The Life Cycle of a Local Grocery Store: Vons, the adventure continues..
Life can be depressing. Sometimes it's your serotonin level...and sometimes it's not. These days I'm sure I am not alone in feeling a little bit of economic dread. Watching giants fall is one thing, but when it comes to your neighborhood, that's another thing. I'm not cutting through the cliches here fast enough, so let's start at the beginning:
I went shopping tonight, just a quick run to the local Von's for a bag of cat litter (pine chips of course). The store looked clean, but it wasn't any cleaner than usual, what it was...was...empty. There was a lot of vacant shelf space going on. I had a moment of hope, maybe the dreamed of re-model, a face lift for Von's, maybe even the elusive "Fresh Faire" upgrade, maybe we'd go full upscale and move straight to Pavillions.
But that moment was short lived as I came up to the check out stand and said "a little spring cleaning?". "We're closing" was the reply. No laugh, no sparkle in the eyes. "You are kidding right?" There was no answer. The manager standing nearby muttered "it's been coming, but we got the final word tonight"
Why would I feel my heart breaking a little bit? Von's and I had at best a love-hate relationship. I wryly called it my Ghetto-Von's. The store always had a down-on-its-luck feel. Once, when new to the neighborhood, I presciently talked with a manager about the inconvenience of locked cabinets for the toothpaste and Tylenol. He said "if it weren't locked up it would all be gone by tomorrow". My reply "but the people who come here to spend money won't come back".
When the big financial institutions started to collapse I rationalized (markets are self regulating, blah blah blah). When the foreclosures started I thought "well good thing I didn't buy a house". I didn't shed a tear when Payless Shoes and Linen's & Things closed their doors, and certainly not when Circuit City filed for bankruptcy. I actually gloated when WAMU fell (they screwed me when I needed them most).
But tonight, at the checkout stand, it all came home for me. "They can't close "my" store", I said to myself, if they do that it might all be real.
I had no idea. Mixed sadness.
ReplyDeleteActually, the US Constitution doesn't even suggest you might be happy. It only seeks to create a new form of government designed to secure "...the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." But then, this current, and thankfully on its last few days (under 50 and counting down!!!) administration has done so much to sabotage the blessings of liberty even more than they undermined the local Vons.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, and even more on point, the Declaration of Independence states that you've been endowed by your creator with the unalienable right to BOTH liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (--which is an interesting difference from Locke who suggested that god had endowed us with the right to life, liberty and property.)
The critical thing here is that both Locke and Jefferson argue that one of our god given natural rights is the right to revolt (wait for it) when we have been deprived of the other rights --chiefly liberty and property, but truthfully Jefferson meant business when he threw in the pursuit of happiness.
So, all I have to say is Jefferson would look around your neighborhood (including the closed Vons and the newsstand,) and remark: "what a revolting development!!"
I hear, through the grapevine (ok, JJ), and someone at the store was saying that the Wells Fargo is staying, this prompting hope to gurgle down in my supermarket-loving soul. I have my fingers crossed for anything with a decent wine selection.
ReplyDeleteI hear, through the grapevine (ok, JJ), and someone at the store was saying that the Wells Fargo is staying, this prompting hope to gurgle down in my supermarket-loving soul. I have my fingers crossed for anything with a decent wine selection.
ReplyDeleteJust passed by there. A Big Saver foods has taken over the store and already open.
ReplyDeleteJust passed by there. A Big Saver Foods store has already opened in that space. About thirty cars in front. I've been to their larger store on the corner of Figueroa and Pasadena Avenue and one on Garvey in San Gabriel and they handle the large store operations well.
ReplyDeleteThe manager told me they were threatened with closing about 3 years ago, and if they couldn't turn it around, the store was gone. So I knew this was coming for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned about the Big Saver, as the one on Broadway (if it is the same company) is so dirty and smelly I can't believe people walk in there.
I will miss Vons. I always had my beef with their products, but the people made me happy. I still remember Keith, with the geeky glasses with tape on them. He was gone after the strike.