[Summit] supermarkets, etc.

Wed Aug 11 21:59:51 UTC 2021

On an unrelated note, who remembers Cinerama Theatre? Located where the
Hope Street CVS is:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6440

and to make life sweeter, the corner shop where Not Just Spices is, used to
be a penny candy store.

--Bob G

On Sun, Aug 8, 2021 at 3:37 PM Art Norwalk <art at norwalkcom.com> wrote:

> In the more distant past there was a small A&P where the ballet is now.
>
> So much for nostalgia, but do we know of any neighborhoods supporting
> successful small general grocery stores?
>
> -- Art
>
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2021 at 2:51 PM Kate Sanders via Summit <
> summit at sna.providence.ri.us> wrote:
>
>> Christopher Buechler wrote:
>> > > It's not essential that Summit have a small general grocery store ...
>> > > but it sure would be nice!
>>
>> Totally agreed!
>>
>> If you expand your thinking from "easy walk" to include "short trip on a
>> single busline", there were several more neighborhood grocery stores in the
>> not-so-distant past. The Thayer Market on Thayer Street (where the CVS is
>> now) and the Almacs on East Avenue in Pawtucket (where the medical complex
>> and CVS are located now) were both a short trip from Summit on the Hope
>> Street busline, putting them within easy reach of all the hundreds of
>> people within a couple of blocks of Hope Street / East Avenue. Then there
>> was the Shaw's (where the Job Lot is now, off of North Main) -- you'd have
>> to change to take the bus, but it's walkable (if hilly) from Summit. And
>> the Almacs at University Heights, where the Whole Foods is now.
>>
>> Almacs, for those who don't remember it, was a local RI chain. They had
>> maybe 5-6 (??) stores, including the two near Summit. Both of these two
>> stores were busy and seemed to be thriving at the time they were closed.
>>
>> When the Shaw's opened, a few blocks from the North-Main-Street Almacs,
>> it made the Almacs look old and small; when the Stop n Shop opened on
>> Branch Avenue, it made the Shaws look old and small. Meanwhile the Almacs
>> was sold and bought and re-sold, each time for a higher price, until the
>> buyers found they'd paid too much for it to be viable and closed the stores
>> down.
>>
>> In three of these cases -- the Thayer Market, the store where the Hope
>> St. CVS is now, and the Almacs on East Avenue -- a supermarket was replaced
>> by a CVS (though the East-Avenue CVS is only part of what used to be the
>> Almac's parking lot). No fresh produce, no meat, lots of packaged food, and
>> substantially higher grocery bills.
>>
>> Reminds me of the consolidation going on now in healthcare ...
>>
>> Kate
>>
>> Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email.
>>
>> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Message: 1
>> >
>>
>> > > On Thursday, August 5, 2021, 06:21:31 PM EDT, Christopher Buecheler <
>> > >
>> > > cwbuecheler at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > I appreciate all the suggestions for grocery stores (seriously!), but
>> my
>> > >
>> > > point wasn't that there aren't any alternatives to the big two, it's
>> that
>> > >
>> > > none of those alternatives really qualify as a "neighborhood" grocery
>> > >
>> > > store, and certainly none of them are walking distance the way the
>> > >
>> > > firestation is.
>> > >
>> > > Not Just Spices is great. We shop there all the time. It's not a place
>> > >
>> > > you're going to buy your week's worth of groceries. Ditto Bubbies, and
>> > >
>> > > Stock, and so forth. During the summer we do a ton of shopping at the
>> > >
>> > > Lippit market, but even that doesn't provide anywhere close to
>> everything
>> > >
>> > > we use in a given week (and during the winter, it's a drive, just
>> like any
>> > >
>> > > other groceries).
>> > >
>> > > It's not essential that Summit have a small general grocery store ...
>> > >
>> > > but it sure would be nice! That's all I was trying to say.
>> > >
>> > > -Chris
>> > >
>> > > On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 4:36 PM James Kelley jameskelley4444 at gmail.com
>> > >
>> > > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > If you are looking for a full service grocery store and are less
>> > >
>> > > interested in the many small independent purveyors of meat, fish,
>> chicken,
>> > >
>> > > duck, vegetables, spices, grains, etc. (including ethnic stores),
>> have you
>> > >
>> > > tried Market Basket? They are regional based, good to their employees
>> and I
>> > >
>> > > get flyers from them (my mother swears by them though I haven't
>> visited
>> > >
>> > > them).
>> > >
>> > > On Thu, Aug 5, 2021, 10:37 AM Christopher Buecheler
>> cwbuecheler at gmail.com
>> > >
>> > > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if there's been any plan made
>> for
>> > >
>> > > what to do with the defunct fire station on Rochambeau?
>> > >
>> > > For the record, I think it'd make a terrific small, independent,
>> > >
>> > > high-quality grocery store, which this neighborhood could definitely
>> use.
>> > >
>> > > Right now our choice is giving money to Stop & Shop or Jeff Bezos,
>> which is
>> > >
>> > > ... not great.
>> > >
>> > > -Chris
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > >
>> > > Christopher Buecheler - @cwbuecheler https://twitter.com/cwbuecheler
>> > >
>> > > http://cwbuecheler.com | Web, Writing, and More
>> > >
>> > > Summit mailing list
>> > >
>> > > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > >
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > >
>> > > Christopher Buecheler - @cwbuecheler https://twitter.com/cwbuecheler
>> > >
>> > > http://cwbuecheler.com | Web, Writing, and More
>> > >
>> > > Summit mailing list
>> > >
>> > > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > >
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>> > >
>> > > Summit mailing list
>> > >
>> > > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > >
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> > >
>> > > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>> >
>> > -------------- next part --------------
>> >
>> > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> >
>> > URL:
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/pipermail/summit_sna.providence.ri.us/attachments/20210806/3c5e2808/attachment-0001.html
>> >
>> > Message: 2
>> >
>> > Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2021 15:06:58 -0400
>> >
>> > From: Graham Jelley gjell at necoxmail.com
>> >
>> > To: Summit Neighborhood summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> >
>> > Subject: [Summit] Exterior house painters
>> >
>> > Message-ID: c02fcefb-37b2-cc6d-a8c5-d3f056339ed3 at necoxmail.com
>> >
>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>> >
>> > Anyone have enthusiastic recommendations for exterior house painters?
>> >
>> > Thanks for your help,? Graham
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Subject: Digest Footer
>> >
>> > Summit mailing list
>> >
>> > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> >
>> >
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > End of Summit Digest, Vol 197, Issue 4
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Summit mailing list
>> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Summit mailing list
> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>

--
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sna.providence.ri.us/pipermail/summit_sna.providence.ri.us/attachments/20210811/1b76e00c/attachment.htm>