Roundy's

A long article in Crain's this morning, about Roundy's Chicago plans, makes no mention I can see of the once-proposed Diversey-near-Clark location where the vacant Pier One and Barnes & Noble stores sit. I wonder if this has gone away.

According to the Daily Herald, one is also coming to 800 E. Northwest Hwy in Arlington Heights (site of the Lattof Chevy dealership).
Shame nobody's clamoring to go into the long-shuttered Dominicks at Thomas and Rand, we could use another grocer in that area (although an Aldi opened across the street)

JoelF wrote:Shame nobody's clamoring to go into the long-shuttered Dominicks at Thomas and Rand

It could be because Dominick's has a restrictive covenant on the land which prohibits a grocery store from going in there if Dominick's closed. There were a few like that in Chicago until the City Council banned the practice.

riddlemay wrote:A long article in Crain's this morning, about Roundy's Chicago plans, makes no mention I can see of the once-proposed Diversey-near-Clark location where the vacant Pier One and Barnes & Noble stores sit. I wonder if this has gone away.

The general economic situation at this moment pretty much negates a lot of the building plans that were "go" six months ago.

Roundy is probably waiting to see how its business is performing in this environment before making any major expansion.

jlawrence01 wrote:The general economic situation at this moment pretty much negates a lot of the building plans that were "go" six months ago.

Roundy is probably waiting to see how its business is performing in this environment before making any major expansion.

You couldn't know without actually clicking through to the article, j, so I get the misunderstanding, but the article talks about some locations around town that are a "go" for Roundy's expansion--but the Diversey one is conspicuous by its absence.

“The reality of today is simple: All large new projects are essentially on hold,” Mr. Taxman says. “The financial markets are in such turmoil that nobody can honestly say they can fund their projects immediately.”

Roundy's has been talking about Chicago for years ... and most of it is just talk. They are positioning to purchase Dominick's from Safeway. With the general deterioration of Dominick's in the, they are not moving very quickly.

But there's also this quote:

"“Roundy’s has been around the block many, many times in Chicago,” says David Stone, principal with Chicago-based retail brokerage firm Stone Real Estate Corp., who isn't involved in the transaction. “I think they’re finally drilling down.”

The article goes on to mention some sites Roundy's is dragging its heels on, some sites Roundy's is pulling out of, and some sites Roundy's appears to be on the cusp of breaking ground (or "drilling down") on--but the Diversey site is in none of the three categories, because it isn't mentioned at all.

I figured that the closing of the Barnes & Noble at the end of the year--creating a large solid stretch of vacancy on Diversey when combined with the vacant Pier One--was due to Roundy's announced desire for the property, which caused the property owner not to renew B&N's lease in order to clear them out. But now I'm wondering if the B&N closure was an independent event, one that would have happened with or without Roundy's interest in the property. And there's a third possibility: that the B&N closure was caused by Roundy's expression of interest in the property, an interest that has now evaporated--leaving us with one less book store and a bunch of unemployed people.

It's also possible Roundy's plans for Diversey are full-steam-ahead and the article was just incomplete in not mentioning this. I'm wondering if people who live in the immediate area, and attend neighborhood meetings, know anything more on this.

riddlemay,

I'm with you on being confused about the situation. Living just down the street, I had heard the same thing you did..that B&N had closed to allow Roundy's to come in. I don't really know anything about Roundy's, but it has to be better than The Market Place (in terms of prices, quality, and credit card technology). In any event, I'll be keeping my ears open.

Article in the Feb. 12 Skyline solves the mystery. Roundy's has pulled out of the Diversey location. The paper's not in front of me, but here's the gist: From Roundy's point of view, the neighbors were too demanding and persnickety regarding the development plans, and the store is going to pursue locations in pastures where it feels more "welcome." I don't blame the neighbors; I never could imagine that the increase in car traffic Roundy's would have brought into that already super-congested area was going to be anything but a disaster.

Roundy's real estate team has in fact found at least 24 different viable locations, but as developers and developments fail, these sites are becoming less and less viable. The 16th & Clark location is still being persued, however the councilwoman for that ward/district has issued a threat: she will not approve anything for that site unless Roundy's builds another store in the more Southern, economically challenged area.

Stores use analytics (read: demographics + distance) to determine viable locations. These analytics are flawed in one respect because they show high traffic, saturated areas as more desirable than the "desert" areas. It's the same idea behind Starbucks; build where there is already a loyal grocery fan base and try to draw from that base instead of going somewhere unknown and untapped. With quite a few millions on the line, stores tend to be very conservative and have a very healthy fear of the unknown. It takes an imaginative grocer to move into one of these deserts.

from today's Sun-Times and Crain's:

Roundy’s in advanced discussions on Ravenswood store: report
Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. is in “advanced talks” for a store in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the North Side that would be part of a mixed-use development, according to a report. The commercial/residential development would be on Lawrence Avenue and would include a health club and small stores, according to a story Thursday in the Chicago Sun-Times. Sears Holdings Corp. owns the 6.5-acre site and uses part of it as a parking lot for its 1900 W. Lawrence store, the Sun-Times said. Alderman Gene Schulter (47th) told the paper that Milwaukee-based Roundy’s has signed a letter of intent.

The Sun Times story has more details on this proposal for redevelopment of the parking lot for Sears Lawrence Avenue store. My only comments are that this is about the umpteenth proposal for this site in the last 20 years and that Ald. Schulter clearly does not like the amount of housing proposed. I will believe it when I see it.

One other little tidbit in the story is that Roundy's will pick a new name for it's Chicago-area locations.

We have a friend who lives on Wolcott north of Wilson who says he has to go ungodly far to shop at a decent supermarket. I don't know what his options are myself but I'll take his word for it, and that means Roundy's has done its research well, going into an area that's underserved.

I also live in the area (probably even closer to the site than your friend on Wolcott), and your friend is correct. A car is pretty much a necessity (absent public transportation) for basic grocery shopping in this neighborhood.

Notwithstanding (a) my mixed experiences with Roundy's brand stores in Wisconsin and (b) the fact that I actually prefer (and make a regular habit of) venturing around the city to various stores for my groceries, I am thrilled about the possibility of this development. At the very least, it will provide local residents with a grocery store that is walkable, and perhaps at its best, it will provide a viable and even better alternative to Jewel and Dominick's (the closest nearby big box groceries).

Most recently, I've read that a Trader Joe's is going in the former Pier One/B & N space on Diversey.

Funny thing is this used to be an area with an abundance of grocery stores -- the senior center on Lawrence east of Damen was a Jewel, further west on Lawrence at Hamilton was an independent/Certified store called Pleasing Supermarket (probably a National in a previous incarnation) and south on Damen at Montrose was another independent store (now the martial arts school next to LeSabre Grill -- almost the first pixels ever devoted to LeSabre on this board)