Have You Noticed a Decline in the # of...

[LuxLiving]

Have you noticed a decline in the number of grocery stores in your immediate area?

Since we moved to this small suburban town about 9 years ago we've had a bunch of grocery stores go out.

1)Large named chain store - store demolished & not replaced
2)Family Sized Store - now sits empty
3)neighborhood store (probably started in the 60's now gone and I hate that as it was w/i walking distance of my house) - this is now an apartment/rooming house.
4)another Large named chain store - ranch supply store now
5)and a discount grocer has come and gone - bldg. empty

Currently there are 3 places - location 2 of #1 listed above - it was here when we arrived, SuperCenterWalmart arrived on the scene and another discount grocer that was here when we arrived.

Anyone else noticed this 'squeezing' downwards? Is this the supercenter Walmart fallout?

[Broken Arrow]

In my area, they are still building for some reason....

Not just grocery stores, but apartment buildings and strip malls....

[jIM_Ohio]

One grocery store closed in my town about a month after I moved here.

The smaller grocery stores are being pushed out by the big ones. In some cases the big ones are using the same store the smaller one used to.

It is OK for the wal marts and cosco's to come in. Supply and Demand, basic economics is OK with me.

[brig2221]

I see Grocery stores going in one of two directions, the Super Wal-Mart and Super-Targets of the world, or the specialty stores that cater to the organic and high end customers.

Me personally, I shop both places. I get all box foods, snacks, drinks, etc, from Wal-Mart. That said, when it comes to fruit, vegetables, and meat, I cannot stand Wal-Mart, so I get all of those things at my local Marketstreet.

The few times I have gotten lazy, and just did all of my shopping at Marketstreet, I was absolutely amazed at how expensive it was. $120 was Marketstreet is typically $80-$85 at Wal-Mart, huge difference.

[disneysteve]

Not at all. Just the opposite. Within the past 2 year, we got 2 Wegman's within 15 minutes of our house. Stop n Shop sold out to Shop Rite. Several existing Shop Rite stores got complete renovations. I can't think of any supermarkets that have closed in our area in quite some time.

[KellyB]

Our favorite grocery store closed in Feb. It was a surprise - only 2 weeks notice. It seemed to do well, relatively new (6 years) was a large store, but they closed it and just one other one in another state. Very odd to me, I really thought grocery stores were pretty recession proof! I've had to switch stores, hate having to learn the aisles etc. all over again. And I need to check prices - seems like my bill is more at the new store but that could just be that prices are up all over.

[rob62521]

Yes, we've lost grocery stores. Wal-Mart moved in and Jewel closed. Schnucks filled one spot left by three Jewels, but it closed not too far after. And we lost all three Eagle stores. We currently have two Super Wal-Marts, three Krogers, a Sav a lot, and Cub (Country Market), and one little independent locally owned neighborhood store.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I'd say it is holding steady in my area.

[Cylenchar]

Hmm.... not really noticing it in my area, I have 3 king soupers, 2 safeways, one Whole Foods, 2 walgreens, and an Asian Grocery store that is the same size as the others, within a 15 minute bus ride.

[sweeps]

No grocery stores yet, but White Hen's and Krispy Kreme's have been closing.