[Summit] supermarkets, etc.

Thu Aug 12 00:20:07 UTC 2021

Yeah, when the Cinerama closed I was so bummed out I planned to boycott the CVS. But well, you can imagine how long I stuck to that idea….

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 11, 2021, at 6:00 PM, Robert Garzillo <rgarzill at risd.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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/
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>>> > > Summit mailing list
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>>> > > http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
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>>> > 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
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>>> > Anyone have enthusiastic recommendations for exterior house painters?
>>> >
>>> > Thanks for your help,? Graham
>>> >
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>>> > End of Summit Digest, Vol 197, Issue 4
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> 
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> 
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