Downtown Hartford Living: Here Come the Groceries
The development of downtown Hartford is always of interest to me because I work with clients that contemplate living in the city versus the ‘burbs. Today, the Courant provided some insight on the build-out of the grocery store in the Hartford 21 building on Trumbull Street. Soon, I will finally have a better answer to, “Where is the nearest grocery store?†when asked by a customer. At this point I tell them 3 options, Wethersfield, the western edge of Hartford, or West Hartford. All require them to get in a car and drive. There is no real walkable option if they choose to buy or rent in downtown Hartford. This, coupled with the fact that there is a dearth of other retail shopping downtown, typically leads them to focus their search in the suburbs. As a resident of Hartford, I find this frustrating.
As the article points out, what we really have going on here is the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Retailers don’t want to invest in a space where there is not a substantial residential base to support their stores. And residents don’t want to invest in housing in an area where there is a lack of even the most basic necessities. In this case, no grocery store and *gasp* a Starbucks with limited weekend hours. Eeek!
So, kudos to developer Lawrence R. Gottesdiener for sinking $2 million of his dough into the store build-out when the agreement with Bliss Market didn’t work out. I, and I’m sure all of the residents in downtown Hartford, will anxiously await the announcement of who will operate the store.
On a side note, I found one quote striking and it caused me to wonder, is downtown Hartford being rebuilt to attract only, as Gottesdiener was quoted as saying “…the affluent…the sexy people, the wealthy people.â€
Doesn’t this severely limit the size of the pie of who can afford to buy or rent in downtown Hartford and consequently support a retail base? Wouldn’t stores be more inclined to open in an area where there is a diversity of housing/rental prices, not just high end, because it would mean the potential for a wider range of customers? It seems that the chicken-and-egg dilemma is exacerbated when the target market is so focused.
Just some food for thought…
Thanks for writing about that quote. It made me want to heave. Does that mean current Hartford residents aren’t sexy enough for this guy? And where are all those super sexy tenants of his because, while I don’t go out a lot, I do work downtown and live just south of it…and I have yet to see any super drop-dead gorgeous people who are new to the area since Hartford 21 has been opened. Does he hide them away for his own enjoyment?
Rose Gourmet on Pratt Street is a small grocery that carries organic items (and the non-organic ones too). There is a C-Town just south of downtown, basically on the corner of Wethersfield and Alden. I don’t like the myth that there is no place to get food here. The C-Town is right near me, and they have everything, basically. It’s not an organic joint like Whole Foods, but they do have what most people get from a store– meats, breads, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables, cereal, ice cream, etc. I think we need to stop envisioning grocery stores only as the big boxes like Stop & Shop. The C-Town is on the U bus line, which goes right into downtown. They also have a parking lot.
With that said, I do think that it would not hurt to open more groceries roughly the size of C-Town in the city. What kind of bothers me about the Bliss/H21 thing is that Rose Gourmet is less than a block away, and is ignored in this whole process. When a newer fancier store does open, it’s going to probably push Rose out of business, even though they are pretty bustling during lunch time because of their deli. They just don’t have the bells & whistles and sex appeal that a Bliss Market has. And so as a resident who doesn’t want to feel replaced by the “affluent and sexy” imports, I also don’t want to see Hartford’s existing stores driven out by the newer, shinier models.
Anyway, Hartford’s neighborhoods is where it’s at. Downtown is for yuppies!
Kerri,
Thanks for the heads-up on Rose Gourmet and C-Town. I knew about C-Town, but didn’t realize they were “full service” (ala meats and fresh veggies), so shame on me for my lack of knowledge. How do you find the prices, compared to say the Stop & Shop on New Park? Is it noticeably more expensive, or about the same?
And yes, city grocery stores are always smaller than the big boxes in the ‘burbs, so I’m on track with that.
The comment about the affluent and sexy people, I took that with a small grain of salt. You never know how the Courant spins things just to get people riled up.
[...] residential real estate professional Amy Bergquist (pictured), in a post on her real estate blog, asked, “Doesn’t this [marketing approach] severely limit the size [...]
Looks lets be real..God Bless this guy fore trying to lure wealthy people downtown. Hartford is a very poor city, we dont need anymore poor , under educated. Hartford can use this reverse diversity.