City government had done little to bring about change in the vacancy of the market. However, the Vanguard published a series of scathing articles with pictures of the dilapidated state of the store that helped force the city to use its powers as a regulator to force the owner to make improvements to the store and bring the sides back to the table.
He said, “”When we first looked at the store, I came down one day and one of my fellow members at the CIGA (California Independent Grocers Association) came across the store and the sent the information to me and said, ‘Maybe you would be interested in this. They need a retailer.’ When I visited the area my first thought was, ‘What a great community, and it needs a store.’ I called Harley (DeLano, his father and business partner) and said, ‘You have to take a look at this.’ “
But in the year and a half since Westlake IGA has opened, it has struggled, cutting back on products and services, closing sections and departments, and facing criticism of high prices.
Last week, Eric Nelson, one of the key members of the DANG organization that helped bring us the grocery store in the first place, wrote a short letter appealing to all residents and homeowners living west of Highway 113.
There will be a community meeting at the Stonegate Country Club located at 919 Lake Blvd. on Wednesday June 1 at 7 pm. It offers an opportunity to meet our Westlake IGA grocers and give them your input.
“We are in danger of losing our neighborhood grocery because many of us fail to shop locally on a regular basis,” Mr. Nelson wrote. “Whatever our excuse, it is not worth losing the Westlake IGA Market, the heart of our community and the jobs it provides.”
He continued, “Sure, we might find ‘cheaper prices’ on some items in other stores but is it worth driving clear across town to save a few cents on a gallon of milk or whatever?”
“Westlake IGA employs 20 Davis residents, and approximately 68 percent of every dollar spent at Westlake IGA stays in Davis,” he writes.
He continued, “Homeowners should realize that a good “walkability factor” adds about 10 percent to the value of our properties. This translates to anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 added value to our individual homes.”
“If the grocery goes away, so does our “walkability factor,” a pile of value in our homes, along with 20 local jobs … and that ‘cheap’ milk becomes very expensive! So think before you go driving for that ‘cheap’ milk!” he concludes.
The naysayers have always been skeptical of the viability of the small neighborhood market, but the location seemed to have support.
However, there are now two huge and confounding problems facing the market. First, the prices remain higher than other stores in town. That has presented a barrier to new customers and made it difficult to get local residents to change their habits.
Personally as a neighbor of the store, I find the convenience and ability to walk to the store outweighs cost considerations. Nevertheless, that remains a serious hurdle that a lot of people question, as, after all, the whole purpose of the IGA affiliation was to make the store competitive.
Dennis DeLano had told the DANG back in December of 2009, “As far as competition goes, at 12,000 items, I believe that we can cater to most needs for the community. We aren’t so bold as to think we’re going to be your only grocer. Let’s face it – changing shopping habits is very hard to do, so we’re relying on convenience as much as anything, plus customer service and selection.”
He added, “If you’re going to shop for paper products at a great value, like toilet paper and paper towels in a 12-pack, then we’re probably not going to meet that need for you. We’ll have four-packs and six-packs. But if you’re a stock-up shopper, you’ll probably shop at Wal-Mart, Target or Costco or one of the other major bulk retailers like that.”
He continued by emphasizing the point of convenience.
Mr. De:ano said, “We’re going to be convenient. We’re going to be open when you want us to be open. We’re going to have all the items that we think you would need or expect from a convenient retailer, and we’re going to have them at a good value. For those times when you don’t want to fight the traffic (at some other area stores) we’re going to be there for you, and we’re gong to have everything that we think you want. And if you don’t find it, please ask, because we can get it. If we have the ability to get it, we will.”
The bottom line is that these are tough economic times. Hopefully, the owners are not reaching out to the community too late. Having neighborhood shopping options is too important.
The residents of West Davis had to fight to get the store here, now they are going to have to fight to keep it here.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Do one of your fancy mailers for the surrounding neighborhoods , those are really cheap for a “501-3c ” non profit like yourself, who is trying to help the underdogs of Davis .
I am surprised that they are struggling. It would be good to know how far off they are from their revenue projections. I assume Trader Joes is taking a little bite. However, I also question their labor model. The store seems small enough to be run more like a convenience store with one cash register.
We do most of our grocery shopping there. However, as near empty nesters, our monthly grocery expenses have significantly dropped from the days when two teenage sons lived with us.
“employs 20 Davis residents” Where do you get your home of record data for Westlake IGA employees?
Everyone knows, that we have to hire outside the Davis city limits to find personnel to care for the every service whim of the annoying Davis royalty! Talk to outlying city residents about the Birkenstock Brigade who are legendary for their pain in the ass fussiness.
It was fun to see Ruth and Sue together–smiling.
My own personal experience has been the prices at IGA are steeper, and they often do not have what I want, which is very frustrating. As a result of both, I have not shopped there much. In this town, with all the choices we have, a business must stay competitive…
[quote]”The store seems small enough to be run more like a convenience store with one cash register.”[/quote]
They can’t run a full-blown grocery store like a convenience store. Convenience store inventory – e.g., Pringles and beer – needs no tending. The distributors even stock the shelves. West Davis already has a convenience store; we don’t need or want another.
Westlake often runs just one register, but opens another when needed. It’s not like checkers are just standing around. I’m just saying.
I agree with Elaine on this issue. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to shop where prices are higher. It’s not like it’s a 10 mile drive to Safeway or SaveMart. Walkability is only a factor if you’re getting a few smaller items. If you’re doing a large grocery shopping, you aren’t going to walk to the store even it’s only a block away.
“Sure, we might find ‘cheaper prices’ on some items in other stores but is it worth driving clear across town to save a few cents on a gallon of milk or whatever?”
yes it is worth it, to tell you the truth. milk, cereal, and everything else is cheaper. I don’t drive further away to buy just a gallon of milk. nor do I have to “drive across town” like Delano Claims. safeway is down the road. save mart isn’t that far. I have choices/options.
if Delano wants my business, I’m all ears, but he has to earn it. I want Delano to tell me what he is planning to do to change his store’s business model to make it attractive for me to shop there.
I go into IGA and I see pretty much the standard brands I buy at safeway for double the price. you cannot stay in business if you do that, if Delano could offer specialty items not found in standard grocers such as custom made chocolate candies, home made donuts, or other specialty items or special varieties breads (get creative) I would definitely check it out. but Delano needs to think outside the box. the most attractive feature if IGA is their fresh deli sandwiches but IGA needs to expand on that end of things, otherwise, they they will go the way of rays, farmtown, and food fair. maybe they could turn IGA into half a restaurant.
I have the same problem with their not having what I want. They stopped carrying local, Dixon Superior lamb and switched to lamb from New Zealand, which I won’t buy. They don’t carry Eggland’s Best eggs, which I have asked about several times. At Nugget, if you ask about a product, they let you know you can fill out a product request form so they might get it in the future. No such thing happened at Westlake IGA.
In their favor, they have switched from Berkeley Farms milk, which goes sour long before its expiration date whereever I buy it in Davis, to Crystal milk, which holds up longer. But for a while there, they had neither eggs nor milk that I would buy, and aren’t they two of the three staple items on a classic grocery list?
Also, after a year or more of talking to to management in Davis about the need for “No Smoking” signs, with many promises given and no signs appearing, I finally emailed an owner. That got me a swift reply and another promise, one that was followed through on this time. Maybe local management is a source of other problems, too?
Last, their biggest problem is that, until the last few weeks, they haven’t sent out weekly fliers. Every other grocery store does this, and I use them to decide where I will shop. Not everyone has the internet to look at Westlake’s ad online, and folks who need to count every (painful) step simply will not “shop blind” without a flier to let them know what’s on sale. I started to forget that Westlake was even there because of the lack of fliers.
I have been shopping there more the last couple of months because I do like having a store nearby, but they need to do their part, too.
[i]”They can’t run a full-blown grocery store like a convenience store.”[/i]
Agreed. My point was that they might need to think otherwise of themselves. I think they need to find the sweet spot. Either they are a small-sized, full-blown grocery store, or they are something else.
From my perspective, I think they have three choices:
One – Ramp up their price/selection game to compete better with the other stores.
Two – Scale down their operation and cut expenses. This means heading more toward a super-convienience store model.
Three – Specialization and marketing.
I don’t think #1 is feasible. I would be happy to have #2 – a super-convienience store – if the alternative was no store. What I would really like to see is a full-service, high-quality butcher and deli that draws customers from outside the area.
I understand the complaint on the prices, I think it’s a good complaint. I don’t understand that it is being run like a convenience. That said one of the niches is to be able to go quickly and easily to buy just a few products, sometimes I will go there to get products for a meal, sometimes it is getting milk or baby formula. Either way there is a value to that if enough people are willing to shop there for short-term needs as opposed to treking out to Safeway.
Whoever said it’s not like Safeway is a ten mile drive misses a point. I can get my food and be back with no hassle in ten minutes at IGA whereas it takes half an hour at Safeway. Huge difference.
[b]I wrote this[/b] in my Davis Enterprise column (2/6/08): [i]”For almost two years, Westlake Plaza’s supermarket space has remained empty. … If you want to know whom to blame for this vacancy, look in the mirror. You didn’t shop there. You didn’t patronize that market when it was Farmtown. You opted to go elsewhere when it was Ray’s. You purchased your wine, your cheese and your avocados at other stores when it was Food Fair.”[/i]
I got more than a dozen emails after this column from west Davis residents, telling me I was wrong. They said the only real problem was that the previous three supermarkets were poorly run. They said a new market would succeeed.
[b]Jeff Boone[/b] replied in a letter to the editor (2/20/08): [i]”Rich Rifkin blames shoppers’ lack of shopping for the failures of Ray’s and Food Fair grocery stores at Westlake Plaza. … (Co-owner Jim) Barcewski wants to make a case for rezoning, but he and Rifkin have yet to provide evidence that a well-managed, 22,000-square-foot neighborhood grocery store would not be successful.”[/i]
[b]Doug Walter[/b] in his letter to the editor agreed with me (2/2/08): [i]”Rich Rifkin’s column of Feb. 6, “Failed Grocery Stores? It’s Your Fault,” focused on a salient point: People will make the “fill in” trip to Westlake, but they’ll go to a bigger store — Target, Costco or one next to a pharmacy — for their major shopping. Ray’s Market was operated competently by a chain with enough capital to run 59 food stores in California and Oregon; they failed at Westlake due to this trend.”[/i]
[u]I hope Delano’s stays open[/u]. I understand the great convenience of living close to your grocery store. However, I think the evidence is overwhelming: Because of shoppers’ tendency to prefer large, full-service supermarkets, no one can make a go of it in that small, out of the way location. The only option I see for that space is a specialty market which serves some niche not otherwise provided for in Davis.
[quote]Two – Scale down their operation and cut expenses. This means heading more toward a super-convienience store model.[/quote]
Would that be like Cracchiolo’s in Woodland? They have kind of a convenience store aspect, but seem similar in size to Westlake. I haven’t been in there for a year or so, but recall that their deli is a prominent feature but they also have some grocery items. Whatever, their business model has been working for decades.
[quote]Whoever said it’s not like Safeway is a ten mile drive misses a point. I can get my food and be back with no hassle in ten minutes at IGA whereas it takes half an hour at Safeway. Huge difference.[/quote]
But if I can save $20 on my grocery bill; and can get everything I want elsewhere, then why would I shop at IGA just to save a few minutes? The proof is in the pudding – IGA is failing for a reason…
I agree with your bottom line, that IGA is failing for a reason. They need to figure out how to maximize their market and what their market is.
For me, often saving time is more valuable than saving a few dollars.
[i]Rich: “I got more than a dozen emails after this column from west Davis residents, telling me I was wrong.”[/i]
[i]Me: “Co-owner Jim) Barcewski wants to make a case for rezoning, but he and Rifkin have yet to provide evidence that a well-managed, 22,000-square-foot neighborhood grocery store would not be successful.”[/i]
Like I said Rich, I am surprised they are struggling. I’m with David that saving time is a big deal for me, and I assumed it was for other West Davis residents. Elaine makes a case that saving money may be more important to her. Times are still tough for a lot of people and maybe for them saving $10 or $20 is worth the time and hassel driving to Safeway. Personally, I do everything I can to keep from going there.
One related point… my wife is big on buying green bananas. Our family must be part primate since we seem to consume a bunch every couple of days. She has been disappointed that Delanos’ bananas are often more ripe than she prefers. This then causes her to make two trips: one to IGA and another to Safeway to buy bananas. So, there goes the time savings and Delanos preference. This gets me to a thought I had not considered before blasting my letter to the editor. If Delanos cannot cover ALL of our grocery shopping needs, then we are going to need to make a second trip to Safeway. Then, if we are going to shop at Safeway, why not just purchase all of our groceries there to save time?
I may have to eat crow on this, but I still suspect they can run a quality and viable store with a leaner operation including some speciality that drives in customers from out of the area.
I was trying to think of a niche market which could succeed in that space, if Delano’s closes. One which we don’t have but might make it is a full service fresh fish & seafood market, perhaps combined with an Asian foods market. There are these sorts of things in Sacramento. We have a substantial Asian population in Davis. Anyone think that might make a go of it on Lake Blvd?
[img]http://www.papiroz.net/cookaloca/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/val4.jpg[/img]
[i]But if I can save $20 on my grocery bill; and can get everything I want elsewhere, then why would I shop at IGA just to save a few minutes? The proof is in the pudding – IGA is failing for a reason…[/i]
I find that there are sales at Westlake enough to save money. In another recent blog article on this, I mentioned their recent sale on all Dreyer’s ice cream at $2.99/half gallon. I’d think that would get the attention of any ice cream junkie like myself. Other sales I have found to be competitive with regular prices at other stores.
I would also add that I find the employees are uniformly pleasant and courteous. I didn’t find that to be the case with Foodmart. In the old store, sometimes I felt like I was inconveniencing the employees to ask a question or ask for service.
Let them advertise for free on your blog , a write off for you , ahh win win .
Jeff Boone-I trust that even in open-minded Davis all of your family is primate, hopefully hominidae homininae hominini homo.
biddlin: LOL. As you might guess, some people have developed the opinion that I originated from other species that do not eat bananas.
wdf1: I agree with your point about the Delanos employees. They are significantly better than the previous. This is another piece of the reason why I am surprised they are struggling. I also agree that their prices are not too high. I find them on par with Nugget and less pricy than the food coop. However, I think Safeway is hard to beat on price.
Rich – I think an Asian fresh fish market is a great idea. I think it would draw from other areas and other cities.
Rich
I like the Asian/ fresh fish market idea also. It would probably draw me in from North Davis especially if they were to incorporate activities to attract participation such as cooking classes or recipe tastings to introduce folks to a wider range of choices.
Along those lines they had this great idea of a nacho bar, but it consisted of chips and melted cheese. Now a real nacho bar with fresh veggies and shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and the works would have been a good selling point. In short, they turned a good idea into a bad one.
I’m also kind of irritated at Delano, who hosted that community input session on the Westlake IGA before it opened. Supposedly he wanted input, but that seemed like lip service and window dressing more than anything else. His store turned out to be little more than a mini generic grocery store with high prices. and little on the “specialty side of things.” most of what is sold there is standard brand names.
some one else said it, we want to shop at his market but he needs to do his part too.
If IGA cannot compete price wise (and the prices are way higher than Safeway for most basic groceries), then IGA has to offer something special. A fresh fish/Asian market might do okay. My suggestion would be more in the way of already prepared foods for the college crowd. Fresh sandwiches, hot dishes, cold salads, fresh breads of a greater variety than what is already there. As a simple grocery store they just have not been able to compete… they will have to rethink their model or… fail.
I have two excellent markets in close proximity, a Nugget and a Belair . Target and Walmart are not too far, either, but I shop at the other two because of their exceptional customer service and quality food . Some years ago I lived in River Park where the neighborhood Pantry market thrived. After the owner retired and sold out, three different groups bought the market and tried to run it on the cheap. All failed. Working parents, college students and seniors will almost always choose convenience, quality and service over price when shopping for groceries . From what I read here, IGA seems to miss most of the marks.
I cannot repeat this enough times: [b]It’s not the operators’ fault[/b] at the Westlake site. It’s the fact that a large fraction of households which lives west of Highway 113 prefers a large, full-service store like Safeway to do the vast majority of their supermarket shopping. Safeway is perfectly convenient for them for their once or twice a fortnight major shopping trips. Those sorts of customers will only bother with the smaller market on Lake Blvd. for the fill-in items: a gallon of milk or some ice cream or an ingredient they are missing for one recipe at the moment.
The complaints being registered about Delano’s IGA are the result of the fact that Delano’s cannot get the volume of business at that location in that small store. So they cut here and there in order to stay afloat.
If you want a supermarket to thrive out on Lake Blvd., it will have to be expanded to 50,000 s.f. or more to compete with Safeway. And that is impossible in that out of the way location.
Maybe Delano’s will stay open. Maybe it will close. But as long as residents from Westwood to Stonegate prefer to do the bulk of their grocery shopping at a larger, full-service store, the operator is s.o.l.
———–
Note: If a niche operator, like one I suggested above, were to make it there, success would be achieved by drawing customers from all over Davis, the way Trader Joe’s does in its small store.
[i]”It’s not the operators’ fault”[/i]
Rich, I get your point and generally agree except for the consideration of revenue and expenses. If the revenue for this store is close to projections, but the expenses are higher, then it absolutely would point to a potential operations problem.
There are six main criteria for attracting shoppers (not in any order):
– Selection
– Price
– Service
– Proximity
– Ambiance
– Parking
What I have heard is that most people like everything about the store except selection.
Frankly, I think we are all a bit spoiled having such a diverse choice of brands. However, I considered this, and assuming some reasonable level of selection, I expected delivery on the other four criteria to be enough to attract enough people to the store.
Assuming the problem is lower than anticipated revenue (e.g., too few shoppers or lower dollar purchases per shopper than expected) and not too high operation costs, then I was wrong and selection is a much bigger driver than I expected.
In thinking about this point, it seems to me that this might be the reason grocery stores have grown so large. There are so many more brands today than 20-30 years ago. Each product category seems to take up long sections of the isle. How can a small store stock every brand of cereal like Safeway? The answer of course is that it can’t. It has to be very active stocking what sells the best… and/or specialize to provide something unique… while also optimizing the size and expense of the operation to be viable.
[i]”In thinking about this point, it seems to me that this might be the reason grocery stores have grown so large. There are so many more brands today than 20-30 years ago.”[/i]
It’s not just the number of brands for the same types of products. It’s the diversity of product, too.
If you are as old as I am–I’m 47–you will recall when most supermarkets did not carry dairy goods. No milk. No cottage cheese. No ice cream. Etc. They generally did not have any frozen or refrigerated foods. At best they kept their meats and fish on a bed of ice.
Also, they had nothing like ethnic foods or the wide variety of spices and so on which came about as America became more diverse. At the Safeway on Russell Blvd or, god forbid, the State Market on 2nd Street, you could not only not buy fresh tortillas back in the 1960s, you could not buy taco mix or soy sauce or balsamic vinegar. Italian food for those markets in those times was canned raviolis made by Chef Boyardee.
One other factor in Davis was the fact that stores were not allowed to carry booze.
Nowadays, you look at a full service supermarket and you have within it a very good liquor store, a pretty good delicatessen, an adequate bakery, what passes for a meat market, a florist shop, a fully loaded aisle for dairy (frozen and refrigerated with a much wider variety of cheeses and yogurt than was the case 20 years ago and more), a portion of a drugstore (which carries most over the counter basics and household cleaning items and birthday and Christmas cards), and other things like food for your pets, cooking utensils, various paper products and on and on. All that added stuff does not fit in 22,000 s.f.
Most new supermarkets in more liberal* cities than Davis are around 100,000 s.f. They are that big because that is what customers, by dint of their choices, have demanded.
*Liberal here meaning free market, not pro choice on abortion.
[i]”They are that big because that is what customers, by dint of their choices, have demanded.”[/i]
Actually, they are that big because that is what the retail store owners have demanded they be allowed to build. But of course, some communities haven’t allowed that. Now WalMart, the world’s largest grocer, has discovered that some consumers prefer smaller stores, and has started building those.
[i]”Here is the trend in average store size:”[/i]
I suspect if FMI looked at new supermarkets (not counting Super WalMarts or Costcos, etc.) over the same period (since 1994) in cities with a population of 25,000 or more, you would find the trend in the same direction, but probably the median store size would now be somewhere in the 75,000 to 100,000 sf range.
[i]”they are that big because that is what the retail store owners have demanded they be allowed to build.”[/i]
That does not contradict my claim. In fact, it reinforces it. The supermarket chains are responding to their customers.
And I repeat, when most customers have a choice between a full-service supermarket like Safeway or Nugget and a smaller store like Delano’s IGA, the customers will do their largest amount of regular shopping at the larger stores. And that is a major reason why every store at Westlake Plaza has failed since the Safeway on Covell opened.
One historical note on this: Judge David Rosenberg, when he was on the City Council, fought vigorously against allowing that Safeway to be opened*, because it violated (in his opinion) the spirit of the law in Davis of having neighborhood stores. Rosenberg said that if we allow a Safeway that big, then all shoppers will go there, and the neighborhood stores won’t be able to compete. Then, he warned, before long the other supermarkets will demand to be at least as large; and Rosenberg concluded, we will end up with a handful of large supermarkets and we will lose our neighborhood supermarkets.
And as it turned out, Rosenberg was right. Davis shoppers prefered the larger full service stores. And that ran out of business the State Market on Russell, the various Westlake grocers, the store or E. 8th and for a long time until Nugget was allowed to expand, the supermarket space on E. Covell. The one exception seems to be the old Nugget on Mace. Perhaps its location right off of I-80 is why it can make money.
*When it opened, it was strangely divided into two parts, so it met the de jure requirements of the s.f. cap on supermarkets. After some time, the poohbahs in Davis let Safeway become one store.
I remember Al Smith called the Marketplace “that rogue shopping center” because it wasn’t actually in the general plan to have a shopping center there. Karen Fox proposed it and got it approved over Smith’s vigorous objections. Really, the die was cast at that point regarding the success of a full-size market at Westlake. So a niche market is the only route to success there IMO.
I see that the Farmer’s Market is opening a satellite market at Sutter hospital. Maybe something of that sort could be considered in the ample parking area of Westlake.
Bob Dunning has a piece on this issue in his column today (6/2/11):
[url]http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/dunning/delanos-needs-to-find-its-niche-and-soon/[/url]