and go to multiple stores since it's walkable friendly but walked in that Genuardi's restroom and left without using it. A world of difference from the Wegman's restrooms.

[withasigh]

Originally Posted by CH101

BIG NEWS for Ellisburg Circle shopping center. I was looking at listings on metrocommercial.com for the empty retail thread, and I saw that they have a "printable flyer" for Garden State Pavilions updated on December 27th, 2012. http://www.loopnet.com/Attachments/0...29328596D2.pdf What does this have to do with Ellisburg Circle? Well they have a map of area retail on page 3 of the PDF, and for Ellisburg they have Whole Foods listed as "proposed".

The center's owner (Federal Realty) still lists the space as unoccupied on their site: Ellisburg Circle | Federal Realty Investment Trust Maybe all the work that they are doing is to lure Whole Foods and close the deal?

I read an article in today's Courier Post about how Cherry Hill is considering relaxing its liquor license laws to allow grocery stores to have a liquor license for in grocery store sales. (I can't find a link to the story on their website). They are considering this because they have a new liquor license that they need to auction off and want to get a higher price for it. This makes me wonder if this is all tied up in the Whole Foods/Ellisburg circle issue. This is just my idle speculation, but Whole Foods may be waiting to see if they can get a liquor license for that new store before signing a lease. I have to assume that they'd be able to make more money off a liquor license than any other Cherry Hill business that doesn't already have a license (or an on site liquor store like Wegmans). I don't know much about Cherry Hill grocery stores other than Wegmans. Does anyone know of any other grocery stores in the city limits who could be a bidder at that auction?

[avg12]

Originally Posted by withasigh

I don't know much about Cherry Hill grocery stores other than Wegmans. Does anyone know of any other grocery stores in the city limits who could be a bidder at that auction?

ShopRite/Cherry Hill Supermarkets for the Evesham Rd. store or Garden State Pavilions store, and less likely Pathmark (Church Rd.) and even less likely Bottom Dollar Food. Whole Foods or Trader Joes like to sell liquor, although neither are in town yet.

[CH101]

Originally Posted by withasigh

I read an article in today's Courier Post about how Cherry Hill is considering relaxing its liquor license laws to allow grocery stores to have a liquor license for in grocery store sales. (I can't find a link to the story on their website).

I found an article, but in the Philadelphia Inquirer: Cherry Hill considers relaxing a restriction in its liquor ordinance

It is pretty interesting that they are looking to change the ordinance. This ordinance is why Wegmans had to build a stand-alone store instead of selling it in the store.

The auction for the liquor license is set for Feb. 12th. I am sure they must have some type of Supermarket interest if they are considering changing the ordinance. It will be interesting to see if Shoprite would bid or if it would be the proposed Whole Foods. I believe a number of ShopRite owners already operate a branded "ShopRite Wine and Spirits Shops". I can't see Pathmark going for it, and I don't think Bottom Dollar is even an option.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

It's bizarre how the Acme in Newtown Square PA has a state liquor store inside it, but the very old state liquor store IN THE SAME SHOPPING CENTER (well really in a weird location behind it) has stayed open. And ironically, the state liquor chain did a lot of "2-for-1" relocations of their stores around the same time that the store inside this Acme opened. Also ironically, there was a state liquor store directly next to the Acme for many years, but this was in the days that all the liquor had to be behind a counter. When that policy changed, the liquor store behind this Acme opened.

On top of that, I believe this was the real reason for the decision to keep both of the above open: around the same time as the relatively new one inside Acme opened, the Happy Harry's drugstore also in Newtown Square closed. This led to an interesting chain of events. Staples made a bid on the former Happy Harry's property, but also forced the state liquor store next to it (which was relatively new) to move to another space around the corner, which was absolutely TINY and was formerly an EB Games. As a side note, there once was a Genuardi's in this shopping center, but it was one of the chain's first stores to close, even though the very similar but larger one in Springfield was replaced by a GIANT. The Newtown Square Genuardi's has been empty for almost three years now. Surprisingly the very old Acme in town has outlived it, and this is a richer area, but the Acme was redone in the 90's or early 2000s a while after the Genuardi's opened, so I guess Acme learned from Genuardi's mistakes from the very beginning. And very ironically, there used to be an "Azie" restaurant in the Genuardi's plaza. In Villanova not far away, a "The Fresh Grocer" supermarket opened in 2006 but closed months later, but the state liquor store that opened into it (which moved from another more visible location to be next to the supermarket) is still open, despite with a new entrance. A restaurant called "Maia" replaced part of the supermarket, but closed also not long after and was replaced by an Azie, which is still open, and coexists with one in Media.

Also, there was a fancy "FoodSource" supermarket that opened in Glen Mills (between West Chester and Wilmington DE) in 2004, replacing what used to be the only Zagara's in PA (and the only Zagara's that never sold alcohol), that had a state liquor store inside it. But FoodSource also closed not long afterward, and this state liquor store had to close with it, because it was towards the back of the FoodSource and had no room for its own outside entrance. Finally, a new Acme (snore) opened across the street, and a very upscale liquor store opened next door to it. But the FoodSource was replaced by yet another upscale grocer, called The Fresh Market, but they couldn't let the liquor store reopen because a Coldwater Creek clothing store took a portion of the already relatively small space that had been occupied by Zagara's and later FoodSource. The state liquor board would have been wise to keep their older store in Glen Mills open during all this, at least until the store next to Acme opened. And there was a Genuardi's at the other end of Glen Mills, in a very upscale shopping center, but it was a dump when it closed around the same time as the Newtown Square store. Luckily it was replaced by a Whole Foods. The Rite Aid (was Eckerd) next to the Genuardi's closed around the same time, and is still empty. I was stunned they didn't make the Eckerd/Rite Aid space into a state liquor store to complement the Whole Foods, as both would have their own entrances. And Whole Foods sells beer, as the GIANT now does down the street.

Not only that, but it would have made a lot more sense if the older state liquor store in Media (next to Newtown Square) had been chosen to be kept open despite a new one opening in town around 2005. The old one ironically moved right around the same time a Trader Joe's opened next to it, and now is a Hallmark store. While the new liquor store is much bigger and nicer than the old one, the location of the new one is awful! The old one was much closer to restaurants, bars, and plenty of shopping, while the new one is secluded.

[withasigh]

Originally Posted by avg12

ShopRite/Cherry Hill Supermarkets for the Evesham Rd. store or Garden State Pavilions store, and less likely Pathmark (Church Rd.) and even less likely Bottom Dollar Food. Whole Foods or Trader Joes like to sell liquor, although neither are in town yet.

I'm sure any supermarket would want a liquor license due to the drastically increased revenue, but the politics of this makes me think it's about bringing in Whole Foods. There isn't as much of a reason to placate existing supermarkets as there is to bring in a new one to bolster a shopping center that's presently missing its anchor store. For example, prior to Wegman's buying a liquor license to open the separate wine and spirits store Cherry Hill could have changed the rules to allow them to sell in the main store. They did not. I can't imagine that Wegman's didn't explore that possibility. Why the rush to change the rules now?

Maybe this is all just wishful thinking on my part. I can see the Ellisburg Circle Shopping Center from my office window and I'd love to be able to stop off at Whole Foods for lunch or on the way home.