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We all know how important "location, location, location" is to property value. But I saw a note in Men's Health magazine insisting that having a grocery within ten minutes is very important. This hits close to home for me since a major chain recently shut down all its stores in my region.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Why did they close? That is more important than having one within 10 minutes. If they suffered from increased competition with a new Walmart, Costco or Trader Joe 15 minutes away it's probably not going to hurt you. If they closed because they couldn't make enough money from the local population, it may hurt your value a bit. In the worst case, stores abandon areas with high crime, when their losses due to theft, bad checks and robberies have too much effect on their profits, and that is what would greatly reduce property values. Since you said they closed all its stores in your region, it may not have anything to do with the area, but just a struggling company reducing costs. If that's the case hopefully some other, better stores will take them over. How far away is the nearest grocer now?
Interesting point. I was speaking with a real estate agent yesterday regarding my own property. They pointed out a big selling point of my property was that there were so many grocery stores within a ten minute drive. I have around six of them including a farmstand and a TJs. I've taken it for granted and never would have come up with that on my own. Now that I am looking for a new area, I notice many parts of the Boston metro have so fewer grocery stores than where I am currently living.
Why did they close? That is more important than having one within 10 minutes. If they suffered from increased competition with a new Walmart, Costco or Trader Joe 15 minutes away it's probably not going to hurt you. If they closed because they couldn't make enough money from the local population, it may hurt your value a bit. In the worst case, stores abandon areas with high crime, when their losses due to theft, bad checks and robberies have too much effect on their profits, and that is what would greatly reduce property values. Since you said they closed all its stores in your region, it may not have anything to do with the area, but just a struggling company reducing costs. If that's the case hopefully some other, better stores will take them over. How far away is the nearest grocer now?
They closed all stores within a region, not just a few in selected neighborhoods. I know that "food deserts" tend to be in rundown neighborhoods (don't people there eat?) but I never imagined the connection. In many cases there were other options nearby.
I notice many parts of the Boston metro have so fewer grocery stores than where I am currently living.
Big cities have small grocers, almost like convenience stores, but with produce, etc. If you want mega grocery stores in large cities in the northeast like Boston or New York, etc, you need to move out of the city and into the suburbs. Its not "bad" its just different.
We all know how important "location, location, location" is to property value. But I saw a note in Men's Health magazine insisting that having a grocery within ten minutes is very important. This hits close to home for me since a major chain recently shut down all its stores in my region.
I distinctly remember that our appraisal included proximity to shopping as a factor in assessing our home's value. Moreover, lots of real estate ads point out convenient distance to shopping. Was that particular retail chain the only source of groceries in your area? If there are other stores, I doubt it'll noticeably affect your property value.
Grocery stores need lots of land. Land in highly developed neighborhoods is very expensive and grocery stores work on very small margins.
When I was growing up on the north shore of Long Island, NY we had 3 grocery stores within 10 minutes. Now there is only one. It certainly isn't because of lack of income in the area.......it's the cost of doing business.
An update: most of the locations have been taken over by other grocery stores, many by Whole Foods. The one nearest me by another local chain. Property values have gone up, but they generally have in the region.
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