So is Kroger really moving from Campbell Station to Heritage Commons?
The folks at SilverPointe Properties seem to think they are...
Click here to go to their website.
I wasn't aware that this was a done deal by Kroger, but it seems to look like it, at least from SilverPoint's point of view. If you want Kroger to hear your concerns (as customers) about the move, now might be the time to contact them.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Heritage Commons Kroger?
Posted by Gorilla in the Corner at 1:42 PM
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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is a series of personal opinions and is not meant to reflect an official position by the City of Spring Hill.
12 comments:
Some thoughts to ponder.
October 2005 | Newswire
When big boxes go bye-bye
by Eliott C. McLaughlin
Martin, owner of Captain Mike's Seafood and Jerk Chicken
The small business owner hopes the giant department, drug or grocery store will draw thousands, some of whom will meander down the sidewalk to other shops. But what happens when the big box leaves?
"You have no exposure to new traffic," says Monica Keswami, co-owner of Fashions For Less in Assi Plaza on Pleasant Hill Road. When the Wal-Mart was there, the development stayed at or near capacity, Keswami says. Now that it's gone, eight of the 23 stores, including a space recently used by Office Depot, are empty. "One by one like dominoes, they started disappearing," Keswami says. "What can you do? It's a sign of the times."
Representatives for Office Depot and Dollar Tree couldn't be reached before press time, but Radio Shack spokeswoman Kay Jackson says the impact on specialty chains could be muted because of "mission-driven traffic." There are things at Radio Shack that consumers can't find other places, "so people go there for totally different reasons than they would a big box," Jackson says.
Norma Martin, owner of Captain Mike's Seafood and Jerk Chicken, believes she, too, offers a distinctive product. Nonetheless, she fears she'll lose business when the neighboring Kroger leaves the Mountain East Shopping Center on U.S. Highway 78 for its new digs on Rockbridge Road. "No matter how strong of a store you are, it takes about a 10 percent walk-up business to make you really successful," she says. "Over a period of a year, losing 10 to 15 percent of our customer base - people who wouldn't usually come here if it weren't for the Kroger - that could hurt."
The problem isn't one corporation's ideology, but a shift in the overall corporate culture, says Gwinnett County planning director Steve Logan. Twenty to 30 years ago, the owners of large stores typically lived in the same town as those stores. The owners were part of the community fabric, Logan says. But today, decisions for big stores can be made half a world away from the community hosting them.
Martha Yancey "There's a real disconnect between what the public is expecting for a community and what stores are expecting for their owners and their stockholders," Logan says. "I guess that's part of globalization." Today, large department, drug and grocery chains are "extremely mobile," Logan says. These businesses generally have no plans to stay in a location more than a decade, while smaller business owners may have longer-term plans. "The anchor store leaves, which works to the detriment of all the smaller stores that are there that depend on the draw of the anchor tenant," Logan says.
Confounding matters is that the buildings are cheap, and big companies include "non-compete clauses" so competitors can't rent or buy the building after it's vacated, Logan says. For a company with myriad competitors, the buildings can remain vacant indefinitely. "If it's property they own, they'll just hold it. If they lease it, they'll continue paying it," Logan says.
Because it can't compete, Gwinnett County recently bought the old Wal-Mart building on Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville and the county school system purchased another on Duluth Highway for Phoenix High School. But while Gwinnett has a passive approach to dealing with empty big boxes, some cities are going for the throats.
Peachtree City, for instance, prohibits big-box tenants from leaving their premises "while simultaneously preventing the landlord, by continuing to pay rent or otherwise, from leasing the premises to another person or company," the city ordinance states. Many cities in California have enacted provisions requiring that big-box properties be maintained even if they aren't occupied. Having to maintain the landscaping and aesthetics, or keep their lights on at night, often gives companies an incentive to ditch the properties, Logan says.
Some cities have tried unsuccessfully to take an even more aggressive approach. Planning commissions in Sacramento, Calif., and Charlotte, N.C., attempted to enact "demolition bonds" for supercenters, in which the owner puts money into escrow. If a store closes and can't secure a new tenant, the money is used to demolish the site for redevelopment. Sacramento city spokeswoman Amy Williams says the demolition bond could still be an option, but Kent Main of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission says there were many legal and financial concerns with the proposal. Demolition bonds are particularly complicated when a mortgage is involved because "you're basically tearing down the collateral," Main says.
Logan says proposals like this are always troublesome because they conflict with private property rights. "There's a fine line between protecting the health, safety and welfare of a community and intruding into property owners' rights," he says. This probably explains why the county's Revitalization Task Force forewent any such proposals and focused on economic incentives to add more vigor to the county's various markets.
Meanwhile, business owners like Martin and Keswami can only sit back and hope that something positive takes the place of their neighboring big box. "You have to have that big anchor," Keswami says. "Anything that comes in - that would help. We'll keep our fingers crossed. You never know."
Did you notice Silverpointe properties no longer has anything about a Kroger on their website? Hmmmm....
Do I sense a bit of back-tracking? Even the article in The Advertiser yesterday had a more subdued tone.
Maybe Kroger is beginning to realize the public-relations nightmare they potentially could have on their hands...
Currently Kroger (location in Campbell Station) is in serious discussions with Big Lots. Unfortunately that size space would be sufficient for a finite number of businesses. We should hope that the cost per foot is too high for B/Lots and/or Kroger finds a better suited tenant to sub-lease to.
You know what's funny? I got a gift card in the mail from Kroger for Christmas just for shopping there. I wondered if they were sending them to people who sent them letters expressing displeasure over their Big Lots plan. Did anyone else get this or were they just being nice to me?
I got one two, but I thought it was for the thousands of dollars I spent in gas there last year, WHICH I WON'T SPEND AT KROGER IF THEY MOVE TO HERITAGE COMMONS!
I'm merely curious, what would be so awful about a Kroger in Heritage Commons besides the fact it would be the second in the city?
Anonymous said:
"I'm merely curious, what would be so awful about a Kroger in Heritage Commons besides the fact it would be the second in the city?"
Well, for starters Heritage Commons is in Thompson's Station, so the local option sales tax that we pay on gas and groceries would no longer go to the community where we all live. I, for one, make a point to purchase my gas in Spring Hill. Not only because of the convenience, but also because over time it does add up to a substantial contribution to the city.
Also, it is clear that Kroger (a grocer, who owns the Campbell Station building) would not lease their Campbell Station store with another grocer, so you very well may see a Big Lots as an anchor for Campbell Station - freighting, yes?
Lastly, have you tried to get to CVS from the south side of Buckner on 31 in the AM or PM? Removing a grocery from the east side of 31 (where all the houses are) to the west side of 31 is a huge mistake. Currently, half of Spring Hill doesn't have to cross over 31, or even get on 31 to access a grocery store (via Campbell Station Pkwy).
If given the option, I'll probably just cross over 31 and start going to Publix, instead of going north on 31 to go to Heritage Commons. To me, that's what this is all about - my option as a consumer to choose to go somewhere else.
There appears to be a presumption from Kroger management that I'll continue to be loyal as a customer, even at the cost of my convenience. I'm making the point to say that they are mistaken.
So are you all to good to have a big lots.
Welcome to Spring Hill. The most overly inflated, conceited city in the South.
[b]At 06 January, 2007 08:39, Anonymous said...
So are you all to good to have a big lots.[/b]
Dunno about you guys,but I'll shop @ BigLots if it comes to town - lol.
Anonymous @ 06 January, 2007 08:39 said:
So are you all to (sic) good to have a big lots.
Absolutely not. I go to Big Lots on Hwy 96. I also go to Family Dollar next to Food Lion and Dollar General in Neapolis.
It is a fact that the primary contributing factor that determines the businesses that are attracted to a retail development is the anchor store of that development. Think about the areas that I mentioned above... Is this really the greatest potential for Campbell Station?
DRM... Try the < >,< / > tag instead.
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