Not so new news...
First reported here was the story of the new grocery store for the Kings Contrivance village center. Despite coming in second in the race to provide timely news to Howard Countians, the Sun today tells the tale of Safeway's departure.
Although the Sun has a few additional details--typically boring stuff like square footage--the story is worth some excerpts if only to validate my belief that EVERYONE hates the current Safeway.
Hillary Bierce, a village resident who said she had stopped shopping at the Safeway, was pleased to hear Harris Teeter is coming to the center.
"I think it's wonderful. ... I couldn't be happier," Bierce said.
She said she had a good experience when she shopped at a Harris Teeter during a vacation trip years ago.
"I remember it had a good reputation in the community, and people recommended that I go shop at that store," she said.
Bierce and Heidi Gaasch, another village resident, said they are not concerned about the lack of a supermarket at the center during the construction period.
"Tonight, I told my husband to stop and get some ginger ale on his way home," Gaasch said. "I gave him three store choices, and none were [the Kings Contrivance] Safeway anyway."
Can't you just feel the love?
Of course, it may take a couple of years before Harris Teeter can move in, and for much of that time, there will be no grocery store to "anchor" the village center. Some are concerned by this."We will absolutely keep the rest of the center open during the construction period to continue to serve the community," [Kimco rep Kevin Allen] said. "We are evaluating internally some promotions and advertising to encourage the community to shop the village center while the grocery store is closed."Don't worry. If anything, simply removing the Safeway will likely result in a net gain of village center shoppers.
4 comments:
Safeway in Kings Contrivance is really not a very nice store. I just hope the replacement is an improvement. If we get a decent grocery store in the center, the other shops will be able to thrive.
Moyey
i actually tend to like the Kings Contrivance Safeway. i go there almost EVERYDAY. im not a real big fan of huge ass grocery stores.. i like the small ones. and the people are absolutely AMAZING!!! ahhh gotta love them. plus, i heard that it wont be closing till the END of summer now.. yippie :) ok bye
As soon as we K.C. residents are relieved of the overly-long and impossible-to-ignore construction eyesore to erect what is possibly the ugliest church ever constructed, we now lose a very serviceable neighborhood grocery store and face another protracted construction project to replace it. There is no good reason for the new grocery store construction to last for a year. Demolition of the old store and site prep shouldn't take more than a month. The new structure is basically just a box with lighting and refrigeration plant - 6 months. Believe me, I know of what I'm talking about. Teeter isn't interested in being a good neighbor by getting the job done without causing unneeded stress on the community and the other retailers in the village; they want to do it at the pace best suited to their own interests only.
If there's one thing Columbia and K.C. don't need, it's more upscale establishments. This blog makes a point of always lamenting the economic squeeze on lower income familes in the county, yet you endorse this sort of upscale development. Do you know what credibility is?
Sure, our Safeway had its faults. But it also had advantages. It was possibly the least crowded grocery within 10 to 15 miles or more. It didn't try to be everything for everybody with aisle after aisle of redundant food products and, worse yet, non-food junk sundries. The produce department was only a little limited compared to the closest competitor, Giant in Owen Brown, and was generally of better quality. It was reasonably clean and pleasant enough for regular shopping. It was a nice neighborhood store. More than enough to make up for a few minor shortcomings. Yet the general consensus seems to be that Teeter's is going to be so much better that it will be worth a year or more of pre-opening disruption, reduced sales to the other retailers, hardships on the elderly and handicapped in the community, and post-opening increased traffic and crowded shopping.
Residents of K.C.: you are about to find out what it means to not know how good things were until you lost it. I'm not surprised at this lack of foresight; it's the Columbia tradition... pave paradise and put up a parking lot... every man for himself... it's all for sale...
Columbians pay lip service to social ideals, but their choices show they're just common hypocrites.
Elsewhere on this blog I wrote a negatively dissenting opinion re: Harris Teeter. That was over two years ago and, IMO, I was right. It turned out even worse than I thought it would. TWO YEARS in construction (shameful!), incredibly high prices, and at least a 100% increase in traffic. Our KC/Dickenson neighborhood is ruined. I hope you are happy with your short-sightedness. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. I told you so!
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