Dallas Officials Say Bringing Save-A-Lot to Underpopulated Section of Southern Dallas Will Convince People to Move There

By Amy Silverstein Fri., Dec. 5 2014 at 7:05 AM

For the past few years, the Dallas City Council says it's been trying to develop a vacant lot on Simpson Stuart and Bonnie View roads, in a section of Dallas south of Loop 12 that is 22.5 square miles but home to just 27,500 people.

What the relatively low-population area needs is another grocery store, Councilman Tennell Atkins has said, even though there apparently aren't enough people to support a grocery store. "Density of just over 1,200 people per square mile is an impediment to attracting established grocers," explains a city report.

So Atkins unveiled a plan last year to entice grocers with taxpayer dollars. Under a grant program, Dallas would provide $1.5 million for the construction of a grocery store, plus another $2.5 million to construct nearby apartments. "I think that we, the vity of Dallas, if we are going to be a great city, we have to think outside the box,'" Atkins said last year when he introduced the grant program.

Who is the lucky grocer who gets to take the grant money and make one of the city's most impoverished, underserved areas a more desirable place to live? That was up in the air, but the city's economic development committee now finally has an answer: Save-A-Lot. For those unfamiliar, Save A-Lot is the discount grocery chain that two years ago had to shutter the doors of 22 underperforming stores across seven states.

Dallas Councilman Rick Callahan was one of the officials who questioned whether the project is worth it during this week's economic development committee meeting. On the phone afterward though, he praised Atkins for trying to attract a grocery chain.

"The point is if you don't provide some kind of stimulus, if you don't provide services like retail, grocery stores, then you're never going to get the synergy or synergetic effect," to grow the population, Callahan says. He pointed out that North Dallasites make up much more of the city's tax base. "They're going to have to pay higher taxes with higher property value unless we can build up the South Dallas tax base."

Save-A-Lot will have a long way to go if it wants to be the store to make South Dallas as economically viable as North Dallas. A Save-A-Lot store I recently dropped in had no organic produce, no kale of any kind, and no $2 buck chuck. The produce section wasn't very big, and most of the cheap food deals came in the form of boxes, cans and soda bottles. Also, where the hell were the sample ladies? For a grocery store to draw desirable rich Dallas people, there must be a friendly, elderly sample lady in every aisle offering pieces of gourmet food in tiny paper cups.

Callahan sounds cautiously optimistic. "It remains to be seen if it's going to work," he said. "I pray that it does"

The economic development committee approved the plan but it's not a done deal. The Save-A-Lot gets an official vote before the Dallas City Council on December 10.

Send your story tips to the author, Amy Silverstein.

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dalmom

I think the person benefiting is whoever owns the land. There is no way that the market price for that land is $1MM. Frankly, it is down the street from Paul Quinn, which isn't doing too hot. How about they contribute the land towards the development of a healthier food option for their students and community? The development costs they are quoting seem more expensive than an ALDI.

buckbucky

Yeah because this out of the box thinking worked so well with Urban Market.

Which closed as soon as the subsidies ran out just like anyone that wasn't on the dole or completely naive knew it would.

RTGolden1 topcommenter

The stupidity of a public(risk)/private(profit) partnership on this is well-covered below.

My issue comes with the article's insinuation, and that of some commentors, that a new grocery in that area of town has to be something on the level of Whole foods or Sunflower.

I think the idea behind a grocery in the area (actually it should be in a different area, as there are stores nearby this one) is to serve the people that live there already, not price them out so hipster and N Dallasites can come in and gentrify the place and force the poor out. If yall dont want to shop in a WalMart or El Rio Grande and risk rubbing elbows with those of us living lower on the wage scale, stay in your trendy neighborhoods with your quinoa-laden shelves (nice move dickheads, quinoa used to be an affordable, nutrient rich food for whole populations in south and central america, until hipster douchebags discovered it, now the people who grow it can't afford to eat it.) and leave us our neighborhoods.

ProfoundGibberish

Save-A-Lot is the classic example of a "Po Sto." Garbage food in boxes, minimal, lethargic fruits and veg, and home pregnancy kits at the check out line. Mr Adkins, reinforcement of bad practices is not leadership. It is abdication of responsibility. And I expect nothing less from you.

TexasPharmD

Dallas cares nothing about the poor. Just look at the plastic bag ban! It's nothing more than a tax on poor people. Shame on this city.

MikeWestEast

We keep trying to believe dropping X into a neighborhood will attract the "right" residents. No evidence supports that solution even if X is a $1 billion plus stadium.. You have to gradually improve the infrastructure, nothing that merits a pol at a ribbon cutting.

ProcessThisBeeotch

I am going to hold out and buy a home when and where they build a

Save-A-Lot-More because I am on a Super Processed Diet plus my militia is planning for end times.

AlcoholAttorney

What happened to Gary Huddleston and his promise to put one of his Albertsons or Kroger in South Dallas to entice the voters in the last liquor vote two years ago? Shameful politics.

gm0622 topcommenter

So no fresh produce that worth a shit. How big is the meat department?

Mainly selling packaged food that is processed with too much salt.

Why would this be a good idea?

I drive at least 30 miles to stores that I trust for fresh stuff.

I wouldn't settle in a neighbourhood just for a grocery store.

dallasdrilling.wordpress.com

You can bet that after hearing Callahan's public remarks, Atkins got a hold of him and verbally bitched slapped him so hard that Callahan's toupee flew off. That's what Atkins does when it appears that you're disrespecting him or not supporting his ideas. Since Callahan desperately wants the Eco Dev. Committee Chair, that probably figured into the rant as well.

So you have to figure that after the Sav-A-Lot deal was negotiated, that Atkins got the required $20,000 Southern Dallas cover charge in a brown bag. Atkins has this oft repeated phrase that if you approve his ideas for development in Southern Dallas, that "hotels and restaurants" are sure to follow. It's the same crap he's telling the residents around Dallas Executive Airport.

ozonelarryb topcommenter

But will atkins allow sewers there?

mavdog topcommenter

There is no good argument for the City to provide monies for a development. If the project is feasible there are plenty of private development groups who would step up to complete the project.

the fact that there is a request for the City to provide the capital tells you it doesn't pencil. The City should not take on this risk.

Also, there are grocers in the area already. The site is only a mile away from existing grocers at Lancaster/Ledbetter, and others a little further north along Lancaster.

While having a convenient grocer is a legitimate criteria a person would consider in locating to an area, the maxim is "retail follows rooftops". There needs to be a sufficient population, consumer $ that will be spent, for the retail to be viable. If there is untapped demand the retailer will see it and locate. But they haven't, and we can easily see why...

ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul topcommenter

Who are the consultants?

soybean76065

I encountered Sav-A-Lot when I was up in Michigan. Savings over the larger chains are minimal and the product quality tends to be subpar. Someone is benefitting from this deal and it isn't the residents of that area.

bradjohnson774

If this goes forward, the only winner will be Joe Kemp. And that's probably the real reason behind it anyway.

Montemalone topcommenter

Which insider has stock in Sav-a-lot?

Or which parcel of land does some insider own that would be the "ideal location"?

The reason that part of town is sparsely populated has nothing to do with the lack of a grocery store.

Cornfields in Collin and Denton counties had no grocery stores before thousands of sticks and stucco boxes were plopped down.

seanmahoney

@AlcoholAttorney They closed the Albertsons that we had at Ledbetter and Hampton before the Beer/Wine vote. At least the Fiesta that took over has a good produce section.

casiepierce

@AlcoholAttorney The plastic bag ban got in the way of that.....

casiepierce

@dallasdrilling.wordpress.com Welp? Economics follows a pretty basic rule (kinda like form follows function.....)

Rooftops before business. PEOPLE is where retailers go. What do people need in order to spend money? JOBS. So? Where are the good jobs where people can afford to buy a home and put down some roots in that community? Where? Still looking.....

So, jobs = homes= retail. It's that simple. I cannot understand why anyone who would chair an Economic Development Committee of a large city such as Dallas would ever believe that throwing money at a retailer will magically make the "problem" go away.

Did we learn nothing about our subsidized downtown grocery store? Are people really this stupid?????