Forest Park Market
Our new inner-city supermarket opened Saturday. I went out there this morning for my weekly carriage-load of groceries and dry goods, and for the most part I liked what I saw.

The people who took over the empty A&P box on Belmont Ave have done a good job scrubbing it out and spiffing it up. I barely recognized it from what was there before. Everything looked great, as you'd expect it to for a new business trying to build/recapture a diverse customer base. They're heavy on Asian, Latin and Caribbean products, in proportion to the demographics of the neighborhood. By doing that alone, they've probably ensured success because people who formerly had to travel to Hartford or Worcester for ethnic specialties can save time and gas.

And whether due to opening-weekend enthusiasm or not, I noticed a refreshingly high level of staffing and customer service here. Stockers and section managers were friendly and attentive. Every cash register was open and running efficiently. Some of these people I recognized from the old A&P, which is another good thing.

My only complaint revolves around "carriage management." Obviously to prevent theft, they've barricaded the area around the doors to keep the shopping carts corralled. You can't push the carriage out into the parking lot, to the trunk of your car, and that's inconvenient. If you have more than you can carry at one time, you have to leave some of your groceries unattended until you come back for them or pull your car up to the (no parking) zone.

I suggest either letting your baggers push the carts outside for tips, or putting attendants out there in the corral to watch peoples' food in between trips to the car. There has to be other, better ways to control carts than this, so please look into them.

Aside from the ethnic aisles, the rest of the store selection is indistinguishable in price and quantity from what you'd find at any full-service chain market. That the prices compare well is a big deal to me. Urban grocers (by which I mean the "real city," not über-gentrified yuppie enclaves) tend to fall into two categories... either bare-bones retailers of inferior products straight out of the carton, or limited-selection price gougers. For some reason (one I suspect is loosely related to having to work harder for the buck), few have tried to bring a suburban grocery experience (pleasant atmosphere, friendly help, competitive pricing) back into a city. FPM seems to be doing that well right from the start.

My food bill, coming out of Forest Park Market, was actually a few dollars less than it has been lately in West Springfield. Makes me wonder about the gimmick pricing and "food club card savings" those other places employ. I've never been much of a fan of "just use your card!" shopping, a thinly veiled means by which your personal purchasing habits are tracked, then pandered to by direct marketers.

As for what will keep me coming back here (since I don't live nearby, FPM is as much of a trip for me as my usual stores), it's to see whether they can maintain the energy and efficiency of opening day. They must know the cookie-cutter approach to urban retail doesn't work... just ask A&P. I hope they can, because their success will hinge upon it, and success will help encourage more business to return to the city... for all the right reasons. 12:05:45 PM    comment []trackback []