Dear Ald. Benford-- I want to thank you for your support of the Northside in its efforts to restore a supermarket to the Northside that will be accessible to people in the neighbourhoods, and look forward to seeing you at the press conference on Tuesday.
You are well aware of the importance of the issue to your constituents. By buying the former Kohl's store in Sherman Plaza but holding the lease and keeping the store closed, Roundy's/Copps has attacked some of our most vulnerable neighbours--those who do not have cars or otherwise do not drive--who, because they can no longer walk to a supermarket, now face long bus rides (including additional wasted time at the transfer point) on buses that run too infrequently to get to east-side supermarkets like Copps, Woodman's, or Cub Foods, or who rely on overpriced alternatives like "convenience" stores for many basic everyday items--not just for an occasional last minute gallon of milk that doesn't otherwise warrant a special trip to the store, but many items week after week. Even for those of us who have private motor vehicles, not being able to stop on the way home from another trip or to make a quick walk or bike ride to the store is not only an inconvenience but also bad policy because it forces us to drive farther and more often than is desirable or responsible. People already drive cars much more than they should, and this situation only makes it worse. To be sure, this is about a community of more than 20,000 residents within the city having a convenient place to buy groceries, a basic necessity, but it is more than that. It is about having a livable neighbourhood and supporting the local businesses who rely on a supermarket as an anchor store to attract customers to the shopping centre. Sherman Plaza and its massive parking lot may not look like the kind of "neighbourhood" shopping of small shops one might associate with expensive neighbourhoods like those near Monroe Street (where they are facing their own struggles over an abandoned grocery store), but its variety of stores (hardware store, bank, branch library, discount book store, Italian restaurant, coffee shop, et cetera) serve much the same purpose in offering Northside residents of a wide range of incomes the opportunities to shop locally in one convenient place, even within walking or bicycling distance for many people. The owners of the centre have invested in considerable remodelling of the storefronts and, as you know, the former Kohl's store was built from the ground up just three years ago. (We are not talking about a facility that would be "outdated" or otherwise unattractive to a new grocer; this is a viable retail space.) We also look forward to an expanded Lakeview library branch. But all of this is endangered by that big empty space Roundy's left behind when they purchased and deliberately left closed the supermarket. Roundy's has an opportunity to remedy this problem they created, or at least play some meaningful and constructive role in Northsiders finding their own solution. If Roundy's is not interested in opening a Copps store because they feel it somehow duplicates their preexisting Copps-East (but that didn't stop them from reopening the University Avenue Kohl's store as a Copps, even though it is just as close to their preexisting Copps-West store), they could decide to open one of their Pick 'n Save Marketplace stores and give people not only a supermarket in the neighbourhood, but another choice in stores in the larger area (both of which Roundy's would control, but something of an extra choice to residents nonetheless). They haven't done that. Nor have they made any steps we know of to negotiate a buyout of the remainder of the lease to get out of the way. They simply aren't being constructive. I understand that no one can force them to open a store where they don't want to and there's nothing illegal about holding a lease on a vacant store for 17 years, even at the risk of blighting the shopping centre and surrounding neighbourhoods we work so hard to make and keep livable. What they are doing is not illegal, but it is also not responsible or ethical. >From the perspective of how Roundy's/Copps' actions (and inaction) are affecting the people of the Northside, it's hard to see how the company's conduct is any better than the activities in and around the porn shop that you and your neighbours would like to see out of the neighbourhood. They can choose to be a responsible company operating in this county, or we may have to make it clear to them that their conduct and their Copps stores are just as unwelcome in Dane County as the prostitution around Red Letter News. Roundy's has an opportunity to make a tangible act of reconciliation for the harm they have done to the Northside. Cynical public relations stunts like shuttles to a non-Northside store or an occasional charitable contribution are no substitute for a Northside supermarket or two. If they choose to continue to keep the store closed, we should not reward them with our business anyplace else in this city or in this county, and I call on you and your colleagues to introduce and pass a resolution urging that Madison residents refrain from shopping at all Copps stores until a new full-service supermarket is established in Sherman Plaza or elsewhere on the Northside. If some of our local leaders can (appropriately) support the Tyson workers in Jefferson, surely they can also support the people and their neighbourhoods right here in Madison and Dane County. Bob Paolino Northside resident, District 12 Mendota Hills neighbourhood _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
