FOOD MART Meetings Continue .......

Another constructive meeting was held with A & P Foodmart representatives.

This is part of our ongoing dialogue to help improve the store and subsequently its business in order to keep them in our neighborhood for years to come.

As with many things in life, there are many dilemmas that involve this store. How much does one spend to improve something when there is no guarantee that things will improve? Convenience foods are popular, and they would like to provide more than what they do, but-where do you prepare and put them in a relatively small store? How do you prevent shoplifting without spending too much of your budget? They would much rather improve the store than spend another $100,000 on theft prevention. One interesting idea borrowed from other grocery stores in the country, is to provide a shuttle service to take people home after shopping. They get to the store on their own, spend a certain amount of money, and then are able to get a free ride home. If this were provided to anyone who needs it within a three mile radius of the store, their business is bound to increase. It is an expensive service, but we think worth a try.

We finally got to the proposal stage. Now we wait to see whether they will implement it. This grocery store is extremely important to many people which is why we are having this dialogue.

We have invited neighborhood residents, our state representatives (there are 4 for FP,) our state senator, city department representatives (planning, community and economic development, mayor's office,) community police, the South End and Maple High/Six Corners neighborhood councils, the Vietnamese American Civic Assoc., Concerned Citizens for Springfield, Forest Park Middle School, and of course, The X Main Street Corporation to be part of this. Your part in this is to patronize the store. If there is something you would like them to carry, mention it to a manager. If there is an improvement to be made that you would like to see, mention that also. Together we make a difference.