Grocery Envy
Decatur Metro | June 2, 2010Tucked into the most recent issue of Atlanta Magazine is a love letter. A love letter to a grocery store.
In the modern world, where your neighbors are more likely to recognize you by the make and model of your vehicle than your smiling face, a grocery store that pulls on the heart strings seems out of place. (Trader Joe’s freaks not withstanding. )
Who would draft a sonnet to a Kroger? Or direct a few lines of free-verse to the Ingles down the 6-lane next to the Outback Steakhouse?
Not a dang soul, that’s who.
But not surprisingly, this letter isn’t addressed to one of the big boys, but to a neighborhood market. The Candler Park Market to be precise.
In her public display of affection, writer Christiane Lauterbach details all the things that make a small local grocery indispensable: convenient essentials, tempting luxuries, competent staff and personal service.
Call me annoyingly persistent, but in my opinion, there are few urban places that can take the place of a well-run neighborhood grocery. It not only serves an important service (um, feeding you and providing other essentials), but also can serve as THE neighborhood meeting place.
Sure Decatur has many wonderful restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. They all serve their respective population segments: foodies, beer snobs, and coffee drinkers. (Full disclosure: I am all of those things) And in each of these places, you have a pretty good idea of who you might run into and the things you have in common.
But in a grocery store, all walks of life – from your recluse neighbor to your chatty city commissioner – come together to purchase the items they need to get them through the day. And that casual, repeated, common thread can do wonders for community strength. From catching up with old friends, to exchanging a few words with a stranger you’ve seen countless times, who today is buying that obscure British cereal that you also love, a smartly run grocery can still serve as that community nerve center.
But operating and keeping a small grocery above water is a dang hard thing to do in the modern world of low profit margins and parking demands. However, the Candler Park Market stands as a local example of what is possible, even with limited parking in a low-density neighborhood, when a grocery store is properly stocked and executed.
And I’m green with envy.
Latest from Decaturish
My poem is dedicated to Ms. Harkness, a COD parent and grandparent and my favorite employee at the N. Decatur Publix:
Thank you, Ms. Harkness, and all Publix employees,
You make shopping at the North Decatur store a breeze.
And when my time at your store is done,
I can return home and have some BBQ fun.
I also appreciate closing on Christmas,
Allowing all employees church and family time not to miss.
So keep up the good work and always remember,
Friendly service is what counts, not bad attitude and temper.
Yes! Love that place! As kids, my friends and I used to walk to a similar place with our meager allowances in hand and marvel at the candy aisle. What to buy? What to buy???
I can still do that at CPM!!!
Nice wine selection. Pretty meager otherwise.
LOVE their deli and bakery section! Very helpful employees and stockers too…
I wonder how the rent compares to similar space in Decatur ? There are some spaces here that could work for that type of business. There seems to be consumer interest. Something must be holding it back…..
DM– Please make a note to give the wished for Food Co-op a cool sounding, easy rhyming name!
my haiku to the Decatur Kroger
Li’l Kroger, puh-lease
Would it kill you to open
another checkout?
Heh! Genius!
SERIOUSLY. i only go there when there is NO other option. I’m happy to drive the mile or so to the publix at N Decatur / Clairmont. the little kroger has never had more than 1 lane and the maybe the customer service counter open at anytime ive been there (99% of the time after 5pm when i’ve gotten off work).
If Kroger wants to stay there I’d recomennd closing for a month or two, extending the store another 40-50 feet east into the parking lot, hire more cashiers and clean the place up.
It amazes me how much brighter and cleaner publix seems than 99% of krogers i’ve been in.
I’d rather pay an extra 10 cents/item at publix where i’ve always had great service
You obviously haven’t been to the Krogers at Edgewood and Toco Hills. very clean and spacious…
I have but I shouldn’t have to drive that far from the center of decatur for groceries.
State-of-the-art at Kroger is off topic, but I will offer the observation that perhaps the union wages paid to check-out staff at Kroger limits their staffing.
I honestly don’t quite get the Lil’ Kroger hate. I dig the small size, it’s easy to get in and out of, and if you go during off-peak hours it’s really a pretty good experience. Plus the prices are better than Publix.
I agree! I love having a choice of Big Kroger or Baby Kroger to match my mood/shopping needs!
It’d be nice if they’d do a survey to see where they could tweak their selections a bit. But they are reliable for the basics. And the cashiers are friendly. If they’d just make 1 lane a self check- out, they’d be darn near perfect!
Can’t get the latest issue of High Times at the Publix, though. Also, they own their building, which probably makes it viable.
Dang– I didn’t even know HT was still a going publication! Haven’t read it since my teens…I do fondly remember the “centerfolds”, though.
Ah…they own the building! To Fifi above…I bet that’s the secret. If they own the building outright, then their costs are a heck of a lot lower.
Anyone have a spare building downtown that they want to turn into a grocery store?
Yeah… must be it. Hats off to those owners. They run a good store and they were wise enough to buy that old building in Candler Park before the “return to in-town living” boom.
Mr. Lee caught loads of crap for his fascade too ( sound familiar Decatur Diner?) His plain storefront was not hip enough for many of the new residents of Candler Park. He hung tough, and perservered through all the tisk-tisking.Rock on uncool small business people.
I love the Candler Park Market. I dream of having something like it in Oakhurst. The Hop and Shop just doesn’t cut it.
I totally agree! If we could transplant CPM to the Big H (now Navo) Center, then Oakhurst would achieve total perfection.
I didn’t realize the CPM folks owned their building, either. That makes me much less hopeful that anything similar will ever open in Oakhurst. Obviously the owner of that building (Vision Properties? – know I’ve heard lots of negative stuff about whoever it is) is asking way too much for rent or somebody would have taken a chance on a grocery concept there now that the neighborhood has pretty much gentrified. It could definitely work if the rent was reasonable. There are so many families with disposable income in walking distance, plus it would be easy for folks living in Winona Park, East Lake, Kirkwood and Greater Decatur to stop in on their way home from work for whatever needs they have. It would definitely need an extensive beer and wine selection, organic foods and some basic produce and bakery items. Basically just exactly like CPM. I’ll keep dreaming…