Tag Archives: David Joseph

West Bluff

Save-a-Lot in Campustown is closing

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According to the Journal Star, Save-a-Lot in Campustown on the West Bluff will close its doors January 3. Another tenant is lined up, but the developer won’t disclose who it is — except to say that it won’t be another grocery store. There are some other interesting comments:

“We’re looking for additional sites, and we’re open to other sites in the Peoria area,” [Gerry Kettler, director of consumer affairs for Niemann Foods] said.

I wonder if MidTown Plaza is one of the sites they’re considering. There was a lot of speculation back when Cub Foods closed that it would be replaced with a lower-end grocery store such as Save-a-Lot, since both chains are owned by Niemann Foods.

“From that standpoint we are disappointed Niemann Foods chose not to renew the lease. We’ve had a grocery in that space for almost all of the time Campustown has been there, almost 20 years. Apparently, there isn’t a strong enough need for one now,” [Brad Joseph of D. Joseph & Sons, the Peoria firm that developed and owns Campustown] said.

I couldn’t respond to this any better than frequent commenter Mahkno did in the Journal Star’s comments section:

Considering there has not been a decent well run grocery store there for the last 10 years, it is a bit of leap to conclude there is no need for one. Bradley students do not shop anymore. West Bluff residents of all stripes don’t shop there any more. Mr Joseph has pretty much destroyed the customer base that would support Campustown. The local residents have been sufficiently trained to shop elsewhere. He must not think highly of West Bluff residents by his continued efforts to put low end retailers there.

I’ve been to Save-a-Lot and found it disgusting. It was dirty and unkempt. It had very little inventory given the size of the store. And it had very little variety. I went in there once just to get some soda. They offered one brand: Pepsi. That’s it. The gas station across the parking lot had more variety than that.

I shudder to think what will take its place. We can only hope it won’t be a 20,000-square-foot cash store.

City of Peoria

Midtown Plaza Cub Foods closing in March

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The following info just hit my mailbox while I was home for lunch:

Mr. Curt Craig from Cub Foods in Minneapolis [said] they are closing the Midtown Plaza Cub Food Store. […] This will happen the first part of March, with the last employees leaving mid-March.

You remember Midtown Plaza. The City paid $5.5 million to clear the land (including knocking down old ladies’ houses on Dechman) required to make way for this project and made the area a TIF district after rejecting their own consultant’s report that said this was a bad deal for the City. They listened to the developer’s consultants instead.

The city’s consultant (Development Strategies, Inc.) predicted, according to a Journal Star editorial on 3/9/1999, that Cub Foods “would draw 90 percent of its customers from other city grocery stores.” Joseph’s consultants (Melaniphy & Associates, Inc.; Deloitte & Touche) predicted “43 percent of revenues would come from customers living outside the city” and that Cub Foods “would draw customers from a 10-mile radius.”

The city’s consultant was right. After Cub Foods opened, Thompson’s/Sullivan’s and John Bee both closed. With the loss of Cub Foods, where are East Bluff residents supposed to go for groceries now?

Also, will the city get a refund on that TIF money from the developer?