First Grocery Store Failure?

I have never seen a chain grocery store fail, but I believe we are going to be ripe for that in the next year or so. The "new" Giant near the Home Depot was desolate tonight. A lot of the meat was graying and bad, and just about anything with a short spoil date was running close to it. There were hardly any good sales, either. I gotta figure Shoppers Food Warehouse is struggling too, based on my last visit. Food Lion nearly escaped death with the change to Bloom. Anyway, just speculating.

 

A doom and gloom thread!

Lee will be posting soon.

Yep, any time now......

 

Oh my, the world is ending, we're doomed.

 

Darn...we may be down to only 18 grocery stores to choose from in the Ashburn area./..Its the flex industrial!!

 

What do you do with a vacant grocery store? Not much but look at it. Hopeful builders stop building retail strip malls that we just don't need.

 

Yep you are all correct more doom and gloom Home Depot has not made one cent yet on there store by the Giant.

But don't despair they are building as we speak another Harris Teeters right there in Moorefield Station

http://www.klnb.com/propDocs/3149.aspx

That is righ,t so get excited another Harris Teeters and strip center to open soon right at Loudoun County Parkway and Ryan rd opening in the spring of 2009 ANd of course not just one more bank, but two right next to each, as we don't have enough of those ha ha ha ha

 

It is absolutely INSANE, isn't it? Less about doom and gloom and more about IDIOCY.

 

There's a vacant SuperFresh in Purcellville that the owner has been very slow in revitalizing. I've always wondered if you could turn a vacant/failed grocery store into a roller skating rink or laser tag place, or something of that nature. It would definitely provide something different.

As for Giant, they'll probably wait as long as possible until the future of Metro becomes more clear. If Metro does happen, that is one of the most valuable pieces of property (walk off Metro, grab a gallon of milk, go home).

 

Giant is a big company and this is one of their better locations, so I doubt they will close this location anytime soon, even if they are losing money on it today.I am sure that location was chosen based on a future metro station, so like dcdavis says, they will probably hold out at least until we know what is happening with metro.

It's funny, I told myself I would start shopping at Giant when H.T. stopped giving out weekly coupons, since Giant is cheaper. But the coupons ran out and I find myself still going to H.T. mostly because it is closer. Even though the Giant seems a lot bigger that HT, it seems like I usually find whatever I am looking for at HT.

 

I did the same, thought if I stopped going for a few weeks the coupons would come back -- and they didn't. Then I shopped around at Giant, Safeway and the usual suspects and they felt low-end and not any cheaper, and in fact sometimes considerably more expensive. Now I shop at HT again regularly sans coupons. The coupons got me attached to them, just as they hoped.

 

I began to avoid shopping at Giant after they were bought out by an overseas company and began laying off people in the DC area. When Giant was locally owned and operated, it was a company where many people worked as a career. I don't think this is true anymore, at least based on my interactions with Giant employees. Wegmans, on the other hand, has a very good reputation for taking care of its employees.

 

I wouldn't worry about these huge grocery store chains. They are very competitive and predatory and will build stores that they know will lose money foe years, just to keep out competition.
Same with Home Depot.

 

I aggree Cliff. Most of these stores operate in the red for at least 4 or 5 years. To establish a foot hold in a neighborhood. Believe me, they are there for the long haul.

 

I would think that Safeway would go out before Giant....

 

In my experience, Giant is most definitely more expensive (Safeway too) than HT's, and HT's is much nicer.

 

Another Teet location? They're nuts! These guys are opening too many stores in what several in this forum agree is an oversaturated market. What's more, I can't help but think that the Teets are already cannibalizing each other, and more locations will make it even worse.

 

Adding another Teeter? That's crazy!

As an FYI, I did an excel comparison of our everyday groceries after shopping at Wegman's, Giant and Teeter. Wegman's consistantly came out cheaper on everyday items. I did not tally sale prices or coupons.

I think I will start shopping at Wegman's because of this and also their produce is much better quality than Giant or Teeter. I still use Teeter frequently for small stuff or last minute items. The only issue with Wegman's is getting in and out, what a nightmare!

 

agreed- wegmans quality is far better than the others. time of day makes all the diff on getting in and out without raising your blood pressure! lol

 

I went to Bloom the other day and was pleasantly surprised with their natural foods section (which HT does not have). I like their layout and was pretty happy with their prices. I'll probably go back there.
but weggies is the best overall. i can drop the kids in the kid's club (that saves me $25 in groceries right there..."mom, can i have this? mom can i have that?"), and you can pick out your grocery list online and it prints out in aisle order. then i can grab some sushi and choose to eat it alone or with kids b/c of the kid's club- and i feel like i've not only accomplished shopping but also had a nice "outing". HOWEVER- the money i save on groceries there i spend on their specialty items ("you wait you late!"). the traffic's no fun- but it doesn't really preclude me from going there.

btw, an old neighbor has made a very happy career from himself at Giant and has been there for many many many years.