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St. Louis Front Page presents St. Louis CitySide, an overview of the City Government of Saint Louis. From time to time, we will take an indepth look at many of the projects in which the city is involved and how these projects will affect residents and visitors.
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Schnucks Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck outlined plans for a new, small urban food store and specialty market to serve residents and commuters in the heart of downtown St. Louis at a press conference held at the 9th Street Garage, site of the proposed Schnucks.
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Proposed Downtown Schnucks Store Will Cater to Residents and Office Workers
by Betty Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 21, 2008 - For years, residents and office workers in downtown St. Louis have been asking, "Where is the grocery store?"
"We can now answer that question," said St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay, standing in the unheated lower level of the Ninth Street Garage. During a press conference held, Wednesday afternoon, February 20, leaders of Schnucks Markets, Inc. announced an agreement to build a small urban food store and specialty market.
Under the agreement, Schnucks will lease the street-level retail portion of the Ninth Street Garage from the Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB), the agency that built the garage, owns the property and is spearheading the entire Old Post Office development.
Mayor Slay stated that having a Schnucks store downtown is a huge milestone in efforts to revitalize downtown. "The Schnuck family are very astute business people who believe in the future of downtown and the growing market," said the mayor, who acknowledged that he personnally shops at Schnucks.
Site of the future Schnucks Store in the Ninth Street Garage, across from the Old Post Office
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The store's lower level will include approximately 20,800 square feet of fresh and specialty foods including natural and organics. Additionally, it will feature a floral shop, Kaldi's Coffee bar, service meat and seafood departments and several prepared food stations including a salad bar, Asian hot-food bar, barbecue bar, pizza station, chef's grill and a made-to-order sandwich shop.
Overhead, a 6,303-square-foot mezzanine will hold an extensive wine department with a tapas tasting area and seating space. Customers will have two hours of validated free parking in the ten-story garage.
In a conversation following the press conference, Schnucks Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck spoke confidently about downtown St. Louis, "A lot has changed in the last three to five years. All the buildings surrounding this area are in play and in terms of residential development, all the spaces have been sold."
Schnucks once owned a small store at 6th and Olive, across from the former Famous-Barr store in the seventies. "We bought the former Bettendorf's in 1970 and operated it for ten or fifteen years. That was during a time when decay was setting in and businesses were moving out. Our business dwindled. Also, it was a very inefficient store and we had to unload our trucks in the alley as opposed to having a dock."
When asked if the current slowdown in the housing market had any impact on their decision to open another store downtown, Schnuck responded that the decision was risky and it may be premature.
"We think the tide has reversed itself and the city is growing again. We are excited to get here in this location which we think is in the heart of where people are going to be living in downtown St. Louis," stated Schnuck.
Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder said that after years of work on the project, he was excited that it was becoming a reality. Kinder noted that when he took office seven years ago, his first project was the renovation of the Old Post Office across the street. "I toured the building on a cold day like this. There were pigeons flying in and out of the building. Outside, the streets were so empty you could fire a cannon and not hit anyone."
"We now have 15,000 people living in downtown St. Louis," Kinder stated. "We think we can easily double that but to reach that goal we have to have a retail option for groceries. Housing is a cyclical market and is a bit soft right now. We expect that this announcement will be a shot in the arm to further housing sales downtown," he said.
The Schnucks Store will create approximately 40 - 60 new full time jobs in the City. Pending the approval of lease terms by the Missouri Development Finance Board and the Board of Aldermen's passage of legislation allowing for reimbursement on a portion of the project costs over time, the store is expected to open in late 2008 or early 2009.
Schnucks Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck and Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder unveiled plans for the urban food store and specialty market to be built on the ground level of the 9th Street Garage.
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