Kroger Marketplace coming to Belair/Southwest Augusta (Franklin: zoning, area)

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by ArmyBrat619

I would not bet on Whole Foods considering how they crashed and burned here before. A Trader Joe's would be nice

I wouldn't say crashed and burned. I'd say they were a victim of a poor location choice and of Amazon's purchase of the company. I think they would do just fine at a location with easier vehicle access.

[amlovingit]

Agree

[urbandevelopment]

The Augusta Whole Foods Market closed before Amazon owned WFM. At the time of the Augusta closure, WFM corporate made the decision to close their 10 worst performing stores, of which the Augusta store was one. The Augusta location was the only WFM to close in Georgia and South Carolina at that time.
I liked shopping at the Augusta WFM….unfortunately not enough people choose to shop there. I don’t see WFM reentering the market.

[cst8670]

Originally Posted by urbandevelopment

The Augusta Whole Foods Market closed before Amazon owned WFM. At the time of the Augusta closure, WFM corporate made the decision to close their 10 worst performing stores, of which the Augusta store was one. The Augusta location was the only WFM to close in Georgia and South Carolina at that time.
I liked shopping at the Augusta WFM….unfortunately not enough people choose to shop there. I don’t see WFM reentering the market.

It was not that people chose not to shop there it was that they could not find any decent parking to do so due mostly because of the customers from Outback and Bonefish taking up so much of the parking.

[ArmyBrat619]

The Augusta area simply does not have enough liberal hipsters with more money than good sense to support a Whole Foods. At best there is only enough of them to support a coffee house and a few pretentious bars downtown

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by urbandevelopment

The Augusta Whole Foods Market closed before Amazon owned WFM. At the time of the Augusta closure, WFM corporate made the decision to close their 10 worst performing stores, of which the Augusta store was one. The Augusta location was the only WFM to close in Georgia and South Carolina at that time.
I liked shopping at the Augusta WFM….unfortunately not enough people choose to shop there. I don’t see WFM reentering the market.

The Augusta store closed in February, and the Amazon purchase was announced 4 months later. They knew about the pending purchase long before the Augusta store closed. Closing the 10 worst stores was probably a requirement for the deal to close.

[ArmyBrat619]

That's an excellent point about the closing of the worst performing stores being a contingency for the sale to Amazon. But my question is.. was the poor performance of the Augusta store simply because of a bad location because of traffic or poor access or did they just totally misread the Augusta market? Maybe both. I am not convinced had they located in Evans that they would have done much better. There's just so many options now for organic natural foods. From the beginning Whole Foods just seed to be a mismatch for Augusta.

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by ArmyBrat619

That's an excellent point about the closing of the worst performing stores being a contingency for the sale to Amazon. But my question is.. was the poor performance of the Augusta store simply because of a bad location because of traffic or poor access or did they just totally misread the Augusta market? Maybe both. I am not convinced had they located in Evans that they would have done much better. There's just so many options now for organic natural foods. From the beginning Whole Foods just seed to be a mismatch for Augusta.

I think it was a little of both. Not necessarily misreading the market, as I think there's plenty of buyers for their types/styles of products in the CSRA, but the proximity to Fresh Market couldn't have helped. Fresh Market has been a long-standing retailer in that corridor and deals in the same types of product and clientele. Further up Washington Rd toward Evans may have had a better chance at surviving. The issue with grocers is that they are very 'hyperlocal' in that they don't draw in from large distances. People shop at grocery stores closer to their homes. Specialty grocers like Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Sprouts, Trader Joes, etc. have a larger geographical draw than a Kroger or Publix, but it's still quite limited. A Whole Foods and Fresh Market that are 5-7 miles apart would both fare better than if they were a couple miles apart.

[cst8670]

Originally Posted by ArmyBrat619

That's an excellent point about the closing of the worst performing stores being a contingency for the sale to Amazon. But my question is.. was the poor performance of the Augusta store simply because of a bad location because of traffic or poor access or did they just totally misread the Augusta market? Maybe both. I am not convinced had they located in Evans that they would have done much better. There's just so many options now for organic natural foods. From the beginning Whole Foods just seed to be a mismatch for Augusta.

I think it was a number of issues such as the clear lack of enough parking due to customers for Bonefish and Outback taking up so much of it.
That made it difficult because people if they have the option will shop elsewhere rather than struggle to find a parking spot and in that area they had the option of Publix, Kroger's and Fresh Market.
Now the question is will Amazon try to build one in a new location locally now that they are building the distribution centers here? Maybe.

[All_4_augusta]

Southwest Augusta … SWAG???