Posted on 05/03/2014 12:16:27 PM PDT by BBell
A year after opening with a media spotlight on actor and co-owner Wendell Pierce, followed four months later by a personal appearance by Michelle Obama, the Sterling Farms grocery store in Marrero is closing with far less fanfare and celebrity.
Best-known for his roles in the cable TV series "The Wire" and "Treme," Pierce drew attention to the grocery with talk of "emerging markets" and fresh produce, while Obama visited the store after making an address in New Orleans on nutrition and obesity. But one industry expert said the store faced problems from the very beginning.
"It was poorly executed, in my opinion," said David Livingston, a supermarket consultant in Wisconsin who visited the Sterling Farms store last year. "Somebody didn't really know what they were doing when they put that store together."
Located in a former Winn-Dixie store near the corner of Lapalco and Ames Boulevards, Sterling Farms was portrayed as a healthy food outlet for low-income shoppers. At its grand opening last March, Pierce and his partners, Troy Henry and James Hatchett, described it as the first of four locations they planned to open in various urban "food deserts."
One year later, however, the other full-scale grocery locations have yet to open, and the Marrero store has struggled to attract shoppers. Last month, according to a local supermarket analyst employed by Livingston, much of the store's inventory had been removed. A sign reading "Under New Management" recently appeared in the storefront window.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
A couple of years ago, there was a snarky news story about Panerra Breads only opening stores in wealthy neighborhoods. LOL!
It doesn’t sound like it really was a healthy food store. They had a lot of big talk, but in the end, the store didn’t amount to much of anything.
Or was it: "Somebody really didn't know what they were doing when they put that store together."
Except at election time...
It does. That alone would put me off from shopping there!
Hmmm. I wonder if Trader Joe’s would consider opening there.
They actually have some, but not all, healthy choices. Their prices are insane.
I can get a Panera full sized salad for $8, with chicken that roamed free before it got slaughtered. It has some other salad stuff. Add in a drink and it comes to $11.
Or I can go to McDonald's across the street and get a McChicken without the bread (with lettuce and mayo in a salad bowl), two packets of fresh apple slices and a senior coffee for $2.95.
What's my point....maybe those folks in wealthy neighborhoods aren't so smart after all!
“Well, I guess we won’t be buying much anywhere this year”.
That’s funny! (Well, not really.) Years ago I tried to do that one Christmas with presents. It was REALLY hard to find anything that I could afford that was made in America.
“To an intelligent supermarket owner, when you stock fresh veggies and see them rot, unsold, you stop stocking them.”
And the same if you are the shopper.
Years ago I was living with some roommates. We all got along well and really had no arguments about groceries, cleaning, etc. (One fellow cleaned like the dickens, I loved him for that!)
Even though each person shopped for him or herself, I still noticed that each of us were always having these “good intentions” about food, but were not following through and eating the stuff, so it went in the trash.
Interestingly (to me anyway) I read a piece somewhere about a study that was done: people went and actually excavated a landfill to see what food items were most prevalent.
The results closely matched what I had observed. White bread got eaten, Rye and Whole Wheat got tossed. Fresh veggies - in the trash, canned/frozen veggies, in the belly, etc.
I’ve tried to incorporate these truths in my shopping ever since, while realizing how lucky I am to live in a place and time where I am very unlikely to ever go hungry.
Re: healthful foods
Veg prep requires time and energy, often in short supply after a long day at work and when you’re trying to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.
Trader Joe’s sells bags of fresh (not frozen) peeled and chopped vegetables (assorted salads, green beans, cubed butternut squash) all ready to eat raw or cook immediately. Does stuff like that end up in the landfill?
As an aside: Potatoes and onions these days aren’t exactly cheap.
In the "inner cities", we're dealing with women who are NOT at work all day. They have time to do their nails, but not for cooking veggies.
The urban media isn't saying much but the city of New Orleans received $14 million in our confiscated earnings to hand out to grocery store ventures like this. White and Asian store owners need not apply.
“I also refuse to buy anything that says gluten free, reduced sodium, low fat, etc. “
Smart move. Large, long term studies have shown reduced sodium is dangerous to your health, especially if you have a heart condition.
Salt, We Misjudged You
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/we-only-think-we-know-the-truth-about-salt.html?_r=0
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2891182/posts?q=1&;page=1
Fresh food costs more because of the spoilage.
The odd thing about this is that New Orleans and the surrounding area is far from a “food desert”. On the contrary there are roadside stands and fresh produce markets everywhere, even in the not so good parts of town. You can grow produce year round down here. And the People down here love to eat.
Thanks for the link to the article.
His store probably does scan based trading, the supplier owns the product until it is scanned and sold.
So the wasted product does not have any bearing on his store bottom line.
Lowering the price and not doing it in conjunction with a supplier promotion would cost him.
Don't be so sure. Yes, there are a lot of people on strictly welfare but there are as many if not more that have jobs.
“I love it when leftists, who have all these great ideas for how businesses should be run, finally actually try RUNNING a business.”
They operate on a Field of Dreams mentality.
“If you build it they will come”
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