Letter to the Editor: Cattleman’s Meat Market would be a good option for Manchester

February 18, 2019

I keep hearing that “Whole Foods” would be a good candidate for a market in Manchester. It’s NOT. Whole Foods is far too expensive and does not serve the community’s needs. Whole Foods dedicated most of its stock to overpriced organic, exotic foods, and high priced meats that would be of no use at all to middle- and low-income residents. Based on average demographics of Manchester and the surrounding area, it would not draw in the surrounding population beyond the first visit to check the store out.

Manchester needs a store with average food pricing based on the prices at other area stores, not a place that will exceed the price structure hoping to get ‘high end’ shoppers. Manchester and its surrounding areas are not ‘rich’ or even a majority of upper middle class, so Whole Foods, if it even came to Manchester, would fail and we’d be back at square one.

A suggestion: Cattleman’s Meat Market. If they were willing to put a franchise in Manchester like they have in Taylor, Manchester residents would greatly benefit from the high quality low cost meats as well as the grocery and produce they sell, all at good prices. I don’t know if Cattleman’s is looking to expand further now, but being contacted from the right Manchester organization might help that along. A plus for Cattleman’s would be the reach they’d expand to, drawing patrons from Jackson, Lansing, Adrian, and many more areas. People drive half way across the state to get to the Taylor store as well as from Ohio simply because they sell fantastic meats at excellent prices as well as all the other grocery and produce, but the meats they sell are amazing. I fill my freezers by trekking to Taylor twice a year. The savings more than offsets the trip.

Other than that suggestion, I’d only suggest further that a Meijer or Kroger mini-store would be appropriate, but would not save residents as much as the Cattleman’s suggestion would.

Thanks!
Andy Bonkowski
Manchester Township

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.