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How close can grocery stores be to each other and still survive? Or better yet, how much density does it take to support two grocery store's a couple streets from each other. I ask this because there is a rumor that a new whole foods may be coming to a corner that is only a few street's from another development with a Giant underneath it. I wonder why Whole Food's would try to locate so close to another grocery store. Any thoughts?
No idea, but I work in Evanston, IL and there is a Whole Foods directly across the street from a large Jewel/Osco, which are both <0.75 mi from another Whole Foods down the street, and a Trader Joe's is currently being constructed a block and a half from the Whole Foods/Jewel Osco area. Evanston has a density of ~ 9.5 k / sq mi, and all of those grocery stores that are currently existing seem to be thriving. I sometimes even go to one of the other Whole Foods to avoid crowds at the previous one.
How close can grocery stores be to each other and still survive? Or better yet, how much density does it take to support two grocery store's a couple streets from each other. I ask this because there is a rumor that a new whole foods may be coming to a corner that is only a few street's from another development with a Giant underneath it. I wonder why Whole Food's would try to locate so close to another grocery store. Any thoughts?
Doesn't seem that strange. Wouldn't Whole Foods and Giant have dissimilar customer bases?
In fact, at Fairfax / 3rd in Los Angeles there is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's kitty-corner from each other. The Whole Foods at 3rd / Fairfax is 1.3 miles from the Whole Foods on Fairfax / Santa Monica. On Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown there is a Ralph's and a Von's right across the street from each other. The 3rd and Fairfax location is pretty upscale but not particularly dense (~10-12k ppsm) while the Koreatown location is pretty dense, around 60k ppsm.
Doesn't seem that strange. Wouldn't Whole Foods and Giant have dissimilar customer bases?
In fact, at Fairfax / 3rd in Los Angeles there is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's kitty-corner from each other. The Whole Foods at 3rd / Fairfax is 1.3 miles from the Whole Foods on Fairfax / Santa Monica. On Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown there is a Ralph's and a Von's right across the street from each other. The 3rd and Fairfax location is pretty upscale but not particularly dense (~10-12k ppsm) while the Koreatown location is pretty dense, around 60k ppsm.
Yeah I guess so. Giant isn't Whole Food's but is still pretty expensive. It's not a discount store. There are thousands of units in the pipeline for H street so maybe they can both be supported in the future. I would think Whole Food's would want to maybe locate at the other end of H street though. I guess it doesn't matter though, they know their market better than I do.
I don't see any Google Street Maps for Chicago here. I think some people here get it, some don't. There's a mix here of floor level big stores and then stores on their own...and not counting some of the smaller outfits.
Potash Market in Gold Coast at the foot of a 50 some story building: Google Maps
These are some of the big ones. There's also a Trader Joe's in the neighborhood, although it's at the foot of a hotel. There is also an 60,000 sq foot Eataly (Mario Battali) opening in the same area as these in September.
In Alameda, CA, the Safeway and the Trader Joe's are neighbors, with just a sidewalk separating the two. It was great -- very convenient. I tend to buy some things at TJ's and some things at Safeway, so I could do it all in one shopping trip.
Here in Minneapolis (or, rather, in an inner-ring suburb called Richfield), we have an Aldi's and a Lund's (upscale grocery store) sitting next to each other, but the design is not nearly as good (they each have their own parking lots and have doors facing the opposite directions. It's understandable -- the Lund's was there first, and it's an auto-centric, outdated design -- but it's also a lost opportunity. The customer base IS different, but perhaps if they were like the option in Alameda -- where people could park once (or walk) and hit both stores at once -- they'd both benefit. These days there are a lot of customers out there shopping both high and low. In the Richfield case, the two stores are right next to each other, but anyone arriving by car (which is the majority of people) has to leave one parking lot and drive the ten feet into the next one if they want to bundle their errands.
In any case, I think you can have grocery stores pretty close together and still support them, especially if they serve slightly different needs.
Doesn't seem that strange. Wouldn't Whole Foods and Giant have dissimilar customer bases?
In fact, at Fairfax / 3rd in Los Angeles there is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's kitty-corner from each other. The Whole Foods at 3rd / Fairfax is 1.3 miles from the Whole Foods on Fairfax / Santa Monica. On Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown there is a Ralph's and a Von's right across the street from each other. The 3rd and Fairfax location is pretty upscale but not particularly dense (~10-12k ppsm) while the Koreatown location is pretty dense, around 60k ppsm.
Mostly cause I have no idea what Giant was, just assumed it was a supermarket.
Do other cities have something like Gelson's, a grocery chain in Southern California? From what I can tell it is a totally normal grocery store, but is marketed as "upscale" and has higher prices even though it basically has the exact same selection as a standard grocery store.
Well, I just assumed Giant was a supermarket, too. But for the most part, these days, supermarkets have "organic" sections, or organic products within their regular sections. I just bought a bag of organic popcorn seeds yesterday at Albertson's. (A grocery chain) The major difference is that WF is more expensive, overall, they are non-unionized, and their CEO is a jerk. (Well, that last might be true of a lot of them.)
Now this is a very interesting grocery store project that slipped under my radar. There is an old roller skating rink/bowling alley that was converted to a Harris Teater Grocery Store but all the space is not being used on the upper level where the roller skating rink was. That space has been converted into 39 apartment lofts stepping up to the upper ceiling. Pretty interesting re-use.
Well, I just assumed Giant was a supermarket, too. But for the most part, these days, supermarkets have "organic" sections, or organic products within their regular sections. I just bought a bag of organic popcorn seeds yesterday at Albertson's. (A grocery chain) The major difference is that WF is more expensive, overall, they are non-unionized, and their CEO is a jerk. (Well, that last might be true of a lot of them.)
Giant is a very plain jane, middle of the road supermarket. I think it might be a good comparison to Albertson's (haven't been to one in years). But not every Giant, or Albertsons, is created equal - the products available depend on who is shopping there. There is some specialty and organic stuff at the Giant that is three blocks from where I am, but far more in wealthier neighborhoods.
TJ's isn't unionized either, but they are pretty good to their employees.
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