Downtown Juneau should still have a downtown grocery store to rely upon with lots of familiar faces after Sept. 8, Suzanne Williams of Alaska & Proud said Wednesday.
“It’s a go,” she said of a transfer of inventory and employees from A&P to the Myers Group, which runs supermarkets and other stores in Washington State.
The store’s final inventory will be taken on Sept. 8, and the next day the new owners will come in, Williams said.
“The only difference will be the shelves will be full of groceries again,” she explained.
But a part of the puzzle is still up in the air — the lease a new owner would need to do business there.
“There is no signed lease,” broker John Williams of Juneau Real Estate said Wednesday afternoon.
Calls to Myers Group CEO Tyler Myers about the status of the sale and lease negotiations were not returned.
While refusing to discuss the specifics of negotiations, John Williams said he expects to make a public announcement soon.
Myers group is based in Clinton, Wash., and runs five other grocery stores, as well as three service stations, three TrueValue Hardware outlets and two other retail businesses.
The Myers Group began in 1978 with one grocery store and has grown into a retail management company that also offers support services to start-ups and shopping center developers, among other services. The firm also helps customers who are constructing new buildings for their businesses.
According to the IGA/Kress Supermarket website Myers group presently has more than 300 employees in a variety of retail businesses and a high employee retention and satisfaction rate.
Suzanne Williams said the new owner plans to keep the store’s employees, and will need the inventory on hand until new stock can be brought in. She said shoppers may notice that Western Family products will be replaced with the Flavorite brand, but said the quality of the two product lines are the same and very good.
Suzanne Williams said the espresso business will also stay in the store. Ms. Williams said lease terms were the reason Alaska & Proud was pulling out of Juneau. She said both parties could not come to an agreement. “It just somehow broke down.”
Current store hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Contact Managing Editor John R. Moses at 523-2265 or at john.moses@juneauempire.com.
Comments (20)
Add commentA&P
It looks like my dream for a Trader Joe's has ended. Now THAT would be a big plus in Juneau....especially downtown.
No Homophobe Comments
Must be tuned in toFaux News
Lease Terms
"Ms. Williams said lease terms were the reason Alaska & Proud was pulling out of Juneau."
But the lease terms are what have apparently not yet been agreed to with the Myers group. Doesn't sound like a done deal yet.
Fingers crossed here.
What, another "outside"
What, another "outside" group?!? Heaven forbid! Where are all the anti-Walmart and anti-Fred Meyer naysayers?
Hold everything......
The state funded coop feasibilty study isn't done yet. Have those folks even returned from their fact finding mission down south. This just isn't fair!!!
Woohoo!
@roughcut get new materials when you post!
YES..so happy I don't have to somewhere else for my morning coffee!
Cool...
Keep making Pancit the same way, bring back Croisant Sandwiches, and tell the lady who's in charge of soups to improve her variety of selection... Ahhh, I love the smell of a monopoly in the morning!
Nice. Let's hope they keep
Nice. Let's hope they keep the same selection of neat Filipino and other products that A&P always had.
Elva Bontrager is right
The story is that the property owners were charging williams more than double the market rate for the use of the space on the existing lease. Williams tried to renegotiate, but the owners' refusal to is what led to william's exit. So if the owners aren't willing to bend on the lease rate there may not be a deal not to mention what that means for a potential coop start-up.
What would make anyone
What would make anyone believe that a COOP would be able to do any better lease-wise than the current tenant or a professional businessman in the grocery business? The COOP is a nice dream, but unlikely to get any better terms with the owner. The push should be for an in-business grocery company.
this is great news!
my morning routine will remain the same! Plus, the morning workers are so friendly.
Requests
Keep the Hatch brand chile products and add frozen nixtamal (posole). I hate using canned hominy in my menudo. Fresh New Mexico green chile would be way cool!
Akjim
Don't get me wrong, I hope that IGA comes in. It is such a preferable option to a coop. I live downtown and was not looking forward to driving out to FM for everything. I only hope that the property owners budge on the lease rate so that the new store is viable long-term. My other attempt at a point was that certainly if a for-profit cant make a go of it at high lease rates a co-op won't either.
WOW !!!
I had no idea that this story was a matter of such import that to ensure it got into print it was penned by the managing editor himself.....
snif sniff hmmm ?
I wonder if the relator (Juneau Real Estate) is a key part of the problem here? Maybe valuing too high and creating a false expectation so their cut goes up?
I'm not saying that is the case - but people should pay very close attention. If for some reason there would be merit to that then vote with your pocketbook.
My recommendation would be no one in downtown Juneau or Douglas ever use them again. This is serious business. Not just the tremendous hardship on local people but also the impact on retaining the legislature. Legislators and staff - many without transportation are going to be really inconvenienced and peeved off.
The legislature and the top three
Yeah if you're going make a list of things to PO the legislature I'd say starving them would probably be in the top three.
The lease is signed
A new story will be up shortly.