Sue Wylie didn’t go to the Romany Road Kroger on Sept. 12 to shop for groceries – she went there to say goodbye. After shopping at this location every day for 27 years, she thought one last sentimental trip down the aisles would help her part ways before the store shut its doors for good later that day.
“This is a little jewel for the people who live here,” Wylie said. “You see your old friends, you get to know all the cashiers by name; it’s a community. It’s more than a store.”
Wylie wasn’t the only one there for that purpose. Many customers walked up and down the aisles without carts, gazing at emptied shelves and listening to a repeated message on the loudspeaker: “Once again we’d like to thank you for letting us serve you for these last 20 years,” the announcement said. “We’ve enjoyed your company, enjoyed your friendship. Thank you for shopping at Romany Road Kroger.”
Several of the regulars at the Romany Road Kroger shopped at this location when it was Randall’s, and even before that, when it was Shopper’s Choice.
Kit Andrews was a regular for years while living on Mentelle Park, before moving and switching to the Kroger on Alexandria Drive. Despite this, she still made the trek on closing day for the same reason as Wylie, though she saw it fit to get a few groceries out of what she called a “nostalgic visit,” filling her cart with salsa, bananas, cat food and lemonade while reminiscing about the three years her son spent working at this location.
Ultimately, her thoughts were with the workers: “I just hope that Kroger finds places for the employees, places that work for them,” Andrews said.
According to Kroger’s Public Affairs Manager Tim McGurk, all Kroger associates at the Romany location were offered employment at other branches.
McGurk cites the reason for closure as having to do with the poor condition of the facility, small size and location, and claims the Romany branch had been losing money since 2008, with projections for 2016 trending downward.
Now that the facility is officially closed, despite several petitions – including one that garnered 1,265 signatures – locals are attempting to look toward the future to see what can fill the void left at 344 Romany Road.
There is one caveat to this, however: Kroger’s lease does not end until September of 2016, making the fear of many locals – that the site may sit vacant for at least a year – a real possibility. Beyond that, the building can legally continue to sit vacant as long as it is maintained.
According to McGurk, it was a long-term lease that was not recently renewed, and Kroger delayed the closing of the store for as long as possible.
“Kroger has communicated with city officials and the landlord to confirm our interest in turning the property over to a new tenant,” he said in an email.
Much of the concern from locals deals with how businesses in the area will be affected, many of them citing the need for an anchor store.
Several locals described Romany Road as a one-stop shop – a place where you can pick up groceries, go to the bank, drop off dry cleaning, or grab a bite at Suggins or The Tulip, but many fear that losing the driving force behind a lot of Romany Road visits will cause some dips in local business.
“It’s so easy to say, oh, let’s go to the grocery store, but let’s go get a hamburger at Suggins first,” said Wylie.
Stuart Wheeler, the store manager of Wheeler’s Pharmacy, agrees with this sentiment. “I think everyone will suffer a little bit from it,” he said.
To help pick up the slack and temporarily fill the void left by Kroger’s closing, Wheeler’s Pharmacy began stocking some essential groceries such as milk, bread, crackers, cereal and canned goods.
Wheeler admits the selection is small, but it can help prevent loyal customers who live in the area from having to travel the 1.1 miles to the Euclid Kroger, or the 1.8 to the Chinoe location, for the basic staples needed most often.
Sidney VanNess, who lives in the area, feels as though this particular location didn’t fit into Kroger’s business model.
“They’ve gone towards very large stores, and they want to sell you everything from lettuce to lawn furniture under one roof, and you can’t do that in that location,” he said.
However, he believes a different store, such as another Good Foods Co-op or Fresh Market, could do well in the location, and that people in the area would be willing to pay more for premium groceries.
On Sept. 15th, 5th district council member Bill Farmer Jr. held a public meeting at Christ the King Church, with nearly 100 locals showing up and voicing their opinions. Farmer, along with commissioner of planning Derek Paulsen, confirmed that the property manager – Rosenstein Development – has already been in contact with other grocery stores in the hopes of keeping with a tradition started over 40 years ago at that address.
One of the stores that the property owner has reached out to, Paulsen said at the meeting, was a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. At an average of 42,000 square feet, Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Markets are typically significantly smaller than the chain’s supercenters. The Romany property is about 24,000 square feet.
A handful of those present at the meeting were vocally opposed to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, but there were plenty of suggestions for other grocery stores.
Among those suggestions were Publix, Trader Joe’s, Kroger-owned Harris-Teeter, Earth Fare, Aldi, Hy-Vee, and additional votes for another Good Foods Co-op. Other proposals included a library, an indoor farmer’s market and a movie theater.
Paulsen encouraged residents to keep providing some good pressure on Kroger to see that the property gets developed in a way that makes sense for the neighborhood, and that it doesn’t sit vacant for another year.
“Here’s a message to anyone who’s considering putting a store in there,” said VanNess. “The residents of Chevy Chase and Ashland Park absolutely would welcome their presence there; we will spend our money there, and you can be successful in that location.” cc