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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01
DavePA says they don't plan anymore stores in PA right now.
They have to pick a site for a 2nd distribution center. It would be crazy to be stocking NC out of the current distribution center. They're already stretching it to stock the Richmond stores. They'll move at least some Virginia stores to the new distribution center, because it would make more sense, geographically. They will probably build the 4 stores in the Triangle aka Raleigh/Durham & maybe put up a store in Greensboro before they actually do the deed with building the 2nd distribution center. They may build that in southern Virginia or North Carolina, depending on how they decide to divide the east coast. They might put in another store in the Philadelphia market the year that they build the 2nd distribution center. I don't know, but that makes sense.
Dave wandered into a discussion about Wegmans on the Triangle board & tried to call me out for saying that I couldn't see them building in Charlotte before they build a 2nd distribution center.
(The Fannie Mae site in DC is in the upper northwest portion of the District, not its core, so I don't think of it as analogous to the Navy Yard given what the landscape along Wisconsin Avenue looks like. Still, it is in the District, so would be analogous to their announcing a store at, say, the Boulevard and Cottman Avenue.)
The Wegmans that is planned for Alexandria, VA may be a better example of what to expect from an "urban" Wegmans. It will be in a neighborhood with many offices and tall apartment buildings, and directly across the street from a rail station. It will also be smaller than most new Wegmans and will be their first store to not be on the ground floor of a building (it will be on the 2nd floor).
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01
There have many discussions about why TJ's is lax about putting stores in this area. Southbound knows a lot about the grocery world so she might want to talk about it some more.
I've just been trying to figure out what's going on with the upheaval in the grocery world on the east coast. So far, common sense has worked well for me.
Publix is heading north after not crossing into NC, apparently, for decades. They got a foothold in NC & crossed the border into Virginia. They headed north as A&P was crumbling. I don't pay much attention as to what's going on with them because Carolina knight tracks them.
As A&P was crumbling, Kroger tried to negotiate a purchase with them. Kroger owns Harris Teeter which goes as far north as Delaware.
Lidl finally decided to make the jump to the US. Their main competition in Europe are the 2 Aldis. Aldi Nord is the majority holder of Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has cultivated a scarcity of stores east of California. They hopped on the Midwest, which they had ignored for years. The stores that we know as Aldi were in a good position & they have a remodel & growth program going on.
Lidl was looking at Charlotte for their US headquarters. The NC legislature screwed that up & Virginia jumped on it. I started looking online & stumbled on articles that described how, when Lidl hit the UK, & started going after Aldi, there was a tremendous amount of damage done to certain other chains including ASDA, which is owned by Walmart.
Lidl hit where l currently live last September. The immediate effect was egg wars. I paid over 50 cents a dozen for eggs once since last September. They also drop milk prices drastically.
I know that I've been all over the place, geographically, but it's all related & interwoven.
Last edited by southbound_295; 08-01-2018 at 08:02 AM..
I’m always caught a bit off guard by first-timers’ reactions to Wegmans…since the store been a part of my life for nearly 25 years. My hometown (Williamsport)—a most decidedly non-upmarket area—got its Wegmans around 1994. The company reports that its first location outside of New York State was Erie in 1993, so Williamsport may have been the the company’s second store in Pennsylvania.
Yet despite the company’s current predilection for opening stores in newly constructed faux downtowns (places with names featuring lots of gratuitous silent vowels and unnecessary prepositions—“The Shoppes at Olde Towne Crossings”), the company’s Williamsport store is actually sited downtown in a walkable neighborhood. And further, Wegmans redeveloped a property that had previously been occupied by a shuttered boiler factory. The store opened just a few years after the city’s last department store closed and downtown arguably hit its nadir, but in the following two decades, Wegmans proved to be the cornerstone of what has become a remarkably vibrant downtown business district.
When visiting Williamsport and not staying with family, I’ll get a room at the Residence Inn downtown. Wegmans is a short walk away—as are a riverwalk, a library, a beautifully restored performance venue, and numerous restaurants. It’s not enough to make me want to move home, but I’m always struck by how neat a package it is, and Wegmans is a major part of that. It’s a shame the company seems fairly uninterested in being a part of urban development/redevelopment elsewhere (Brooklyn and DC notwithstanding).
- - -
Also grocery-related: I was surprised to see that central PA’s dominant grocer, Weis, has been chipping at the edges of the Philadelphia metro and is now as close as Conshohocken. On its home turf, Weis is an unglamourous place where workaday folks buy sliced bologna and boxed mac and cheese—roughly equivalent to Acme here. I don’t really see how Weis fits into the Philadelphia grocery landscape, except to steal a few customers from the likes of Acme and ShopRite.
- - -
And since Publix was mentioned: I’m not fond of admitting this, but I lived a year in Tampa. And a Publix store was within walking distance of my townhouse, so it became my regular grocer. After hearing a great deal of word-of-mouth hype (with some people even arguing that Publix was better than Wegmans), I was eager to find out what the fuss was about. After several trips, I still had no idea why people were raving.
I can only describe the stores as “typical supermarkets”—along the lines of any middle-of-the-road Acme, Giant, Weis, etc. I’d give Publix slightly above average marks for cleanliness and orderliness, but that’s about it.
Apparently, the company prides itself most on quality of service, but for me anyway, “service” is all but irrelevant to the grocery shopping experience. I walk in, grab a cart, retrieve items from shelves, and check out. That dedication to personal service means that Publix wouldn’t dream of offering anything as impersonal as self checkout, so I found myself perpetually trapped in line behind a retiree cashier chatting with a customer and occasionally scanning an item. Don’t get me wrong: I hate it when retail workers can’t be bothered to smile, say hello, or even acknowledge my presence. But on the other hand, I don’t think small talk should prolong the transaction—either for me or everyone else waiting behind.
If that's a possibility, I wouldn't rule out our seeing one within the Philadelphia city limits.
Perhaps at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Only problem with that site: access is poor and the residential portion of the redevelopment appears to be on indefinite hold.
(The Fannie Mae site in DC is in the upper northwest portion of the District, not its core, so I don't think of it as analogous to the Navy Yard given what the landscape along Wisconsin Avenue looks like. Still, it is in the District, so would be analogous to their announcing a store at, say, the Boulevard and Cottman Avenue.)
The Village at Valley Forge store has the distinction of being the only Wegmans I have seen to date that one can walk to from a nearby residence, thanks to how the Village is put together. In form, it looks like just another suburban mall surrounded by a parking lot from the nearby roads, but in function, the buildings in that island are arranged so that residences are close to the shops and offices. You could walk from the senior apartment community on one end, through the open-air shopping street, and come out on the other right next to the Wegmans.
Cherry Hill Township had the opportunity to do something like this with the old Garden State Park racetrack site, but blew it by siting everything to make walking between its various components difficult.
They blew it big time. That was supposed to be the town center they never had.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by briantroutman
I’m always caught a bit off guard by first-timers’ reactions to Wegmans…since the store been a part of my life for nearly 25 years. My hometown (Williamsport)—a most decidedly non-upmarket area—got its Wegmans around 1994. The company reports that its first location outside of New York State was Erie in 1993, so Williamsport may have been the the company’s second store in Pennsylvania.
Yet despite the company’s current predilection for opening stores in newly constructed faux downtowns (places with names featuring lots of gratuitous silent vowels and unnecessary prepositions—“The Shoppes at Olde Towne Crossings”), the company’s Williamsport store is actually sited downtown in a walkable neighborhood. And further, Wegmans redeveloped a property that had previously been occupied by a shuttered boiler factory. The store opened just a few years after the city’s last department store closed and downtown arguably hit its nadir, but in the following two decades, Wegmans proved to be the cornerstone of what has become a remarkably vibrant downtown business district.
When visiting Williamsport and not staying with family, I’ll get a room at the Residence Inn downtown. Wegmans is a short walk away—as are a riverwalk, a library, a beautifully restored performance venue, and numerous restaurants. It’s not enough to make me want to move home, but I’m always struck by how neat a package it is, and Wegmans is a major part of that. It’s a shame the company seems fairly uninterested in being a part of urban development/redevelopment elsewhere (Brooklyn and DC notwithstanding).
- - -
Also grocery-related: I was surprised to see that central PA’s dominant grocer, Weis, has been chipping at the edges of the Philadelphia metro and is now as close as Conshohocken. On its home turf, Weis is an unglamourous place where workaday folks buy sliced bologna and boxed mac and cheese—roughly equivalent to Acme here. I don’t really see how Weis fits into the Philadelphia grocery landscape, except to steal a few customers from the likes of Acme and ShopRite.
- - -
And since Publix was mentioned: I’m not fond of admitting this, but I lived a year in Tampa. And a Publix store was within walking distance of my townhouse, so it became my regular grocer. After hearing a great deal of word-of-mouth hype (with some people even arguing that Publix was better than Wegmans), I was eager to find out what the fuss was about. After several trips, I still had no idea why people were raving.
I can only describe the stores as “typical supermarkets”—along the lines of any middle-of-the-road Acme, Giant, Weis, etc. I’d give Publix slightly above average marks for cleanliness and orderliness, but that’s about it.
Apparently, the company prides itself most on quality of service, but for me anyway, “service” is all but irrelevant to the grocery shopping experience. I walk in, grab a cart, retrieve items from shelves, and check out. That dedication to personal service means that Publix wouldn’t dream of offering anything as impersonal as self checkout, so I found myself perpetually trapped in line behind a retiree cashier chatting with a customer and occasionally scanning an item. Don’t get me wrong: I hate it when retail workers can’t be bothered to smile, say hello, or even acknowledge my presence. But on the other hand, I don’t think small talk should prolong the transaction—either for me or everyone else waiting behind.
I've never been in a Florida Publix. Most comments about them on the NC boards compare them to Harris Teeter. The one Publix that I've been in, in NC, has self checkouts.
As far as I know, Publix is still south of DC, but headed up the I 95 corridor. Right now Wegmans & Publix are competing in Richmond.
It's possible that Kroger might look at sending Harris Teeter into Philadelphia or open Kroger stores, to beat Publix at the pass.
And since Publix was mentioned: I’m not fond of admitting this, but I lived a year in Tampa. And a Publix store was within walking distance of my townhouse, so it became my regular grocer. After hearing a great deal of word-of-mouth hype (with some people even arguing that Publix was better than Wegmans), I was eager to find out what the fuss was about. After several trips, I still had no idea why people were raving.
I can only describe the stores as “typical supermarkets”—along the lines of any middle-of-the-road Acme, Giant, Weis, etc. I’d give Publix slightly above average marks for cleanliness and orderliness, but that’s about it.
Apparently, the company prides itself most on quality of service, but for me anyway, “service” is all but irrelevant to the grocery shopping experience. I walk in, grab a cart, retrieve items from shelves, and check out. That dedication to personal service means that Publix wouldn’t dream of offering anything as impersonal as self checkout, so I found myself perpetually trapped in line behind a retiree cashier chatting with a customer and occasionally scanning an item. Don’t get me wrong: I hate it when retail workers can’t be bothered to smile, say hello, or even acknowledge my presence. But on the other hand, I don’t think small talk should prolong the transaction—either for me or everyone else waiting behind.
Publix is also employee-owned, a rarity among supermarket chains.
I’m always caught a bit off guard by first-timers’ reactions to Wegmans…since the store been a part of my life for nearly 25 years. My hometown (Williamsport)—a most decidedly non-upmarket area—got its Wegmans around 1994. The company reports that its first location outside of New York State was Erie in 1993, so Williamsport may have been the the company’s second store in Pennsylvania. snip
Wilkes-Barre got one years ago, too. Long before this area.
But original plans were another DC next to the PA current one near me. They secured the land next door between the current DC and Lowe's DC. The Industrial Park companies enjoyed basically 10 years of tax-free incentives by the state. A Walmart DC is across I-81. They are basically on top of a mountain. After another DC was on hold, a build-on to the current one was to be planned. That then never occurred yet.
The Great migration South continues in this country.... steered by corporate America. No end in sight till cost rise there and infrastructure endlessly needing expansion and then rebuilding all add up. Plenty of incentives are given companies to relocate. The migration once North were workers and not corporations. Now it is corporations and people follow the jobs.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by southbound_295
I've just been trying to figure out what's going on with the upheaval in the grocery world on the east coast. So far, common sense has worked well for me.
Publix is heading north after not crossing into NC, apparently, for decades. They got a foothold in NC & crossed the border into Virginia. They headed north as A&P was crumbling. I don't pay much attention as to what's going on with them because Carolina knight tracks them.
As A&P was crumbling, Kroger tried to negotiate a purchase with them. Kroger owns Harris Teeter which goes as far north as Delaware.
Lidl finally decided to make the jump to the US. Their main competition in Europe are the 2 Aldis. Aldi Nord is the majority holder of Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has cultivated a scarcity of stores east of California. They hopped on the Midwest, which they had ignored for years. The stores that we know as Aldi were in a good position & they have a remodel & growth program going on.
Lidl was looking at Charlotte for their US headquarters. The NC legislature screwed that up & Virginia jumped on it. I started looking online & stumbled on articles that described how, when Lidl hit the UK, & started going after Aldi, there was a tremendous amount of damage done to certain other chains including ASDA, which is owned by Walmart.
Lidl hit where l currently live last September. The immediate effect was egg wars. I paid over 50 cents a dozen for eggs once since last September. They also drop milk prices drastically.
I know that I've been all over the place, geographically, but it's all related & interwoven.
Lidl is opening a new store in the Charlotte area this week, so I was looking in the areas where they already own land to see if there was mention of others opening. On the northern Virginia board there was a mention of Trader Joe's opening a store, so they must be done in the Midwest.
Check on their website to submit location suggestions. Lidl does own land in Philadelphia, so they might get motivated.
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