Grocery store is considering its options, such as a move to west
Gilroy
GILROY – Despite rumors to the contrary, PW Marketplace will remain at its east Gilroy location regardless of whether a Wal-Mart Supercenter opens nearby.
At least that’s the plan for now, the company’s senior vice president says.
Mike Stigers, senior vice president and chief operating officer for PW, says the 10th Street warehouse grocery store was 6 percent ahead of its projected earnings last fiscal quarter. The numbers indicate that even with a bulk food retailer – Costco – nearby, Gilroy customers are in no short supply.
“The store is performing to our projections, albeit reduced projections,” Stigers said.
The news could potentially quiet rumors that PW was going to move out of the strip mall it shares with Rite Aid and several smaller vendors and look for a town with less grocery store competition. However, Stigers said PW is “considering all options,” including a move to west Gilroy since in recent years residential development has been focused there.
An industry rule of thumb says to be profitable, each grocery store needs about 3,000 residents. Just the developments around along Santa Teresa Boulevard will bring roughly 2,500 homes to Gilroy in the next couple years, meaning as many as 8,000 residents could need local supermarket options soon.
“I view this as good news,” Bill Lindsteadt said regarding PW’s recent success.
Lindsteadt is the executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation – an agency that helps businesses locate in Gilroy. In recent months, Lindsteadt said, three companies have inquired about the current PW site when it was rumored business was slowing down.
Lindsteadt would not disclose which companies wanted the PW site, but he did acknowledge that Albertsons supermarket is interested in launching a west Gilroy store in the near future.
Lindsteadt is especially pleased to hear of PW’s success. In his role with the economic development corporation, Lindsteadt helped engineer much of Gilroy’s big box store recruitment.
If the supermarkets can co-exist with the larger stores in Gilroy, there stand to be many winners. The city will get increased sales tax revenue, customers will have more shopping options and there will be more jobs. If the big box stores pull too much business from supermarkets, prices may remain flat, but people will lose jobs and businesses that neighbor the supermarkets could also lose customers.
The latter scenario is an argument being used against Wal-Mart as it attempts to relocate its existing store on Arroyo Circle. The company wants to close the current store and open a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Pacheco Pass Shopping Center at Highway 152 and U.S. 101.
Supercenters are regular Wal-Marts but double the size to include a grocery store. Opponents have argued that an economic impact study should be done before City Council approves the project. They believe the Supercenter will pull from both PW and Arteaga’s supermarkets, and both stores share strip mall space with several smaller businesses.
Earlier this month, City Council refused to make Wal-Mart do an economic study. However, Council can still reject the Supercenter project outright when it comes before them for environmental and traffic-related review.
