Throw Back Thursday – The Grocery Store Question Is Much Discussed In Vintage Vegas

From October 25, 2007

Eleven Years later we are still having the same conversation!

One of our readers raises a question that I posed to the Business and Development Folks at the Citizens Leadership Academy just last week.

Jack,

I was curious if you have heard where the people that are living downtown in all those beautiful lofts, condo’s etc. are going to grocery shop? I live in McNeil and would love to think they may bring a Whole Foods to the center of town. What do you know…? By the way I am the mother of the two brothers who own Lovebird Apparel!

Sincerely,

Suzan Benett

First Suzan, I’ve plugged your son’s really great collection of art as apparel several times. You should be real proud of them.

As to the groceries, it’s really a chicken and egg question of what comes first. RDA (Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency).

For the longest time, no one in the “specialty”grocery industry wanted to believe that that people like you would drive past a Smiths at Rancho and Charleston for example, or that the 1000’s of us who live east of the strip would drive past the Albertsons to get to a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s or a Sunflower Market.

According to our discussion with Scott Adams, the director of RDA, “it’s one of our highest priorities”. He told me they’ve had ongoing, practically begging conversations and presentations to every major and minor chain in the country to get a store located in or adjacent to the Arts District.

He says he has one truly interested party that would satisfy us, though he was absolutely unwilling to name names. He believes that by the time Juhl opens for occupancy, that there will be one. I argued that the demand was already there. I get this question from people on both the east and west side of Vintage Vegas all the time.

So the bottom line answer is hold tight, it’s coming eventually.