urbanSTL

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/bus ... -top-story

 The owner of the local grocery store chain Fields Foods said he is in talks to sell all five locations to an employee ownership group.
Owner Chris Goodson said the stores may not continue to be branded as Fields Foods. 
The news comes in the wake of Fields Foods' Pagedale location abruptly closing on Tuesday, less than half a year after its grand opening.  

^How many folks want to bet the owner will be Schnucks?

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

Jul 21, 2023

^ I wish, but it sounds like they’re going for some sort of an employee ownership setup.

Would be a perfect small/urban store size for Schnucks to expand their downtown model.

If it is Schnucks then I hope they don't close the Wash Ave location due to its proximity to the existing downtown Schnucks, it's nice to have two grocery stores downtown and with the way downtown west is growing they definitely need a location there.

^^An employee owned model could be fairly awesome.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... foods.html

"Landlords are pursuing Fields Foods in court, as the city of St. Louis sues the grocer over delinquent taxes — revelations that come after it abruptly shuttered a North County store earlier this month, saying it was seeking a sale to an employee group."

Does anyone have subscription to Business Journal and tell me what is the gist of the article? Thank you!

It sounds like the current owners owe about thirty grand in paryroll taxes to the city, spread out across four locations, and something north of a million in back rent to a variety of landlords, mostly Cullinan Properties for the shuttered 625 N Euclid store. There was a mechanics lien against Euclid from a company that installed some of the fixtures. Also a loan guarantee allegedly owed to Cullinan. Goodson says he's attempting to make good as he sells the business. Allegedly Field Foods did $8.4M in sales last year and Goodson invested $900K of his own money in the project. Certainly doesn't sound spectacularly successful. I don't know what the margins on groceries are, but I can't imagine they're particularly big. I could easily believe some of their higher rent stores are way underwater. Sounds like the city is presently suing them after attempting to settle out of court, I think Cullinan might have active cases, and Pearl sued them a couple of years ago over the Dogtown location. Messy.

(And thanks to the admin who moved all of this.)

We used to shop occasionally at the Lafayette Square store when we lived in that area. Always found it to be an overpriced Whole Foods clone (that's why I avoided shopping there regularly, only went there for small/last minute things). Bought meat once that was past its expiration date. The only good thing about it was the wine section manager: it had what was possibly the best wine selection out of all grocery stores within city limits.

^i also used to use that one when I worked near it. Went mostly for lunch from the deli/hot foods but would also pick up groceries. Agree on the Whole Foods vibe when it first opened. Prices did seem high.

^I went a couple of times for lunch in the deli and tried it once as a grocery store on a lark. Yeah, my wife's immediate reaction was that it was expensive. I liked the hot food well enough. It strikes me as something with real potential to be useful, but you're not wrong: it's definitely pricey. If it's pricey and two blocks from my house I'd probably still go there. I'll pay a premium for some convenience. (I would love to have that where the nearest Dollar General is.) But since it's a trip I've not been back. How do the prices compare to the downtown Schnucks? I've always assumed that's probably at least a little pricey, but I'm not sure I've ever made it in there.

Anyway, that's the short version. I love it in theory, but it's not near me. I go to a bunch of places that are closer. I want to like Fields. I want to see them succeed. If we're going to have a Whole Foods, at least let it be our own Whole Foods. But I can't personally help too much. Just in the wrong place.

Fields Foods on DeBaliviere is now closed. I saw a flyer with "...store will reopen in a few weeks after transition to employee led new ownership and re-merchandising..."

stlurbanist wrote: ↑

Aug 01, 2023

Fields Foods on DeBaliviere is now closed. I saw a flyer with "...store will reopen in a few weeks after transition to employee led new ownership and re-merchandising..."

Well, the good news is it hadn't been open long enough to amass as much back rent debt as the other locations. Of course, they hadn't seemed to have restocked anything in months.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/bus ... 10bcbd0ef9

I am not sure how landlords collect rent for these retail stores. Don't they get a direct deposit every month or don't they collect it upfront on an annual basis. Looks like collecting back rent is a recipe for disaster. I am not very optimistic about Fields Foods making a comeback (even with employee ownership) now that another location (Downtown West) is in trouble. 

Isn't it a liability to pay rent for all these empty stores for Fields Foods owner? How long is this ownership ordeal going to last? They have potential for growth yet cannot realize it with these empty shelves and closed stores.

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑

Aug 16, 2023

.   The idea that they are letting the shelves go empty to minimize purchase price seems far fetched at this point.

Yeah. "Can't even afford inventory" seems a little more Occam's razor.

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑

Aug 16, 2023

I don't see how the proposed sale to an employee group can work without Chris Goodson paying all back rent owed.

If the game plan is to not restock merch so you don't have to buy it, that would indicate they have operational control.  The back rent, would have to be a major obstacle, because if you have operational control on stock then you are also likely responsible for rent.  Maybe.  Can't see how this all fits without understanding the names on the lease.   The idea that they are letting the shelves go empty to minimize purchase price seems far fetched at this point.

All seems a little too broken.  Grocery is a tough game.  

Landlord could waive, or payment plan, the back rent if that’s what it takes to maintain a difficult-to-replace anchor tenant.

throatybeard wrote: ↑

Aug 16, 2023

Yeah. "Can't even afford inventory" seems a little more Occam's razor.

Isn't the story that the current owner wants full retail for the inventory? Hard to break even when you have to pay full retail for what you need to sell.

Mark Groth wrote: ↑

Aug 17, 2023

I was no fan of Fields Food prices, but I appreciated the locations and physical spaces they occupied in Downtown West, Clayton-Tamm and Skinker-DeBal. The Peabody Darst Webbe/Lafayette one was 100% suburban model, but clearly the most successful. That got me thinking, are St. Louisans not ready or willing to shop at smaller, more independent markets vs. driving to a huge Schnucks or WalMart, etc? Maybe we're not ready to shop smaller. Who knows. I do find it weird that some seem to be happy to see a local business fail that didn't meet their needs 100%. Anyhow, we need more diversity in grocery stores. Nothing against Schnucks, but Aldi and Sav A Lot are really the only other options for full shopping in St. Louis. And Schnucks is $$. I like the Fresh Thyme on Forest Park, but it too is $$. The Meijer store brand is pretty competitive to Schnucks though...

The downtown Schnucks is the smaller model and seems to do well, I think there's a place in the market for that type of store in the right locations.

I don't have the answer to Mark's question but I don't think Field's Foods is a good test of whether smaller grocery stores work in the city. A grocery store with many empty shelves isn't the same thing as not meeting all the shoppers' needs IMO, it's clear that Field's Foods bit off more than they could chew in terms of how many grocery stores they opened. With all the back rent and taxes, I don't think it's the consumers' fault they went under.

Vincent's in Soulard is the example of a small store that is almost always fully stocked to it's capacity and has great support from the community.

Yes the prices are a little higher (though with sales and private label stuff I've often found many items to be comparable to larger stores) but the value of being able to walk there is worth paying a couple bucks more per trip. 

Mark Groth wrote: ↑

Aug 17, 2023

I was no fan of Fields Food prices, but I appreciated the locations and physical spaces they occupied in Downtown West, Clayton-Tamm and Skinker-DeBal. The Peabody Darst Webbe/Lafayette one was 100% suburban model, but clearly the most successful. That got me thinking, are St. Louisans not ready or willing to shop at smaller, more independent markets vs. driving to a huge Schnucks or WalMart, etc? Maybe we're not ready to shop smaller. Who knows. I do find it weird that some seem to be happy to see a local business fail that didn't meet their needs 100%. Anyhow, we need more diversity in grocery stores. Nothing against Schnucks, but Aldi and Sav A Lot are really the only other options for full shopping in St. Louis. And Schnucks is $$. I like the Fresh Thyme on Forest Park, but it too is $$. The Meijer store brand is pretty competitive to Schnucks though...

Having empty shelves and closed stores is not a way to run business be it either big box store or mom and pop. There is a large customer base for Fields Foods in Skinker-DeBaliviere. I see at least a few tens of customers who are coming to the closed store, reading the flyer and turning back. 

^Loved the Saturday Meat Specials they ran at Vicents. Better quality product and cheaper than what you could find at large grocery stores.

The plot thickens: Fields Foods Employees Say They Knew Nothing of 'Employee Group' Plans

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/food-dr ... s-40682319