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A downtown grocery store

mempho

By mempho
in Memphis

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mempho Unincorporated Area

mempho

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I asked a young lady who lives in Harbor town where she shopped, she said WEst Memphis. She hates having to go over there though. Are there any plans to put a grocery store anywhere there?

What about all of those empty and run down buildings near the Pyramid. Couldn't a mini strip retail and grocery and bank complex be put in there?

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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I asked a young lady who lives in Harbor town where she shopped, she said WEst Memphis. She hates having to go over there though. Are there any plans to put a grocery store anywhere there?

What about all of those empty and run down buildings near the Pyramid. Couldn't a mini strip retail and grocery and bank complex be put in there?

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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I'll venture a guess and say Clobber's problem did not appear to be the idea of a grocery store downtown, but the notion of placing it within a strip mall. Not a single grocery store near me resides within a strip mall, and all employ vastly different architectural approaches. I dare say that there is no reason why the same concepts couldn't work in Memphis.

I will say that the gas station in The Pinch is a necessary evil. In a town with laughable public transport, you need to have at least one gas station near downtown, and I never minded its presence when I lived just a few block away.

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mempho Unincorporated Area

mempho

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True. My issue is the nature of the developments, not the amenities. I don't like the intrusion of suburban mindsets and developments into an urban setting. I believe you can incorporate an urban-style gas station and an urban-style grocery store. The gas station was somewhat of an attempt, but didn't go far enough imo.
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DoctorGonzo Whistle-Stop

DoctorGonzo

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A strip mall is a strip mall, no matter what you call it, or how "upscale" you try to make it.

I was thinking more like this. Another view here. Cookie-cutter building, but much better than a strip mall.

Another example is around where I lived earlier this year. (Reverse shot here - There orange sign on the left side of the street in the latter pic is attached to a store even larger than the one in the first pic)

I wish I actually had some photos of mine to show you, but this was the best I could find.

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Rural King Town

Rural King

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Memphis on paper would seem to have the population in the downtown area to support a grocery, but the question is would enough local residents use it? What would residents require in a grocery in the downtown area for them to use it instead of where they shop now? Parking, variety, quality of goods, etc. If those are met can the grocery meet those needs and turn a profit and/or would enough shoppers change their habits?

A market study would be needed to answer those questions. Perhaps grocery chains have found the market to be a high risk for failure via such studies, or perhaps they have not been done recently or yet.

Lots of questions, few answers.

Where is the closest full-line grocery to downtown?

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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I agree with everything you guys are saying. I guess I didn't really make clear what I was trying to say when I mentioned a strip mall. I just meant a grocery store, maybe with a blockbuster and ice cream shop like "cold stone" attached to it in some manner. Maybe even a dry cleaners and small bank like regions and a resturaunt like Corky's and Back Yard Burgers or Chilli's. You know, everyday things that people like, but don't won't to have to drive 10 miles across and back across a river to get there. I believe these things could be put in and designed to look upscale. For instance, the stip complex at Exeter and Poplar in Germantown is very nice and includes all of those things that I mentioned. They don't even have to be as big as the one in Germantown, just something people form One Beale could go to by catching the elevator down and hopping on the Trolly. No what I mean? That would make One Beale and other resedential developments alot more appealing to me.
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Rural King Town

Rural King

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^By full-line I meant along the lines of what you talked about - Kroger, Schnuck's, Piggle Wiggly, etc.

I agree with you sentiments of any potential downtown store needing to have the proper mix of specialty and higher end goods along with a normal range of regular line goods to fully maximize the potential success of any store. Accessbility would be the other major issue that would be need to addressed IMO - with parking and ease of access providing the greatest potential hinderances for an urban formatted grocery in the downtown area.

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northernbizzkit1 Hamlet

northernbizzkit1

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A strip mall is a strip mall, no matter what you call it, or how "upscale" you try to make it.

I was thinking more like this. Another view here. Cookie-cutter building, but much better than a strip mall.

Another example is around where I lived earlier this year. (Reverse shot here - There orange sign on the left side of the street in the latter pic is attached to a store even larger than the one in the first pic)

I wish I actually had some photos of mine to show you, but this was the best I could find.

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DoctorGonzo Whistle-Stop

DoctorGonzo

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I agree with you sentiments of any potential downtown store needing to have the proper mix of specialty and higher end goods along with a normal range of regular line goods to fully maximize the potential success of any store. Accessbility would be the other major issue that would be need to addressed IMO - with parking and ease of access providing the greatest potential hinderances for an urban formatted grocery in the downtown area.
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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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A couple locations come to mind:

- Somewhere near to Madison in case that trolley line ever gets converted to LRT.

- The Pinch, as it has a good deal of empty space and easy access to both the highway, Front St. and they trolley.

Either store should have an on-site garage. I've seen this work in several cities. At one of the stores I linked to (the one northernbizzkit1 now lives near), you can park your car, shop and have your bags put on a conveyer that goes downstairs. As you leave in your car, you give them a ticket, and the groceries are put in your trunk in a little pickup area. It works really well.

Either site would probably necessitate the creation of a mini-superblock. It's probably worth it, though.

The Stop and Shop in Brigham Circle also has TGI Friday's and J.P. Lick's (incredibly popular ice-cream place) on the first floor. The Shaw's by BU has Qdoba, et al further down the street. (BTW, this would be a good time to tell you to visit the food court at Super 88). The Brigham Circle concept is one I think would work well in Memphis due to the need for the smallest footprint possible. Stitching together downtown parcels is not an easy thing to do.

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Will Barrett Crossroads

Will Barrett

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I really like Fresh Market. Shopping there is a very pleasant experience and the food is great. I would go broke if I had to buy all of my groceries there. By way of example, a can of Progresso lentil soup is about $1.50 at Target and Kroger , maybe a little more a Schnuck's. The same can at Fresh Market is $2.50. If that is indicative of markups store-wide, then you're looking at a $10-$20 mark up per visit. My prediction is that a Fresh Market downtown would do little to stem the tide of Mud Island and Uptown shoppers crossing the bridge to do the bulk of their shopping. I don't really want a wal-mart downtown, but I think you can go a little too upscale.

As far as location goes. I think somewhere is the Pinch or Uptown is probably ideal. This is immediately accessible to Mud Island and Uptown, and convenient to Evergreen/VECA/Speedway Terrace(you can also be too downscale, like the Poplar/Cleveland Kroger). It's also close to where a number of people get on the expressway to head out east. If you think about it, a lot of people might choose to shop downtown before heading home so as to miss some of the rush hour traffic. The Pinch is also accessible to South Main and much of the Downtown Condos through Riverside Drive and the Trolley.

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