I generally never use these stores. I have no reason to since the nearby Harris Teeter, Giant, etc. fulfill our grocery needs. But of all the businesses to take the place of the Toys R Us, the Food Star seems like the perfect -- if unusual -- choice. It's certainly preferable to a dollar store style chain, which seem to be the easiest and most common filler of vacant retail spaces of this size. And of course it's much better than the site sitting empty for years as the property becomes a blight -- a real concern for these type of retail properties. The Food Star serves a basic need for the local community. I lived near the old one on Columbia Pike in Arlington and never heard complaints about its quality or prices.
Great comment, thanks! You're exactly right that the much bigger concern is the property sitting vacant. Bringing in a high-end retailer just isn't an option in many cases. There's a serious oversupply of retail space, and finding a way to fill it is key (unless we redevelop it, but I noted why I think that's complicated.)
I'm sure this one is also a little larger than the one in Arlington, which I have not seen. But it's a perfectly serviceable medium-sized supermarket.
My mother sometimes goes to a store like this near Atlanta. It's more or less the same as the one described here: it's pretty barebones compared to Kroger, but the food seems good enough. The last time I went, the worst thing I saw in terms of quality was some overripe bananas.
One thing is that even though that store is missing a lot of fancy ingredients that you can find in mainstream grocery stores, it is a great source for various obscure cuts of meat that Americans don't usually eat--tripe, turkey neck, chicken feet, pig ear. The only reason my mother goes there is that it is the only place that consistently stocks goat meat. Come to think of it, maybe that is what the Caribbean lady was so excited about--goat is an important part of Caribbean cuisine. Also, this store is the only place we can find tamarind Jarritos.
I generally never use these stores. I have no reason to since the nearby Harris Teeter, Giant, etc. fulfill our grocery needs. But of all the businesses to take the place of the Toys R Us, the Food Star seems like the perfect -- if unusual -- choice. It's certainly preferable to a dollar store style chain, which seem to be the easiest and most common filler of vacant retail spaces of this size. And of course it's much better than the site sitting empty for years as the property becomes a blight -- a real concern for these type of retail properties. The Food Star serves a basic need for the local community. I lived near the old one on Columbia Pike in Arlington and never heard complaints about its quality or prices.
Great comment, thanks! You're exactly right that the much bigger concern is the property sitting vacant. Bringing in a high-end retailer just isn't an option in many cases. There's a serious oversupply of retail space, and finding a way to fill it is key (unless we redevelop it, but I noted why I think that's complicated.)
I'm sure this one is also a little larger than the one in Arlington, which I have not seen. But it's a perfectly serviceable medium-sized supermarket.
My mother sometimes goes to a store like this near Atlanta. It's more or less the same as the one described here: it's pretty barebones compared to Kroger, but the food seems good enough. The last time I went, the worst thing I saw in terms of quality was some overripe bananas.
One thing is that even though that store is missing a lot of fancy ingredients that you can find in mainstream grocery stores, it is a great source for various obscure cuts of meat that Americans don't usually eat--tripe, turkey neck, chicken feet, pig ear. The only reason my mother goes there is that it is the only place that consistently stocks goat meat. Come to think of it, maybe that is what the Caribbean lady was so excited about--goat is an important part of Caribbean cuisine. Also, this store is the only place we can find tamarind Jarritos.