urbanSTL

DeBaliviere wrote:I'm just irritated that the first floor retail space in the Century garage continues to sit vacant. Put a Schnuck's in it or fill it with some other retailers, just do something with it.

That's exactly how I feel about it. It's frustrating to see that perfectly viable space vacant. I don't blame Schnucks for not making an official announcement if they're not ready to commit just yet, however.



I have to believe it'll happen sooner or later, but I'm thinking about taking bets on which thing happens first: Ballpark Village groundbreaking, a Schnucks announcement for a downtown store, or the demolition of the skybridges linking the old St. Louis Centre with Macy's and the former Dillard's.

A grocer could do well in downtown St. Louis. I love staying in the city when we vacation in St. Louis, but we always buy groceries, snacks and stuff on the way to St. Louis, in case somebody gets hungry between meals.

^"I'm so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station." - Clark Griswald

It is interesting that the new downtown edition of the business journal failed to mention a schnucks going downtown. This would be a good time to do it for both the store and the city. In 2009 you will see the Arcade, The Alexa, Robert Towers and Park Pacific bring well over 500 new residents downtown. If even 90% of them do their shopping downtown along with 50% of the people who live on Washington Ave. it would be a great move for schnucks. This is besides the fact that it will be a good PR move for any chain to come down here with the city putting so much money into the revitalition. I really feel that the presence of a major downtown grocery will be a major step changing downtown into a foot traffic area.

If you go to the Schnuck's web site, you'll see that they only announce new stores as they open. I've never seen any posts about stores in development or stores about to open, so I still think we'll see a Schnuck's downtown whenever they're ready to put one in and I still think we'll see some movement prior to summer.

STLCardsBlues1989, have you ever been to City Grocers downtown?



I do all my shopping there - especially essentials.



They opened in downtown about 3 years ago.



They have a great deli too.







Not to forget that south downtown is getting the new City Market (by Kroger) as well.

matguy70 wrote:STLCardsBlues1989, have you ever been to City Grocers downtown?



I do all my shopping there - especially essentials.



They opened in downtown about 3 years ago.



They have a great deli too.







Not to forget that south downtown is getting the new City Market (by Kroger) as well.

We were in St. Louis a few years ago and found a grocery store there, but I'm not sure if that's the one it was or not.



We're going back May 31st for a Cardinals game and my sis and bro-in-law are going back soon for a Tuesday Blues game. We also went to the fanfest, preseason game, a Rams game, and a Blues game against the Flames this year. They're always a lot of fun.



St. Louis is like a major city to me, because I live in a town of 400 and the nearest town of over 15k is about 20 minutes away. Basically my town has 2 restaurants, a few gas stations, and some churches. And I know pretty much everybody in my church and high school.



I love St. Louis, but I like cities in general. My town is peaceful and quiet, but it's not much of a city for teenagers, especially in the winter.

Tomorrow Feb 20th just might be the day Schnucks makes the big announcement

or maybe it will be the day after tomorrow, Feb 21st.

^^No it'll be an April 1st announcement.



I can see it now, Craig Schnuck.... or is that Scott Schnuck.....no wait a minute it's Todd Schnuck.....well anyway, one of the Schnuck boys will step up to the microphone and say......ha ha we fooled ya, ha ha we fooled ya!!!!!

I love how positive you are CS!



This is the best news to hit downtown in a long time especially since the all the most recent negativity.

I heard about this a few days ago, but was sworn to secrecy; its been hard. FINALLY some good news. Lets hope this doesn't get thrown on the pile of stalled projects-- the vague "late 2008 or early 2009" thing is a little worrisome. If they wanted to know when it would be open, they would know.

Actually, usually-cynical little me is quite content with the time window they've provided for opening, because it's realistic, as all the new-restaurant owners downtown realize. I mark that as anytime between October 2008 and March 2009, and they'll certainly have all kinds of inspection issues on the construction and health-department sides.

Wow, thats great. It is a HUGE piece for the city. HUGE

[quote="dweebeI'd say ground floor of the Ely Walker would be a perfect slot for City Grocers.[/quote]



Agreed. Come on West!

First of all, I'm excited about the Schnucks and the message it sends about the current state of downtown and its future prospects. This is great. Now any time someone asks the famous "Where do you do your grocery shopping?" question, people can point to the Schnucks. The fact that they'll have a pharmacy and other amenities is great too.



That said, it's going to be very hard on City Grocers. I could see them getting their butts kicked if they stay where they are, but unfortunately their current location is probably the perfect spot for them. Any other location has its share of challenges that (I would think) would result in some changes to CG's business model. Hopefully since they knew this day would come eventually, they've been plotting their next move - I'd really like to see both businesses thrive.

great news, too bad it's still another 2 years off.



CG to MX?

DeB wrote:That said, it's going to be very hard on City Grocers. I could see them getting their butts kicked if they stay where they are, but unfortunately their current location is probably the perfect spot for them. Any other location has its share of challenges that (I would think) would result in some changes to CG's business model. Hopefully since they knew this day would come eventually, they've been plotting their next move - I'd really like to see both businesses thrive.

Not entirely the same, but there's a Schnucks directly across the street from a Dierbergs on Highway K. It's not like two competing businesses can't be right next to each other (although I do think CG will be at a competitive disadvantage).

Moorlander wrote: too bad it's still another 2 years off.

Interesting calendar you have there. Or are you doubting their timeline?

Moorlander wrote:great news, too bad it's still another 2 years off.



CG to MX?

2 years? More like 12 months or less. Excellent news.



This is funny because I emailed Schnuck's last nite asking them to fix their website so you could access it via schnucks.com and not just www.schnucks.com. I also asked them about plans for the Schnucks downtown and I received a reply this morning that stated their has been much speculation but no announcements. I then asked about the discrepancy considering the announcement in the Business Journal and they said their response would have been different after 4pm today.



City Grocer's could succeed in the same location if they found a nice niche. I'm not sure that Downtown West has enough residents for it to flourish.

The BULLY has announced his intentions



This is not good news for City Grocers..



I hope they decide to move to a 'friendlier' location..



this could be a knockout blow for City Grocers if they dont adapt soon,,



oh wait they already tried that and the BULLY intimidated them once.



Remember Schnucks are 'The friendliest stores in town'



Kimbo should be their new spokesman