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Grocery stores in Greater Providence

reverand

By reverand
in Providence

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jencoleslaw Town

jencoleslaw

Posted
Posted

blah blah blah. The developer talked out of both side of their mouths on this one. They told the community how much a grocery store was needed to serve those without cars, and poor olneyville residents, and told everyone else that they would build a state of the art, upscale shaws that would serve the commuters leaving providence via 6/10 at the end of a workday. The developer refused to work with shaws to make it more urban in both scale, site location and product and this is the end result.

this store did neither. as i have posted several times about this grocery store, it didn't really serve the low income population (try the search function sometime) and it most certainly was not an upscale shaws for commuters leaving the city at 5:15. And now, after 5 years, they're closing it and the city is stuck with a giant big box retail ugly building with really no hopes of filling it. Just like the stop and shop off Elmwood Avenue. Does anyone really think that Stop and Shop will put a store here, after just closing an "unprofitable" one in Elmwood? Or that Shaws will open at the old Stop and Shop site? At least Eagle Square doesn't have an empty gas station on it now. ah the irony of cleaning up a brownfield site just to make it another brownfield site.

A lot of the jobs (most part time, btw) at this shaws will be absorbed by other shaws--they have a union to help move people around. I'm certainly sorry that some new hires may lose their jobs. Yet another reason why performance bonds and the like should be seriously considered in Providence.

What is unfortunate is that people moved to Federal Hill and Valley and the area, making a financial commitment as well as an emotional one, knowing that they could walk (although honestly, walking to that store one took some serious chances--that parking lot was not very pedestrian friendly) to a grocery store, and now folks without cars are truly screwed. And what about the businesses that moved in there, with the promise of a grocery store anchor? What about them and the $ they have spent setting up a business?

So, spin my response any way you want in order to feel somehow superior to me with your outrage over the jobs but they needn't have been lost if this had been a true urban mixed use development like many of us wanted. This project could have been a model of reuse of historic industrial spaces and instead its now just empty, unuseable building.

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Chumley Crossroads

Chumley

Posted
Posted
blah blah blah. The developer talked out of both side of their mouths on this one. They told the community how much a grocery store was needed to serve those without cars, and poor olneyville residents, and told everyone else that they would build a state of the art, upscale shaws that would serve the commuters leaving providence via 6/10 at the end of a workday. The developer refused to work with shaws to make it more urban in both scale, site location and product and this is the end result.

this store did neither. as i have posted several times about this grocery store, it didn't really serve the low income population (try the search function sometime) and it most certainly was not an upscale shaws for commuters leaving the city at 5:15. And now, after 5 years, they're closing it and the city is stuck with a giant big box retail ugly building with really no hopes of filling it. Just like the stop and shop off Elmwood Avenue. Does anyone really think that Stop and Shop will put a store here, after just closing an "unprofitable" one in Elmwood? Or that Shaws will open at the old Stop and Shop site? At least Eagle Square doesn't have an empty gas station on it now. ah the irony of cleaning up a brownfield site just to make it another brownfield site.

A lot of the jobs (most part time, btw) at this shaws will be absorbed by other shaws--they have a union to help move people around. I'm certainly sorry that some new hires may lose their jobs. Yet another reason why performance bonds and the like should be seriously considered in Providence.

What is unfortunate is that people moved to Federal Hill and Valley and the area, making a financial commitment as well as an emotional one, knowing that they could walk (although honestly, walking to that store one took some serious chances--that parking lot was not very pedestrian friendly) to a grocery store, and now folks without cars are truly screwed. And what about the businesses that moved in there, with the promise of a grocery store anchor? What about them and the $ they have spent setting up a business?

So, spin my response any way you want in order to feel somehow superior to me with your outrage over the jobs but they needn't have been lost if this had been a true urban mixed use development like many of us wanted. This project could have been a model of reuse of historic industrial spaces and instead its now just empty, unuseable building.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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Posted
So here is a concept -

Last year Shaws was acquired by Supervalu who own a lot of their own markets but are also distributors. One of the brands they franchise to independent operators is Save-A-Lot, who compete directly with Price-Rite. DING DING DING!

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Liamlunchtray Burg

Liamlunchtray

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that'd be cool so long as they have some higher end merchandise as well (and rhody fresh milk).

i've never heard of save-a-lot, but their site claims that they span from ME to CA, mainly in the midwest east of the mississippi and along the eastern seaboard from ME to FL (though i've never seen one in the new england states i tend to spend time in or in the philly area).

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chemgeek Unincorporated Area

chemgeek

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Theres on on Hartford Ave and I think theres one going in on Branch as well. Unfortunately they are just like Price-Rite - super cheap with limited selection. Certainly no Rhody Fresh - your lucky to even get whole and low fat. Price-Rite only stocks Large Eggs for example. Its better than no market, but what we really need is a full service store.
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Recchia Town

Recchia

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I like PriceRite way better than Save-a-Lot. I still bet that a lot of people are now buying groceries at Walmart now that it's in the city proper. Walmart has just enough grocery items to compete, and it's cheaper than/equal to PriceRite type stores.

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TheAnk Hamlet

TheAnk

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This is bad news.. How does one sign a 25 year lease and bail after 5? Won't this cause some legal issues? Man, Shaws is just like regular low income residential tenants, the lease only works one way, in tenants favor! :P

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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We don't need a Shaw's or a Trader Joes, or a place that sells organic goat cheese... we need a place where real people can buy food to feed their families. We need an urban grocery store in our urban neighborhoods. Someplace like C-Town (which has a store in Pawtucket apparently) or Key Food (which is mainly in greater NYC but has a couple NC stores, they could come here if our civic leaders enticed them). These are stores that could fit 3 times inside Shaw's and sell everything that one needs as far as food. No massive bakery (with crap baked goods that pale in comparison to what one can get in the many neighborhood bakeries in the city), no romance novels, no beach toys, no hardware items, no flowers (seriously, did anyone buy flowers at Shaw's?)... just food. Remember when grocery stores sold groceries?

Here's an idea, how about instead of HUD giving land at Dominca Manor to private developers to build luxury highrises, they give the land to a group of private investors to open a C-Town (read their About page the stores are independently owned). The people who live at Dominca Manor no longer have to take the trolley to Shaw's (they can't because its closed, I don't know where Dominica Manor's residents will shop now), people on Federal Hill will have a grocery store they can walk to, people Downcity will have a grocery store they can walk to, and maybe some people will stop on their way to the highway. HUD transferring the land would make it more affordable to the investors. We could even get HUD to build a new tower with mixed market rate and affordable housing in it, and more customers for the grocery store.

Of course we'd have to get our civic leaders to stop making back room deals to close streets and actually give a damn about the people who live in the neighborhoods for a moment.

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  • 2 weeks later...
runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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Posted

so the shaw's in eagle square basically looks liek they're closed now. they aren't re-stocking anything it seems. they've cut their produce almost in half. they aren't stocking any milk but shaw's brand. there's practically nothing for bread or toothpaste. they're not closing for over a month and this is how they look? tonight was the last time i'm going there. they obviously don't give a crap at this point.

so... where's the nearest grocery store other than price rite in eagle square? could it be the stop and shop on manton ave?

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f1rehead Whistle-Stop

f1rehead

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so the shaw's in eagle square basically looks liek they're closed now. they aren't re-stocking anything it seems. they've cut their produce almost in half. they aren't stocking any milk but shaw's brand. there's practically nothing for bread or toothpaste. they're not closing for over a month and this is how they look? tonight was the last time i'm going there. they obviously don't give a crap at this point.

so... where's the nearest grocery store other than price rite in eagle square? could it be the stop and shop on manton ave?

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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Same here. The Soviet Safeway in DC has more selection and that store is reknowned for empty shelves!

The final twist of the knife is the piece of paper you get at checkout encouraging their "valued customers" to visit the Shaws in North Providence, Johnston, Cranston, or Warwick. I think not.

Note to Shaws: No, f*** you! Love, Providence.

I don't know if Manton Ave. is closer distance-wise, but time-wise the Stop and Shop by the Lowes in Cranny-town is closer, especially coming off the Hill... Atwells to Harris to 10 and then 2 exits.

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gregw Hamlet

gregw

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So Providence and Pawtucket have lost 3 supermarkets, 2 of which were pretty new--The 2 Shaws and the Stop and Shop by Mashpaug Pond. Does anyone know if this is part of a wider trend of mainstream supermarkets struggling in urban locations?

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brick Burg

brick

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Antonelli's. Let's say that the poultry is very, very fresh. Basically they kill the chicken on the spot. One time in winter I bought one there and when I left the store the chicken was actually steaming.

Not for the faint-hearted but there's no hypocrisy in that when you buy meat at a supermarket it's quite easy to forget that it comes from an animal.

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