ONE THING WORSE than a poorly performing supermarket: No supermarket at all. That became apparent this week when Giant Food Inc. closed its Oakland Mills store recently and made it even more critical that the village center's landlord, the Rouse Co., fill the void. Residents and merchants need an anchor supermarket to keep their village center viable.
How long can residents feel connected to a community that has lost the grocery store that held their village center together? How long can merchants remain afloat without the customers an anchor store generates?
Vennari's Pizza benefited from Giant for perhaps the last time when the grocer's employees stopped by for a final meal together. It will be more difficult to find customers to feed in the tenuous months ahead without Giant's employees and its walk-through traffic.
The Oakland Mills Liquor Store has reason to worry about its future, too. A business failure for Ken and Lori Keepers, the husband and wife duo who operate the store, essentially would wipe out both of the household's incomes.
Then there are customers such as Denise Jenkins, who was unaware of the store's closing when she visited. Instead of "That's my Giant," her reaction was "Where's my Giant?" Customers like her will have to drive to Wilde Lake or Owen Brown.
Neither residents nor merchants bargained for this when they located in Oakland Mills. When residents bought or rented homes they believed there would be a convenient place to shop. Business owners signed leases with the understanding that they would benefit from having a major grocery in the center.
The Oakland Mills Giant was one-third the size of the most supermarkets these days. It drew ridicule as an oversized convenience store. Things got worse when managers closed the store's salad bar and delicatessen.
Inadequate as it was, the store kept the struggling village center going. Now, traffic is lighter. A new Hispanic food market helps, but can't fill the void.
The Rouse Co. raised the hopes of residents and merchants by showing plans to completely redesign the center and attract an anchor grocery store. Unless it delivers soon, it could find itself rebuilding a ghost town.
Pub Date: 7/03/97
