Oakhurst residents are pooling ideas on the community’s online message board and crossing their fingers for a grocery store to occupy the strip mall that houses Mulligan’s bar on East Lake Drive. Some want to see the packaged-goods luxury-grub chain take its place and are encouraging neighbors to tell Trader Joe’s. Others want a store akin to the Candler Market located in that eponymous neighborhood.
A thought from “Christi”:
Basically we just need some sort of option that Oakhurst residents can walk to to purchase decent groceries! I think the neighborhood has definitely reached the point of being able to support some sort of small grocery store.
Here’s what another resident says about previous conversations regarding bringing in the chain:
I took the Decatur 101 class in March and the word that we got in
that class was that Trader Joes was not interested in Decatur. The
demographics were too mixed for them. They apparently go by the
30030 zip code when looking for locations and that zip includes some
areas that they consider too transitional (or maybe not transitional
enough).
“Lackofascreenname” offers some thoughts worth keeping in mind:
That would be sweet but, as I understand it, it definitely comes with
some challenges.
First, East Lake/Oakview don’t have the traffic counts TJ’s typically
requires. And, given our diversity of opinion on other growth-related
issues, I have to assume that if a TJ’s in Oakhurst began to induce
the kind of traffic they want, not everyone in the ‘hood would be
overjoyed about it.
Second, the word on the street (so take with a grain of salt) is that
the last time a grocery entity was interested in that space, the
building’s owner insisted upon such a short lease that the cost of
build-out could never be recouped. Of course, there’s always been a
lot of rumors about that strip, so believe what you will…
All things considered, I think I’m still a fan of the idea but it’s
always good to have a grasp of the issues up front.
A well-rounded neighborhood with local services needs a nearby store where you can buy food — preferably without having to jump into a car to do so. As communities become more desirable and developed it’s easy for these businesses — many of which operate with very low profit margins — to get edged out. But they’re vitally important. Just like you need transportation options to serve the residents moving to these areas, you need other services that’ll make the community more sustainable.
Downtown Atlanta needs a grocery store. (I’ve seen signs for a planned Kroger located west of City Hall.) Publix already has a pretty good game going in Decatur with locations on Clairemont Road and at Commerce Avenue, but if the city could sneak in a mid-size market downtown it’d surely have a robust customer base of residents who live within walking distance.
