By Tonia Kelly
A Booth Street grocery store, which serves a culturally diverse community that also includes many seniors and low-income families, is scheduled to close later this month.
But, residents are not just standing by and watching it happen – they are looking at food store alternatives for the space.
More than 140 residents crowded the boardroom of the Somerset West Community Health Centre on Oct. 30 across the street from the Loeb store they face losing.
Translators in Mandarin, Cambodian and Vietnamese were available as residents discussed the loss of their convenient neighbourhood store.
By the end of the meeting, organizers had a list of names of people willing to serve on a committee to seek alternatives such as a food co-op.
Aileen Leo, chairperson of the health centre’s board of directors, attended the meeting.
She says she is worried about the ability of people with limited mobility and low incomes to travel to other parts of the city just to buy groceries.
“I can’t believe that Loeb wants to wash its hands of the people who depend on them,” she says. “It’s one store in a multi-million dollar chain.”
Tammy Smitham, director of communications at A&P Canada which, along with Loeb, is owned by Metro Inc., explains that the company had hoped to renovate the 50-year-old store, but, due to costs, recently decided against it.
“Given the structural problems that would cost a great amount to do, and we would not see a return on that investment,” says Smitham.
The foundation of the store was originally build on the foundation of three separate houses, making the needed renovations difficult.
Smitham denies that closing this relatively small store was part of a move to the suburbs and the huge box stores.
She adds they have vital downtown core locations in many cities.
Smitham says that Loeb understands its customers have the same needs as those in the suburbs.
“We do have smaller stores than some of our competitors. One of the reasons people like to shop with us, they don’t have to go through 100 sq. ft. for milk,” she says.
“We’ll continue to focus on that, get in and out easily, smaller formats.”
Tony Bascelli, project superintendent for the company that owns the building and land occupied by the Loeb store, says that although his company doesn’t have the same resources as Loeb, they have had discussions with the store to give them incentives to remain at the Booth Street location.
Rather than closing the store, Bascelli wishes Loeb had come up with a different option.
“If Loeb would be willing to stay open, we’d be willing to work with them for whatever their needs might be,” he says.
Some residents questioned whether the city could help solve the problem.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, also attended the meeting and provided information for residents to write letters of protest to A&P and to parent company Metro, Inc.
“The city cannot give money to businesses,” she says.
She adds that the city could improve services such as water and sewer, and could allow the building to grow higher. These initiatives would allow the store to expand.
Jack McCarthy, the health centre’s executive director and chair of the Oct. 30 meeting, collected the list of names for the citizens’ committee formed after the meeting.
He says the immediate need is for Loeb to extend its closing date, providing more time for the committee to explore new ideas for a replacement store.
“We’ve heard the building owner is prepared to invest in this property, is putting together a plan to attract another grocer,” he says. “Or [we could] come up with another model, perhaps a food co-op.”