Giant Food grocery store's closing adds to food desert issues along Bankhead corridor (Atlanta: 2013, foreclosure)

[demonta4]

Customers still pull into the parking lot of the Giant Food grocery store off Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway in northwest Atlanta’s Grove Park. Most are unaware that the store is, as of last week, now closed.

Giant Food was one of only two grocery stores off the busy Bankhead corridor that stretches from Northside Drive to the city limits. And to many residents, it was the only nearby location that offered a range of produce and healthy items. There is no Kroger, no Publix — the area is technically a food desert. Most shoppers are forced to meet their needs at corner stores, which offer little in the way of fruits and vegetables.

“The area is a food desert,” says Charles Moore of the Emory Urban Health Initiative, a six-year-old effort aimed at improving the health of “diverse and underserved populations in Atlanta.” “This just exacerbates the situation.”

With the help of the surrounding community in 2013, UHI planted an urban garden next to Giant Food so area residents would have access to fresh produce. But with the store's closing, the urban garden will have to move.

Moore says Giant Food's owner, Sam Goswami, was trying to keep the store in operation, but didn’t anticipate its closing, either. According to the garden’s Facebook page, the owner lost the property in foreclosure. Efforts to reach Goswami were unsuccessful.

“It’s really unfortunate this has happened,” Moore says. “One less resource the community has.”

Rev. Larry Hill, the pastor at Word of God Ministries in Bankhead, says some nearby residents are only now hearing the news about the grocery store’s closing, adding that people are “very shocked.”

Hill, who has owned a day care center in the area for more than 20 years, says he is tired of seeing the community fall behind. Hill says he sees businesses and schools closing all the time and thinks it’s time for the city to intervene.

Hill and other pastors want to meet with Mayor Kasim Reed and elected officials to try to launch an “effort with stakeholders to try to stabilize Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.” He says the pastors are also exploring how they can support a community grocery store.

In the meantime, Hill has offered UHI a new space for the urban garden, at Northwest Youth Power, his youth ministry located about a mile away by the Bankhead MARTA station.

Moore hopes the garden’s new location will attract people from a nearby Grady Memorial Hospital clinic and engage children from Northwest Youth Power. Moore also hopes UHI can partner with local corner stores to help them provide the community with healthier options.

Giant Food grocery store's closing adds to food desert issues along Bankhead corridor | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

I'm surprised a simple Walmart can't even open here. The area's been relatively safe for the last decade. There is always children out playing at the park and people exercising or walking their dogs. Bankhead deserves some kind of grocery store by now. Especially so close to the core and Cobb county.

[Carolina Knight]

The trade area could use a supermarket. Walmart Neighborhood Market could address the necessities of food and pharmacy. I do not know if Kroger, Publix, or Ingle's would consider an opportunity if the trade area has had issues before.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

The trade area could use a supermarket. Walmart Neighborhood Market could address the necessities of food and pharmacy. I do not know if Kroger, Publix, or Ingle's would consider an opportunity if the trade area has had issues before.

We had a recent thread here that discussed the closing of Publix grocery stores as that chain slowly but surely leaves some suburban areas in the south metro & the entire south side of the City of Atlanta.
So, no... Not by any stretch would the Publix chain be interested in serving this area of Atlanta.
Ingles.. doubtful.
Kroger... maybe.

[Carolina Knight]

Walmart Neighborhood Market is locating in trade areas where Ingle's, Kroger, and Pubilx may not locate or have exited through store closures. It could be the best logical option.

[residinghere2007]

That was a stinky store. I always thought they must have had a lot of rotten meat in there.

That said, I'm sure it is a blow to the neighborhood. I don't see Walmart there considering there are Walmarts not too far from that vicinity. The Bankhead corridor is really ignored in the City of Atlanta. It is a shame really.

[arjay57]

Seems like that area could easily support a new grocery store.

[OuiOui]

I never understood why Aldi can't come fill in these food deserts. They could bring affordable produce and even organics to these neighborhoods. They require a ton of square footage and parking spaces, however.
Lidl is coming to the US next year (they're just like Aldi, but their competitor). I wonder if they'd be interested in opening stores in places like Bankhead and other ignored intown neighborhoods.
I'd think these budget friendly stores would be a great fit.

[Stormhammer]

I think a larger question to ask is *why* did the store go into foreclosure?

[lukas1973]

Originally Posted by OuiOui

I never understood why Aldi can't come fill in these food deserts. They could bring affordable produce and even organics to these neighborhoods. They require a ton of square footage and parking spaces, however.
Lidl is coming to the US next year (they're just like Aldi, but their competitor). I wonder if they'd be interested in opening stores in places like Bankhead and other ignored intown neighborhoods.
I'd think these budget friendly stores would be a great fit.

Aldi normally prefer to be located on roads with more traffic or near other stores that bring more traffic (e.g. near a Walmart supercenter). I have checked the location of this Giant Food store at Google Maps. I think it's very unlikely that an other grocery store will open a store at this location.
Lidl stores in the U.S. will be about double the size of an Aldi store. They will need locations with even more traffic.

I think this neighborhood needs one easy-to-reach place where several different stores can be located. That could bring enough traffic to sustain the stores. It's normally the task of the city to offer such locations. Cities should normally have something like an "Einzelhandelskonzept". Don't know how that can be translated "retail concept"? A plan or concept that ensures that all parts of the city are provided by the needed stores. I expect that the City of Atlanta has such a plan.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by OuiOui

I never understood why Aldi can't come fill in these food deserts. They could bring affordable produce and even organics to these neighborhoods. They require a ton of square footage and parking spaces, however.
Lidl is coming to the US next year (they're just like Aldi, but their competitor). I wonder if they'd be interested in opening stores in places like Bankhead and other ignored intown neighborhoods.
I'd think these budget friendly stores would be a great fit.

Aldi is a limited assortment/discount grocer. Its stores does not require as much space as supermarkets need.

Lidl, Aldi's rival, will have larger stores in the United States.