As talk continues about the possibilities of a new downtown grocery store, I think it's important to find out just what we're talking about. Like everything else in life, the retail grocery business is changing. As a former employee and consultant to one of the more popular and prestigious grocery store chains in the metro, I know first hand how competitive the business is. The profit margins are high around the perimeter of the store and very low up and down the aisles. When you talk about a grocery store, most people probably think of a store where they can purchase a variety of food as well as non-foods like paper products and health and beauty aids. I would hope that I could walk in to a downtown Mpls grocery store and buy all of the food my family would need for the week. As plans develop I think it's important that we find out just what kind of foods will be sold. My guess would be that a "downtown grocery store" would look more like a glorified Daytons 800 Under the Mall. Lots of high margin pre-made meal components and very few staple food products. I doubt that all downtown residents eat pre-made meals all the time. Need a sack of flour? Sorry. Hop on the bus or drive to a "real" grocery store. The convenience food gas stations (or even the new Target) will probably have more food stocked on the shelves. Another huge issue for downtown retail is parking. Who really thinks that the suburban dweller working in downtown Mpls is going to pop in after work to pick up milk or the family's dinner? Even a store located close to major downtown businesses is going to have to deal with these logistics. I don't think I'd want my fresh salmon or Ben and Jerry's sitting in a warm drive thru tub while I scrambled back to the parking ramp to get my car. I can see it now, abandoned shopping carts lining the skyways of Mpls. I my mind there are still lots of questions out there without any answers. How about looking at the near downtown area north of the river? Convenient for downtown residents (including all of the new housing on the river) and yet a little more breathing room to allow for square footage and some decent parking. One last caution. The planners of the Quarry really under estimated the draw that a Rainbow grocery store would have in the community which boarders both NE and SE (UM). The store is too small and lines are quite long. Just some thoughts. Curious to hear from others about this issue. Julie Mattson Ostrow Windom Park Northeast 1-5 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
