Save-A-Lot is now open at the corner of Bull and 40th streets in the space formerly occupied by David’s Supermarket.
The building had been sitting empty for a number of years, so it’s good to see activity there again.
The store will employ a couple of dozen people, increase the tax base and make that corner more vibrant.
I’m not a fan of surface parking lots on key corners in commercial districts, but Save-A-Lot’s is fairly small and decently landscaped.
There’s a Save-A-Lot on the Southside, too. According to the company website, the chain has more than 1,300 stores around the country.
The focus is on low prices. There’s less variety than in larger stores, and various efficiencies are in place that limit the need for labor.
The new Save-A-Lot has opened in one of Savannah’s most diverse neighborhoods.
A few blocks west, there are pockets of poverty amidst many hopeful signs of renovation and new investment.
To the north and east, the Thomas Square neighborhood has continued to strengthen and attract new businesses right through the housing bust, recession and the slow recovery.
An increasing number of young professionals and college students occupy apartments and houses in the neighborhood, a trend encouraged in part by the presence of SCAD’s Arnold Hall. Businesses like Foxy Loxy and Butterhead Greens have thrived off this new population.
A few blocks south of the new Save-A-Lot are Ardsley Park and other neighborhoods with a large number of owner-occupied units and longtime residents.
Some customers will be on foot, some on bicycles, some in cars.
White, black, old, young, native, transient, poor, wealthy, working class, employed, unemployed, self-employed — all that and more can be found within a few blocks of the new grocer.
How will Save-A-Lot fare in this multi-cultural stew?
I think it’s safe to say the store will need to appeal to most if not all of those constituencies if it’s going to thrive.
Kroger on East Gwinnett Street has managed to bridge those various gaps, but the Food Lion off West Gwinnett Street that failed a year ago never seemed to appeal successfully to any segment of downtown’s varied population.
However things turn out, Save-A-Lot’s opening is welcome news as we begin 2013. It’s just one of various significant investments in the greater downtown area announced last year.
I know some folks are hoping for bigger and better things along the Bull Street corridor.
But cities don’t go from zero to 10 in a flash. Blighted buildings in urban neighborhoods don’t typically turn into luxury supermarkets overnight.
Here’s to positive incremental steps in 2013.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via email at billdawers@comcast.net and www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.