You know - it's a pretty big risk, and great idea. I think with the appropriate way of doing this, it just might work out. First of all - Whalley Avenue. It's going to have to be redesigned around that area if that every going to happen. And if it does, then I would then suggest another lane added on the Shaws side of the street, where more street-parking can be available. Don't forget - just because Shaws might move out, there are still some stores next to it, as well as that Auto store, I don't know what its called.. parking spaces are still required, so this would have to be thought out well.

We'll see what happens.

My belief is that New Haven needs a shopping center which can serve New Haven without having to go to Hamden, West Haven or one of the big boxes.
We can start our own food cooperative relying on local foods and bring in the necessary staples we all need such as soap, detergent, and toilet paper. Do we really need 10 different brands of each in a long aisle?
Big boxes do not carry every single item available out there. They carry what sells or what is on sale. I think we could reduce the price of "essentials by reusing plastic containers and refilling them at the coop" rather than one use and into the waste stream.
The remainder of the locale could be used for small entrepreneurs who need an outlet for their services and products.
One more empty box and I will scream- Bloody Murder of New Haven.

We need a community run, cooperative grocery store that everyone can afford to shop at. People in New Haven are always complaining that there is no grocery store. This could be a great opportunity for the community to come together and do something.

fantastic idea!

when i heard about this store closing, i thought it might make it even harder for the city to recruit a grocer for 360 state...
however, transforming it into a market would be a great way to expand on the success of farmers' markets in new haven and connect residents with healthy, locally grown food. and it would help if the city didn't have to woo two different grocers at the same time (in a slower economy...)

Sounds great to me.

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The store is unlikely to draw a large clientele until it is easier to access it via bus, walking and cycling.

How about adding crosswalks and bike lanes so that people who don't drive could access this store?

Most New Haven residents do not drive to work every day.

Put in appropriate infrastructure, and businesses will thrive. Don't have it, and you might as well build a wall around the store.

There is no market close to New Haven like the one people are proposing. This is an excellent idea! there is a produce/world market in Bridgeport, I have heard, but we could make one even better, and one that serves all members of our community, with products ranging from good, cheap, local produce to fancy-schmancy organic, biodynamic wares as well. The Reading Terminal Market in Philly is a good model, as is the Grand Central Market, though the latter is overpriced and small. It's actually sort fo embarrassing that we don't have something like that here now. If more customers com to Whalley from all over, then the city will have to make the roadway more user-friendly. It's a win-win for the people of New Haven and of that neighborhood. There is a small company that does CT state-wide delivery of local farmers' products - maybe she would get in on the project? http://ctffe.com/ Also, a list of working CT farms can be found there, as well.

This would be terrific. Particularly if we could get some of the great local meat and seafood vendors to open kiosks. New Haven has such a thriving restaurant scene, it is odd that really great basics such as affordable good produce is so hard to come by. And I agree with L that the Philly market is a good model. And the more available space the better. While Quincy Market is over the top in its touristy side, it none-the-less is like Reading Terminal Mkt in its mixing in ready-to-eat with general shopping (maybe yankee doodle could reincarnate)...

Indoor and outdoor market in the middle of Stockholm.
What a wonderful place it could be; when we convert Shaws into a mecca for good food and dining!
Shaws leaving might be the best thing which has happened! With a little help from our friends!

http://images.google.com/images?oq=hortorg&sourceid=chrome&q=hotorget+stockholm&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=oDeAS6boDNCe8AaexaitBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CCgQsAQwBA

What does Food Miles and Local Food mean to the quality of life for New Haven Inhabitants?

http://www.alternet.org/story/145673/does_it_really_matter_how_far_your_food_travels_to_reach_your_plate?page=entire

Create a walkable New Haven and live longer!

http://discoveringurbanism.blogspot.com/2010/02/walkable-grocery-thought-experiment.html

They should hang on a bit longer as Stop n Shop is set to strike..

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Does anyone know who the current owner of this property is?

Does Shaws lease?

Location: 150 WHALLEY AV
Owner Name: CORAL NEW HAVEN ASSOCIATES II*

"owned by Coral New Haven Associates II, LLC, a joint venture of Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GDDC) and The Retail Initiative, an offshoot of Local Initiatives Support Corporation."

(via PaulWeiss.com)

From "Closing the Food Gap," by Mark Winne:

"Perhaps the most elegant part of the deal was the financing. The developer paid a premium price for the 6.8 acres on which the shopping center sits. Because of the high price, the developer then entered into a partnership with the GDDC to expedite the project, which otherwise would not have been financially feasible. The GDDC agreed to purchase the shopping center from the devloper for $15 million. To do so, it raised more than $1.3 million through state and federal grants ($1 million comming from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development as a result of the intervention of the Connecticut Food Policy Council) and another $1.5 million in equity from the Retail Initiative, a nonprofit equity fund based in New York City. Yale University helped the project secure a $2.4 million HUD grant from the federal government and provided technical support from the business school. The GDDC borrowed the rest of the money based on the size of the equity stake it now had, the value of the asset - namely, the shopping center - and the projected revenue stream of the tenant leases - the biggest and most stable, of course, being Shaw's."

I was there at Shaws today and one can see that they have already started dismantling the store. The shelves are half filled and they have removed some of the fruit and vegetable decks. It reminds me of watching someone waste away with cancer...the tide slowly drifts away and you know it is never coming back again.
Thanks Bill for illuminating how they were able to pull it off. Is there away the community can back into with little or no money?

There will be a neighborhood meeting to strategize on what to do about Shaw's' closing. The meeting will be this Tuesday at 6:30PM at the community police substation at 130 Edgewood Ave.

I will be there!

This is an opportunity for the people who live and shop in New Haven to create a vision of what they would like to see replace Shaw's.

We need a good quality grocery store in this location--one that serves people from all income levels.

I was at Trader Joe's in Orange yesterday and they were asking every customer their zip code. The clerk said that it was because Trader Joe's is looking to open another store and they want to see if people from New Haven and beyond are driving down to Orange. It sounds like TJ's is thinking about moving in on the New Haven grocery store market...

While I am all in favour of maintaining access to quality, affordable food (something which this writer does not believe Shaw's provides) I would also want to be mindful about how the development of this parcel will impact an already existing independent business on Whalley Avenue, namely Edge of the Woods. Edge may not be everyone’s favourite place to shop, but they do provide both an important anchor to the Avenue and a strong commitment to the community. I don’t know how the opening of the conglomerate owned store (Whole Foods) in Orange is affecting them economically. I would imagine that there’s been some sort of initial impact -- which will continued until folks realize that WF overall price point is higher than Edge and get over the eye candy appeal. It would be irresponsible to not take this into account as we consider what makes the most sense for the usage of this property in both the short and long term.

This was brought to my attention as well. I think they should be invited to the table because whatever happens it will definitely affect them adversely if a new regime is brought in versus nothing happening and the building permitted to go to the dogs. Their business would be enhanced. Presently and for quite some time they have been a stalwart in a sea of fast food and malnutrition.

Edge of the Woods is a long time presence and a seller of quality foods on Whalley Avenue.

Why drive to Orange or Milford when we can patronize a local business? I would like to see Edge of the Woods expand.

Relevant article:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2010/03/02/new-haven-starved-grocer/

The probability of opening a "year-round market" as this ticket suggests is unlikely. However, several good points along the same line, were made at the meeting last night. In particular a New Haven Food Policy Council representative brought up the benefits of a market or coop scenario for New Haven.

"Several participants were eager to see Shaw’s replacement challenge the corporate status quo. Tagan Engel from the NHFPC asked if the GDDC had considered other models around the country like co-ops in Philadelphia or Boston that carry everything form local food to generic brands. Such a store “would reach everybody in New Haven,”

"Another neighbor agreed that the GDDC ought to consider something other than “a large corporation” that will regard New Haven’s store as “just a number on a sheet.” He cited the recent pull-outs of Staples and Rite Aid down the block as evidence of the failure of corporate development on Whalley. Townsend-Maier said her group would discuss different grocery store models at next week’s meeting."

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/shaws/

This issue may be more vital than you think. The collapse of supply lines due to the ever-worsening financial crisis and fragile energy scenario could lead to disaster in terms of food supply and survival. The more we can avoid long supply lines (i.e. make them more local) the better chance we have of prospering as a community. There are plenty of farms in Connecticut. There's no reason we should be so detached from our local agriculture and so attached to that of outsiders. It's an impractical system that is setting itself up to fail.

I say, fix this. Anything that will make our community stronger and more resilient is a good thing!

What about a BIG Y store.

Goal: Downtown New Haven market-coop

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor

NEW HAVEN — Look for a supermarket, or more likely, a hybrid food coop-market at 360 State St. by the end of the year on the first floor of the 500-unit apartment building downtown at the former Shartenberg department store site.

Bruce Becker, president of the development company that put together the $190 million project, Monday said a marketing study estimated a food store could generate $20 million in business at the site.

“That’s off the charts for grocery stores in their first year. The demand is there, and that was even before the closure of Shaw’s was announced,” Becker said as state, local and federal officials came together Monday to tour a model apartment at the complex at State, Chapel and Orange streets.

As part of statewide cutbacks, Shaw’s recently announced it’s closing its store on Whalley Avenue. The Greater Dwight Development Corp. will negotiate with the supermarket — which has eight years left on its lease at that site — for a replacement store, said city Economic Development Administrator Kelly Murphy.

A market at 360 State St. is not seen as a competitor with a store in the Whalley Avenue neighborhood. A discussion of the Shaw’s issue will take place at 6:30 tonight at the police substation at 130 Edgewood Ave.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/03/09/news/new_haven/a3-ne360state_artandvideo.txt

Rosa Delauro at yesterday's press conference:

"There was Horowitz Brothers' where people went in to buy cloth and thread so that they could make clothes for their kids. My mother did that, my Mother was a seamstress. There was Planter's Peanuts. There was Bassett Hardware, the most fabulous hardware store you've ever seen. Diagonally across from this site was Grower's Outlet, a stop I made with my Mom every Saturday to pick up groceries. Or, along State Street where we went to Mohegan's or Mohawk Market. Farmer's Markets are fabulous, they're wonderful, but we had Farmer's Markets all those years ago, and thank god we have seen how important they are to the sustainability of a community, the glue that holds our communities together."

The idea of City Seed temporarily using the space was shot down last night for liability and logistical reasons (e.g. Shaw's still controls the space for 8 more years due to the lease agreement).

"While there was some excitement among attendants about starting a farmers’ market in the store or even in the parking lot during the interim gap, Townsend-Maier said that the space is still controlled by SuperValu, which would probably disapprove of that idea. There are still “liability issues.” The parking lot is the “slip and fall Mecca of New Haven,” she said."

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/shaws2/

This does not mean that the idea is dead. There is still plenty of support for having some kind of community-oriented year-round market/public space (co-op, farmer's market, etc.) as an alternative to a corporate-controlled, chain grocery store. The latter has proven itself to be untrustworthy.

The survey below -- mentioned in today's news coverage -- will be used by the Dwight Supermarket Concerned Citizens Committee to collect data that may be used to help attract a new supermarket at this location.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dwightsupermarket

Please forward this to all of your email contacts. Paper versions are also available; you can find background info and data posted at http://www.ctdatahaven.org/newhaven/index.php/Dwightsupermarket.

Please also visit http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/25302 and consider voting on that issue as well. It it slightly different -- it calls for a full-service supermarket to be brought back to New Haven, rather than a year-round open market.

Thanks, Mark. I also urge everyone to vote for the other ticket,

http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/25302

as it calls for an immediate, more general solution to this very serious problem. Our vision for what type of store this should be is unimportant in relation to the big picture.

Hello! I'm new here. Just wanted to say hi

Please find below links to a Community Planning Survey for the Dwight/West River/Edgewood area's application for the federal Promise Neighborhood funding. If possible, please send to your email distribution lists to solicit as much feed back as possible from the community members. This is an open process that is requesting the opinions from members of the community in order to better shape the Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/promise2010

The community meeting held last night was covered by the New Haven Independent. I was asked by the Greater Dwight Development Corporation and the Dwight Central Management Team to take the community input into the digital world and create the survey. This will greatly help the grant writers gain a better sense of the neighborhood's needs and barriers to success.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/an_elm_city_harlem_childrens_zon/

Best,

Doug

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latest update from the Shaw's site:

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/14/news/new_haven/doc4d30b398094c3393302314.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Its a shame that grocery store closed. There aren't many options for the pedestrian and low-income grocery shoppers of New Haven.

Stop & Shop is opening here this spring, according to the city and owner of the space.

Since this issue is specific to the Shaw's space, please consider creating a separate issue if you would like to work on developing a year-round crafts market.

This particular issue and the comments below will be archived for future reference, but I think it's time to close it as an active now. Congratulations to everyone who worked on finding a new tenant for the space.