Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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Ephrata1966
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Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Is there any particular reason Genuardi's has never operated in Philadelphia city limits? They have long competed head to head with Acme and others in Montgomery County. The closest they ever really got would have to be Yeadon, Delaware County (now Save-A-Lot!). What killed this store was an Acme (Super Saver) that is closed now. I would think the family would have taken more advantage of the Food Fair/Penn Fruit/A&P closures, and numerous more recent Acme/Super Fresh/Pathmark closures and relocations. Even Thriftway/Shop 'n Bag and IGA/Great Valu are mostly dead now. ShopRite must be the most competitive chain in the region. I guess the classiest it gets downtown is The Fresh Grocer. But Wegmans must be eying the city. A family chain would take good care of the city. Aren't there a few neighborhoods that would have no trouble supporting Genuardi's? The Far Northeast, Andorra/Germantown/Manayunk, and maybe South Philly come to mind. Center City would work if they were okay with downtown stores.

Notice that Jeffersonville, Springfield, and Cherry Hill are not the richest of places. And why would they open a tiny store in Cherry Hill so detached from their other operations? Keep in mind this one started as a Food Fair/Pantry Pride, then was a Shop 'n Bag. You would think Pantry Pride and Shop 'n Bag (the older ones) might have a different demographic. Food Fair and Penn Fruit seemed to have fewer stores in NJ than Acme and A&P. There goes another void for Genuardi's to fill!

Delaware is another mixed bag. There are only a few modern Acme and Super Fresh stores. You also have the usual beat up Save-A-Lots in former Acme/A&P buildings. Safeway (ex-Genuardi's), Super G/Giant, ShopRite, and Great Valu all have only one or two stores in Wilmington. There is a Pathmark in New Castle as well. The only supermarket on US 1 in the Brandywine parts of Maryland seems to be the 1970s Acme in Fallston. Acme had a tiny store in Rising Sun a little off US 1 which is Ace Hardware now.

If the old family chain didn't work, Safeway should be able to match Acme and Pathmark, no? Safeway is still thriving in Baltimore and DC!
JoshAustin610
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by JoshAustin610 »

From what I've gathered the belief was always that within the Philly city limits people were more pro-union, and as such both Clemens and Genuardi's unofficially would never go into the city. The fear would be that if they opened a store in the city, the employees would be more likely to unionize; once one store was union it could spread to the other areas and possibly the entire chain (they'd never say that officially of course). Even today this is a large reason why when the DE Genuardi's unionized they switched to Safeway, and even why Giant-PA and Giant-MD will never merge (although there are several other reasons as well). I don't believe Fresh Grocer is union, but they're small enough to be "under the radar" in a way.

The only chain I could see making an attempt these days is Giant; they have a store in Lansdowne that gets a lot of West Philly business. I almost wonder if their acquired store in Feasterville is a way to inch closer to the city, as if to dip their toe in the water. Wegmans probably wouldn't be as cautious of the unions, although they have had some issues in NJ, but I can't think of a spot in the city they could possibly put a 120,000 square foot store (their layout isn't really conducive to multiple floors either).
maynesG
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by maynesG »

Hi, Safeway had stores in Delaware for twenty years untill yje 80!s when they pulled out of the state. They were not sucessful then and they are trying to get out of Delaware now.
Sometimes a chain just dosen!t make it certain areas no matter how good an opperator they are,
As for Acme having only a few moderen stores in Delaware. You and I need to take a tour
of New Castle county. Since 1989< Bear, Elkton Road, Newark, Middletown, Hockessin,Smyrna, Dover have been built and Renovated and expanded many times. Prices Corner built in the late 59!s has been expanded three times and has just been renovated this past year, Pike Creek has been expanded four times and been renovated every three years
since the late 80!s. Middletown built ten years ago is oi get a renovation this tear as is Pile Creek and Hockesin. This leaves Namans road which has been renovated and expanded many
times, Fairfax also recently renovated and Olgeltown.
Wegmans has broken ground on a store on route 7 between Hockesin and the Pike Creek
stores So, it should get interesting.
Also, Giant on the grounds of the former Acme Bakery and Division Offices on Grant a few blocks south from the Boulevard in Philadelphia is opening a new store. There seems to be some irony with that one!
werememberretail
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by werememberretail »

JoshAustin610 wrote:From what I've gathered the belief was always that within the Philly city limits people were more pro-union, and as such both Clemens and Genuardi's unofficially would never go into the city. The fear would be that if they opened a store in the city, the employees would be more likely to unionize; once one store was union it could spread to the other areas and possibly the entire chain (they'd never say that officially of course). Even today this is a large reason why when the DE Genuardi's unionized they switched to Safeway, and even why Giant-PA and Giant-MD will never merge (although there are several other reasons as well). I don't believe Fresh Grocer is union, but they're small enough to be "under the radar" in a way.

The only chain I could see making an attempt these days is Giant; they have a store in Lansdowne that gets a lot of West Philly business. I almost wonder if their acquired store in Feasterville is a way to inch closer to the city, as if to dip their toe in the water. Wegmans probably wouldn't be as cautious of the unions, although they have had some issues in NJ, but I can't think of a spot in the city they could possibly put a 120,000 square foot store (their layout isn't really conducive to multiple floors either).
Exactly Josh! Historically The Union presence is exactly why Clemens and Genuardis didn't make it to Philly Metro (though I see quite a few Genuardis shop from Home delivery trucks while in the city) that explains why when A&P (pre Superfresh) Food Fair and Penn Fruit closed stores the stores either went to large unionized players (ACME and to a lesser extent A&P and Shoprite) or were turned into ESOP ( employee stock ownership plan owned "O&O" owner operated stores which were more or less operated as independents) or reopened nonunion under singular store owners as Thriftway,Shop n Bag IGA or some other group but NEVER a small nonunion CHAIN branch, presumably 1776 (the Philadelphia local union representing the UFCW) thought that the small but growing chains were a threat. and with local politicians being sympathetic to unions it would have exaserbated the difficulty for a Genuardis or Clemens to operate in the city.
and many have misconseptions of Wegman's being this "were going to be everywhere" that is mainly a myth conjured up by the chain's fanboys and fangirls The reason why Weg's has been so successful is that they AREN't everywhere. I liken them to Disney World or some similar theme park. outside of Rochester where they are the dominant player and have many stores of all sizes, they're the shopping attraction for most of its patrons. as for them "eying philly' I concure with Josh! there's not many sites in the City period where they could fit a 120-150K sqft unit besides though there are quite a few who'd welcome Weg's in Philly, I believe Wegman's thinks that much of the Philly city limits isn't upscale enough (save for a few sections) for one of their stores
werememberretail
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by werememberretail »

maynesG wrote:Hi, Safeway had stores in Delaware for twenty years untill yje 80!s when they pulled out of the state. They were not sucessful then and they are trying to get out of Delaware now.
Sometimes a chain just dosen!t make it certain areas no matter how good an opperator they are,
As for Acme having only a few moderen stores in Delaware. You and I need to take a tour
of New Castle county. Since 1989< Bear, Elkton Road, Newark, Middletown, Hockessin,Smyrna, Dover have been built and Renovated and expanded many times. Prices Corner built in the late 59!s has been expanded three times and has just been renovated this past year, Pike Creek has been expanded four times and been renovated every three years
since the late 80!s. Middletown built ten years ago is oi get a renovation this tear as is Pile Creek and Hockesin. This leaves Namans road which has been renovated and expanded many
times, Fairfax also recently renovated and Olgeltown.
Wegmans has broken ground on a store on route 7 between Hockesin and the Pike Creek
stores So, it should get interesting.
Also, Giant on the grounds of the former Acme Bakery and Division Offices on Grant a few blocks south from the Boulevard in Philadelphia is opening a new store. There seems to be some irony with that one!
Gerry;
Just read about it on Best-Met Food World. this is an interesting develpment mainly because this would reverse what I had said regarding nonunion chains opening in the city limits! Gerry, because of the nature of this site (being more devoted to history than current issues) I'd like to discuss this with you further on the Retail Wachers Forum.
maynesG
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by maynesG »

Hi, I called on Genuardis Headquartersabout twenty years ago. The truth is their people were verry happy and really did not want or need a union. You would see several generations of the same family working for Genuardis. They originaly only had stores in areas that had large italian populations and they merchandised their stores to that trade. As these neigborhoods changed and the poulation moved to more surban areas. When these areas became more afluent Genuardis went upscale.
Why avoid the city? Unions, you had 1776 ,56 and 27 in the burbs as well as the city.
But you also had in the City higher costs of opperations in land costs, construction costs,
higer taxes and a declining middle class.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Wow! Is the Safeway on Foulk and Naamans closing?

The only real comparison I see between Genuardi's and Clemens is their size and the "family markets" in the name. Genuardi's stores looked a lot more professional. I was born in NJ and lived in Texas for a while. The first time I heard of Genuardi's was on my return to the area in late 2001. I knew it was owned by Safeway. But I assumed most Genuardi's as of 2001 had been built by Safeway! The Glen Mills and Towamencin stores reminded me a lot of 1980s Safeways in Texas and South Dakota.

The Yeadon store crashed and burned for two reasons. Most likely it was designed for the Italian community, which was leaving Yeadon during 1969-1972. Afro-Caribbean immigrants took their place. Oddly enough, this location was a Jewish developer's idea, the Perloff Brothers. Not to mention it was built as the supermarket wars were heating up. Yeadon in particular was Class A Acme Territory, and they had just built a Super Saver a block away from the Genuardi brothers' store. I learned lots from studying Family Pride.

There was a rumor going around that this Acme (once Super Saver) closed in part due to murders at the store. Acme had barred new grocery development here. But an IGA (Sal's) moved in after it closed in 2001, and was also gone by 2005. Acme has closed seven stores within a small area in the past 20 years. Some were even remodeled after Albertsons came in: Yeadon, Lansdowne (early A Frame), Cobbs Creek/West Philly (was Food Fair), Cobbs Creek/West Philly (was Penn Fruit), Southwest Philly (was Super Saver), South Philly (was Penn Fruit), and South Philly (A Frame, expanded 1970s)

Acme operates these historical stores in Delaware that must be profitable, but are small and dated: Fairfax, Wilmington (built 1950s), Trolley Square, Wilmington (A Frame, remodeled 1970s), and Pike Creek (opened 1970s, has 1990s interior)

Also note the Super Fresh stores in Wilmington, New Castle, and Newark. All are relics from the A&P days. The Wilmington (Marsh/Silverside) one was a Centennial, but has been expanded and remodeled. Newark is an untouched Centennial. And I think the New Castle one may have been one of the last new A&Ps in the Mid-Atlantic.
maynesG
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by maynesG »

Hi, The next time you are in the Pike Creek area and have a few minutes visit the Acme. It is one of the most attractive stores in the chain, It is also one of the most profitable stores in the chain. The original building can)t be found any more since the store has been expanded
and renovated so many times. The Hockessin store was built to keep Super G out of the area and to relieve the stress on the Pike Creek Store. It two is a store that is high volume and profitable All of these stores average more then 700,000 dollars per week. Dupont Street
Ogletown and Fairfax due less but are still profitable
Ephrata1966
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by Ephrata1966 »

When was Pike Creek built originally? I am pretty sure it had to be sometime between 1973-1979 (1980?), but it would be nice to narrow that down. Incidentally that was Kmart's first big wave of expansion through Philadelphia and surroundings. It was a glorious time for JCPenney too. But the Pike Creek Kmart was a Woolco and later Bradlees.
Last edited by Ephrata1966 on 11 Apr 2011 20:55, edited 1 time in total.
neil mcauliffe
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Re: Genuardi's in Philadelphia County and NJ/DE/MD

Post by neil mcauliffe »

I was in Philadelphia this weekend and to my surprise Giant is building a store in the city. It is located on Grant Avenue just east of the Boulevard practically next to the old Penn Fruit warehouse. It looks like it should be open in a few months.

I think Josh has it right, Genuardi's stayed out of the city because of the union issue. A few years ago I spoke with some Wegman executives and I asked them about building in the city. They said they had ruled it out because of the size of the stores they build. They felt they would not be able to find a tract of land suitable and affordable for development.
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