Added on February 11, 2019 Sara Swanson

DDA researching grocery store replacement

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Manchester Market

Submitted by Ray Berg, Downtown Development Authority

At its January 30 meeting, the Manchester Downtown Development Authority (DDA) began a project to recruit a traditional, full-service, for-profit retail grocer to Manchester, to replace the Manchester Market which is closing. This project will consist of four aspects:

Assemble actual Manchester retail spending data on groceries and specialty foods, and projected revenue, square footage and related data for a Manchester grocery, as determined by the Gibbs Retail Study completed in Manchester in December 2014. Present this data to potential grocery chain(s) management, to show what type and size of a grocery store the Manchester area can support based on our population and income levels.

Examine the different store models (size, revenue, offerings) currently available through the major grocery corporations, and align these models with Manchester’s needs. Determine which store(s) have a model which would fit Manchester. Visit store(s) to see the selected store model in operation.

Determine potential site(s) for the store.

Prepare a proposal to one or more of these corporations to begin the process of bringing their model store to Manchester.

This work will be done by a committee composed of DDA and Chamber of Commerce members, and others who wish to join, with the assistance of the Village and economic development agencies such as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

This project will be done recognizing other ongoing studies in the community to replace the Manchester Market, such as a co-op grocery, Argus Farm Stop, and an expanded farmers market.

Gibbs Retail Study

In 2014, the DDA received a grant to conduct a Manchester retail study prepared by the Gibbs Planning Group of Birmingham. Robert Gibbs collected and evaluated a wide range of actual Manchester-area spending data in a variety of retail topics, including food, clothing, hardware, and 18 others. This “big data” summary was accumulated for different demographics, day and time of day of the sales, location, etc., using actual spending by residents within several different radius mileages around the Village center. The Gibbs study then used this data to determine the different types of retail businesses the Village could support. It considered actual spending by residents within the village limits, and also examined the effects of capturing just 3% of the “retail leakage” dollars (money spent by village residents in other towns like Ann Arbor), and bringing this money back to Manchester businesses.

The Gibbs Study also provided data on mean income levels and other demographics of the population within Manchester’s primary trade area.

From this data, Gibbs determined the Village could support the following retail stores in the grocery category, for calendar year 2019:

• Grocery stores $4,329,413 estimated sales; 12,335 sq. ft. 1-2 stores

• Specialty food stores $350,714 estimated sales; 1,226 sq. ft. 1 store

• Beer/wine/liquor stores $439,919 estimated sales; 1,294 sq. ft. 1 store

As a reference point, the Manchester Market in recent years before the upcoming shutdown averaged $ 4,000,000 in annual revenues, with about 500 visitors per day, in a 17,000 square foot building.

At the time this study was completed in late 2014, there was no indication the Manchester Market would someday close. The DDA intended at that time to use these study results to align possible needed business types in the study that the village could support, with available vacant storefronts, to see if we could approach such businesses to open in Manchester. This approach ran into a problem with some building storefront owners unwilling to lease or sell their vacant space. The closure of the Manchester Market has established finding a replacement grocery store as a priority for using the Gibbs Study data.

The VanderWorp Manchester Downtown Development Report (April 2017), funded by Washtenaw County Act 88 funding, also provides supporting information for this study, including potential economic incentive programs which may be available for this project.

Possible Grocery Store Candidates

One aspect of Robert Gibbs’ presentation to Village representatives was that large grocery chains have different size “models” or sizes/offerings of their business, and that an aspect of our work would be to identify the model that would fit with Manchester’s spending data and population. DDA members to date have examined some of these models via information available on their websites. Their websites contain differing levels of detail on these guidelines (population, proximity to other grocery chains, etc.), as well as an application process to be considered. The DDA decided to assemble a proposal containing our current situation of no retail grocery store, our available sites, our Gibbs retail data findings, and a request to begin a discussion.

The DDA and Chamber members on January 30 considered a variety of stores, and selected five to begin the process:

Kroger, considering the new store model adopted in Milan, which re-opened in January
Meijer, considering their “bridge street” model, which utilizes just the food portion of Meijer’s traditional offerings in a downsized setting, and is intended for “food desert” communities
Busch’s Fresh Food Market, considering our proximity to Clinton and Saline
Jerry’s Market in Tecumseh
Whole Foods “mini-store” model

Other candidates have been brought forward and may be added to this list.

Location of Store

The DDA/Chamber team would ideally like to see the new store at the same location as the existing Manchester Market, 455 W. Main St., whether through a remodel/rebuild of the existing structure, or a teardown and rebuild. The central location of the existing grocery on Main Street west of downtown, within walking distance of neighborhoods, is an attractive feature of our community, and we will provide data in our proposals to the grocery corporations on this site.

Alternatively, we will provide data on potential parcels of vacant land within the village limits, indicating square footage available for the store and parking, current zoning and utilities available, access routes and other attractions for a particular site.

In his study, Robert Gibbs advised that larger grocery corporations may want to locate their new store on M-52, north of the village, to maximize visibility, traffic flow and vehicle egress, and also include other retail options on the site besides the grocery store itself. The intent would be to also capture traffic coming down M-52 from I-94 and Pleasant Lake Road, whether seeking the grocery store as the ultimate destination, or coming home from work in the Ann Arbor area. We need to be prepared for this condition from a potential grocery chain.

Proposal to Grocery Corporations

The DDA presented this initial project proposal to the Village Council at its February 4 meeting. We will develop a draft information proposal and begin submittals to the grocery corporations shortly.

Our current team members include Ray Berg, Denise Collins, Aaron LaRock and Jennifer Wojtowicz. If you are interested in participating on this project, please contact one of the members. We’ll publish update articles in the Manchester Mirror as we proceed.