Market Opens With A Price Check

by Thomas MacMillan | Nov 2, 2011 4:59 pm

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Posted to: Food, Downtown

On her first visit to downtown’s new co-op grocery, Gwyneth Jones mentioned to the manager that the price of milk seemed steep at $4.39 a gallon. He promptly lowered it to $3.79. It was the latest of some 500 prices the Elm City Market has lowered over the last few days, store manager Mark Regni said. His new co-op grocery store held a soft opening for members only on Wednesday, in advance of the store’s official first day on Thursday. The co-op occupies the ground floor of 360 State, the new mixed-use tower downtown at the corner of Chapel and State streets. The store’s long anticipated arrival is the culmination of months of planning, after original plans to open a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods at the location fell through. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. As the store opens its doors, Regni said he’s seeking to address what has been one of the concerns about the new co-op since it was first announced in May 2010: Will it be affordable to shop there? Regni said he and his staff have been working hard to make sure the answer to that question is yes. “We want to know we’re competitive on everything in the store,” Regni said. “We did a lot of homework. We spent hours and hours going to other stores” checking prices, he said. On Monday night, Regni went through the entire store with one of his managers and lowered prices on about 500 items, he said. Somehow the milk was overlooked. But Jones spotted it right away when she came in to shop on Tuesday with her daughter Hazel strapped to her chest. She mentioned to Regni that the price of the milk was much higher than at Stop & Shop, and Regni told his staff to lower the price. “I thought that was impressive,” Jones said, whose shopping cart held salmon and asparagus for dinner. Jones, who lives in East Rock, said she’s a fan of the co-op. “I love the idea. I love that it’s close,” she said. “But the pricing has to be reasonable,” she added. So far—now that the cost of milk has come down—the prices look good, she said. In his office moments later, Regni said the milk price adjustment is typical of how the market will run. Regni, who is a graduate of the Boston School of the Museum of the Fine Arts and the Disney animation school in California, sat beneath two wintertime scenes he painted himself. Regni also has 30 years of experience in natural-foods grocery stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods. He said he was grateful Jones was “gracious enough to point out” that the milk was a little expensive. The price was the result of a miscalculation, Regni said. Regni said he has known people will be looking closely at the store’s prices since the first public meeting about the market. “That was voiced as an express concern from that evening forward.” There will always be some price differences between Elm City Market and other grocery stores in town, but he aims to keep them as small as possible, Regni said. Out in the market, Harvey Koizim of Wooster Square selected some strip steak to add to the chocolate gelato in his shopping basket. “I think it’s nice,” he said of the new market. “Nice selection. Nice wide aisles.” “We need one in the area,” said Robert Esposito, another denizen of Wooster Square. He was checking out the muffins and pastries that are not normally a part of his organic-only no-processed-foods vegan diet. His cart held tempeh, bananas and almond milk. Almond milk is just one of the many “milks” on offer, including hemp milk, rice milk, and, of course, soy milk. In the same aisle, you can pick up cereals to go with the milk. Big brands like Honey Bunches of Oats share the shelves with “all natural” selections like Barbara’s Multigrain Puffins. Similarly, in the fizzy soft drink section, Pepsi is stocked below a wide selection of kombucha, and above locally made Foxon sodas. In the beer aisle, Tim Miller of Miller beer (no relation) was stocking Corona light below a variety of artisanal brews, including Innis and Gunn, three varieties of Chimay, and some fancy bottles of Framboise Lambic. In a snack aisle, vegetarian Fair Havener Margarita Montezuma picked up a Bobo’s Oat Bar and a bag of Snikiddy baked fries for her grandkids. “It’s good for your body,” she said. “This is where I’m going to be coming. Healthier!” Her son Jonathan Mckeithen stopped by to give her a hug, wearing his chef uniform from the meats section. A former cook at Mama Mary’s Soul Food on Whalley Avenue, he had been working on the rotisserie chicken that filled the air with the fragrance of roasting meat. Yale chemistry professor Martin Saunders and his wife Lola Odiaga-Saunders were perhaps the most local shoppers in the store. They had ridden the elevator down from their apartment in 360 State. Odiaga-Saunders had picked out some organic figs, walnuts, flowers, and sliced watermelon. “We are excited. We’ve been waiting for it,” Saunders said. “I’m so happy,” said Matt Feiner, owner of the Devil’s Gear Bike Shop next door to the market. The new store will be good for his business, he said. A city needs a market downtown, he said. “It just feels nice. It smells nice.” Andrew Gilson, the supervisor of the bulk section, was keeping a close eye on the 185 bins of granola, grains, nuts, and dried fruits. Asked about whether employees plan to form a union, he said there hasn’t been any discussion about it, and no meetings are planned. Most workers are pretty happy with the packages they’ve been given, which include good health benefits, he said. Anthony Cavaliere was the store’s first customer, at 10:10 a.m. He said he works right around the corner at Phil’s Hairstyles. “I cut hair.” “I’m going to be shopping here,” he said. He picked up a bottle of Advil to counteract the daily aches and pains of an 81-year-old body.

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posted by: westville man on November 2, 2011 3:03pm You go, Tony Cavaliere! One of the best barbers New Haven has ever had, his brother Frank being another! Good luck w/ the co-op. New Haven needed it!

posted by: Curious on November 2, 2011 3:12pm This is not a slam, I am just curious why this place is managed by “a graduate of the Boston School of the Museum of the Fine Arts and the Disney animation school in California”. Has this guy managed places like this before?

posted by: Stan Kontogiannis on November 2, 2011 3:14pm Best wishes to the co-op. Good luck!

posted by: davecoon on November 2, 2011 3:23pm This market opening will give me a chance to undertake a study I have long wanted to complete. Go to 4 or 5 area food stores and compare prices for the same items and see how they stack up.

The thing to do with this new store is document their prices today with their prices for the same items 18 months from now, discounting for inflation.

I’m convinced all food markets have artificially low prices at the beginning in order to hook customers. As time goes on, the prices climb.

posted by: Morris Cove Mom on November 2, 2011 3:29pm Curious: I was just thinking the same thing. It seems odd to point that out, and not his managerial experience. It also makes me sad that his art career didn’t seem to work out as planned.

posted by: Guest on November 2, 2011 3:34pm Is there parking?

posted by: ASL on November 2, 2011 4:05pm Had a delicious lunch at the Elm City Market today. There’s a sizable seating area and the food was yummy. The produce I saw was really well-priced (e.g. $0.77/lb for local apples) and everything was somewhere between Stop and Shop prices and Whole Food prices, closer to the former. For the parking-obsessed, the Market validates 1 hour of parking in the 360 State Street garage.

posted by: jt75 on November 2, 2011 4:13pm @Guest There’s free validated parking for 1 hour at the 360 State Street garage when you shop. I’m a member and I stopped in today, and I was definitely impressed! I enjoyed myself in there, and plan to do most of my shopping there now, too. I found the prices similar to those at Stop and Shop (maybe higher on some things), which is what I expected. There’s a good mix of conventional groceries along with natural and organic foods. Loved the bulk section, too. If you’re interested in nutritious, local foods and supporting the local economy, this is definitely the place to do it. If you’re looking for cheap groceries and don’t care about anything else, this probably isn’t the place for you.

posted by: milk is #1 on November 2, 2011 4:50pm What Stop n Shop does she go to. Milk IS $4.39

posted by: anthony on November 2, 2011 4:52pm I’m excited about a new grocery store, especially one down town. I’m also excited about the natural food selection, I can’t wait to check this place out. I hope this signals the continuation of 360’s state street’s willingness to be a part of the New Haven community, instead of an adversary. (a-la ideats village last summer). New Haven is thrilled to have you. Hope your’e not a jerk.

posted by: Pedro Soto on November 2, 2011 5:01pm @Curious, and @Morris Cove Mom, The article understates Mr. Regni’s qualifications quite a bit to the point that Tom MacMillan might want to clarify. Mr. Regni was been a long-time manager for Whole Foods,and has 30 years of experience in this field. He has opened 8 Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores,and was hired specifically for his extensive experience in this market.

If anyone can help make this store a success, he can. And yes, he’s apparently also a fantastic artist.

posted by: Bob's Mum So - um - what will it cost to joint the co-op? That seems to be an important bit of information…

posted by: Jordybrett on November 2, 2011 7:12pm Thomas MacMillan wrote a good article on Elm City Market, but he should do a clarification on Mark Regni’s credentials - his experience in the field is extensive and impressive. [Ed.: Story updated above. Regni has 30 years experience in natural-foods grocery stores.]

posted by: NH Native on November 2, 2011 7:35pm here’s a link to the coop website http://www.elmcitymarket.coop/ with lots of details on the market and parking. The market seems very promising and i’m looking forward to shopping there. i hope they have a good selection of organic foods!

posted by: yz on November 2, 2011 7:46pm I’d like to point out that Ferraro’s Food Market boasts cheaper prices on basic produce like meat, eggs, and milk. It’s just a little more out of the way. But there’s nothing wrong with this market selling at higher prices or selling higher end goods if there’s a market for it.

posted by: anne on November 2, 2011 7:56pm nice story and great photos! i noticed today that the organic bananas are more expensive at ECM than at edge of the woods and stop and shop. i mentioned this to some of the produce personnel and they told me that they will look into it. my guess is that they will match the price.

posted by: Won't be shopping there on November 2, 2011 8:07pm You can buy a gallon of milk at any local gas mart for $2.99 why pay $3.79 and have to fight for a parking space, and have to worry about taking more than an hour.

posted by: SaveOurCity on November 2, 2011 8:42pm @Bob’s Mum: Membership is $200 which entitles you to a share of the profits once the market is in the black. HOWEVER, you do not need to be a member to shop. There are currently 750 members but we’d love to have you join; http://www.elmcitymarket.coop/join/

posted by: Nath on November 3, 2011 8:06am I’ll definitively check the place out later this week or next and give my suggestions directly to the manager. But until then, do you think someone waiting for the bus at the corner of State and Chapel would feel tempted and comfortable to come in? Would there be some affordable products they might want to try out? I was wondering if some fliers could be handled to bus commuters, so they get a chance to explore something different!

Good luck Elm City Coop.

posted by: R on November 3, 2011 9:00am I dunno, but paying a little bit extra for convenience, free parking, a nice new store environment, good selection, etc makes sense to me. I have been having to drive out to N. Branford or Milford to get to a decent grocery store from the part of New Haven I live in, so now I won’t be wasting $ on gas. I’d happily pay a little more to offset that. And someone mentioned Ferraro’s - I avoid that place at all costs now - the parking lot and in-and-out onto Grand is just too crazy half the time. I’d rather not get hit while trying to get my groceries.

posted by: westville man on November 3, 2011 9:11am @ ASL “for the parking-obsessed” ?? coming in from Westville to buy groceries, should I walk or ride a bike? Thanks for the info from others w/o the “slight” included…

posted by: evelyn on November 3, 2011 9:16am Shouldnt the issue be.. How well does this gentleman run this new entity? Instead of what schools he attended and why he doesnt paint for a living?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on November 3, 2011 9:27am I will still shop at the EDGE OF THE WOODS.Peter has done a lot for the community.Plus this coop is nothing more then a wholefoods.

posted by: anonymous democrat on November 3, 2011 9:29am this is great for New Haven. I dont know anything about retail but the shoppers that would seem to go probabaly arent very price sensitive. I dont think lowering the price just because someone said to is a good business practice. I wouldnt want to see the place go under because they couldnt turn a profit.

posted by: All Good on November 3, 2011 10:05am I think it is wonderful people want to invest in our downtown. Nothing but good can follow from this. More people coming downtown will bring more business to the area. Lets not compare and huge chain to a local super market on prices. It will be interesting to me how Edge of the Woods responds. That is where we do most of our shopping. The one quibble we’ve had with EotWs is that they don’t have meat. I hope that they respond with a change in their vision and start providing meat products because I fear they will ultimately lose customers like us that are not vegetarian but want to shop locally in non-chain stores.

posted by: Curious on November 3, 2011 10:10am I thought this place was going to be more affordable than Stop and Shop. I don’t know, I am kind of bummed out. It looks like New Haven still doesn’t have an affordable grocery store downtown. If it’s just a Whole Foods clone, I don’t see it serving the community as well as it could…a little on the gentrification side, it seems. Why couldn’t we have gotten an Xpect Discounts or something here instead? Not posh enough for the 360 State crowd?

posted by: Local Shopper on November 3, 2011 2:07pm For those of us who live in the area and walk most places, this is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. The other stores in the area have a lot to offer, but I don’t want to get in my car and fight my way across town just to buy a few groceries. The shops on Orange St. are great, too, but they are quite a walk from downtown or Wooster Sq. especially with a gallon of milk. I stopped by the co-op yesterday evening and was impressed by the reasonable prices and extensive selection.

posted by: Kay on November 3, 2011 2:40pm I am excited about the Elm City Market’s opening…I walked down Chapel St. today and I don’t think that I have ever seen so many people around. More ‘eyes on the street’ is always a good thing. With that said, I have two major concerns,

Firstly, while ECM says it will support local…when push comes to shove, will they actually? Next spring, summer and fall will they buy from local farms, & check to make sure what they are purchasing is truly local? Secondly, gentrification and exclusion…ECM’s website says they take SNAP coupons, but does anyone know if they take EBT food stamps? A city market like this should be focused on bringing the whole community together and improving everyone’s nutrition not just the privileged.

posted by: Nath on November 3, 2011 2:55pm I just went to the Co-op to check it out at luch time!! I could not wait longer. I was quite impressed. The place was packed. Prices were not out of range for Connecticut… Yes, you can buy regular milk for less than $3. I did ask about community out reach programs, and yes, they are into that and we just have to check their web site to get more info. They take food stamps. So I am getting more excited about the place and the people there! I will definitively stop on my way home from time to time, but I also plan to continue to support P&M, Edge of the woods, Hindingers farm and the farmers markets.

posted by: CL on November 3, 2011 4:41pm @Curious- the question of affordable food is immediately difficult to quantify when you consider the fact the “affordable” stores decided they didn’t care about New Haven years ago. Since then New Haven has been in a grocery store “Desert”. Co-ops offer a mix of affordability, healthier choices and a true support to the areas they call home. What’s broken is the food system, not the individual co-ops stepping in to provide access to food when chains have decided doing business in your city isn’t worthwhile anymore. Co-ops use profits as a means to a greater end of supporting a healthy business model that returns patronage to the community it lives within, find a chain that looks at profit in this light- you won’t. P.S. if you want to cut your food bill consider price comparing bulks foods and spices to the conventional stores and then cooking a little more.

posted by: robn on November 3, 2011 6:19pm Bittman’s take on Fresh Food vs Fast Food

verdict?

Fresh Food is cheaper. http://tinyurl.com/3gescuw

posted by: anon on November 3, 2011 8:00pm New Haven has sections of “food desert” not because of economics, but because of *public safety* concerns. Talk to the heads of Target and ask them why they don’t open stores in urban areas. There’s only one reason. Economically, it makes much more sense to be in a densely populated area like New Haven even if the average incomes are lower.

posted by: streever westville man

Talk to Carl Goldfield, Tom Lehtonen, or some of the other civic leaders who live in Westville and bike downtown daily. Biking to get groceries is actually pretty easy. Another healthy alternative is to live where you shop. I shop at Romeo & Cesare’s because it is a block from my apartment—living near where I shop (and work) is important to me, so it factored into my apartment hunting.

posted by: westville man on November 4, 2011 8:53am Streever, My initial comment to ASL was the value-laden comment about “parking obsessed” . Why the slap to those who cannot walk or ride bikes for various reasons (health, distance, etc). You would’ve been the first to jump on someone who said “biking nuts”, no?? But to answer your reply, I cannot buy groceries for my family each week by way of a bicycle to State street, unless i shop 3-4 times per week, which is ridiculous. Perhaps the others you mentioned have no families to shop for.

We do shop locally and I work 3 blocks from my house. My daughter walked to her school. Which are some of the reasons why we bought our house here 13 years ago. But thanks for the “tip” on healthy alternatives, anyway.

posted by: streever Westville Man

Why the defensiveness? ASL and I are just trying to offer alternatives for folks who can use them. Many people ARE parking obsessed. Did you see the new report on parking in New Haven? The supply is out of proportion with actual demand. I didn’t see anything about ASL’s comment directed at you, so I’m just not sure why you feel attacked.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on November 4, 2011 9:32am posted by: streever on November 3, 2011 11:36pm

westville man

Talk to Carl Goldfield, Tom Lehtonen, or some of the other civic leaders who live in Westville and bike downtown daily. Biking to get groceries is actually pretty easy. Give me a break DUDE.A bike can’t hold more groceries then a car….

posted by: ASL on November 4, 2011 9:33am Clarification—I should have said “free parking obsessed.” I, too, own a couple tons of steel, plastic and rubber that I occasionally have to place somewhere other than my driveway. But I don’t expect to get to do it for free, anymore than I expect to get on Metro-North for free, take a bus for free, gas up my tank for free, or get insurance for free.

posted by: westville man on November 4, 2011 10:00am ASL- thanks for the clarification, That makes a difference. Streever, ...t since I will be driving to the Co-op, her comment WAS directed at me.

posted by: streever westville man

I missed the part where ASL specifically called you out, or the part where you had stated you would drive there and wanted parking. If you aren’t parking-obsessed, I’m not sure why you feel the need to defend yourself? People who drive are not necessarily parking-obsessed!

posted by: westville man on November 4, 2011 11:43am Streever, IF NHI decides that THIS reply is ok, here goes: the comment ASL made was clear. You can parse it any way you want. If I said there was a bike rack for there for “biking obsessed” , whether you are or not, you might ask why i would describe it that way.

Then YOU, not ASL, tell me who to call, how easy it was to bike and get groceries and how you make decisions on where you live and why.

As if I dont know or do those things already. A bit presumptuous, no??

posted by: WTF on November 4, 2011 4:30pm I hit this place up last night, and it was significantly more expensive than Stop and Shop, which is significantly more expensive than most other stores. They want $8 for a roasted chicken when you can get the same for $5 from S&S. About 90% of the rest of the items that I saw were priced at 25% to 50% more than you see in S&S. Maybe this is great for the community, if by “the community” you mean “people making $80,000 a year”.

posted by: VD on November 4, 2011 7:57pm I like the place! Cheaper than Whole Foods and pretty similar. Comparable to Edge, but with meat. More organic produce & local (when it’s available) would be great and the addition of a few items I can only get at W.F. would be nice. How to make these suggestion? Anyone know? Maybe if I shopped for one person and had the time or inclination to do it nearly every day, I’d use a bike to get there. But, for my family, the parking is great. I appreciate it being free, too. I’d still go if it wasn’t, but it’s a nice gesture to customers.

posted by: DingDong on November 5, 2011 1:12pm VD wrote: “I appreciate [parking] being free, too. I’d still go if it wasn’t, but it’s a nice gesture to customers.” I think the reason parking is a controversial issue on these message boards is precisely that it’s free. Nothing is really free, of course. Free parking just means the cost of parking is built into the price of the groceries. This means that people who bike, walk or take the bus or paying for other people’s parking. It’s a difficult problem to solve because drivers really HATE to pay for parking. It’s a psychological hangup. One way to get around it is to give, say, a 2% discount for walking/biking/taking the bus: you get the same results as being charged for parking, but no one gets ticked off. The problem is that it’s hard for the store to verify how you actually got there.

posted by: Paul Martin on November 5, 2011 1:39pm Guys, if you don’t want to shop there, don’t shop there. But don’t insist that the place has to close because you don’t want to shop there. Also: are they supposed to undercut Stop & Shop on every price on every item? If you want your $5 chicken, fine - go to Stop & Shop. Did you ever consider that this one - for just $3 more - might be better? I was in there yesterday, and someone was loudly complaining about the hour of parking validation, saying that it should be eliminated so people from the suburbs won’t go there. You can’t try to limit their customer base, demand lower prices, and ask for both higher-quality and bodega-quality goods all at the same time. If you don’t want to shop there, don’t shop there. But why would you treat this store the same way you’d treat a 7-11 or a national chain store? And why would you expect them to rescind a perk they offer to customers simply because you hate automobiles want to stick it to drivers who live within 5-10 miles of the city? Do you really expect a parent to tow their kids and a couple bags of groceries on a bike or a bus, or on foot? Or someone who’s elderly? Sadly, for some people on here, the answer to that is “yes.” Totally unable to imagine the daily lives of people who aren’t in their 20s-30s and living in downtown apartments.

posted by: streever Paul Martin

I do not *expect* it, but I am happy to explain that it is possible. In fact, I know several older people—who qualify as elderly but I would never call them that because they are vibrant and active well into their 70s—and several families—who do shop by bike. You may think I am in a delusional world of being a young 20-30 year old (thanks for that! Today is my 31st birthday!) but actually, I’m just aware of places where cars are not worshiped, and spent a lot of time and energy broadening my mind learning about how it happens that 65 year olds are capable and happy to go grocery shopping by bike. It does happen, and it even happens in places which were—10 years ago—ruthlessly anti-bike with almost no one at all biking. Seville designed an 87 mile bike lane network for 43 million, and took cycling from a fringe activity for people like me who bear your repeated attacks (.02% of all trips) to an activity that is routinely practiced by grocery shoppers (7% of all trips post network). As one of the planners says: “Our design target is a 65-year old woman with groceries.” http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/seville I don’t know why you feel the need to personally attack cyclists repeatedly—saying that we are delusional and just enjoying our 20s—or why Bass continues to print your personal attacks. I do know that the vision I have for New Haven—of a safe, peaceful one where children and citizens of all ages are safe—seems very distant from the vision you articulate.

posted by: New Haven Urbanism It is unrealistic for people to shop at a grocery store located across town for their family by bike or even bus. It is also a mistake to provide parking without a user charge. Unfortunately, the Elm City Market is just getting off the ground so the creation of a parking fee would probably kill the store, especially in its first few years of operation.

What would address both concerns would be the creation of a network of retail food stores across the city that were accessable to most residents from their homes by walking. If every neighborhood had grocery stores, bakeries, butcher and deli shops, in addition to our farmer’s markets, there wouldn’t be a need to provide subsidized parking or for people to bike, they could just walk down the street several evenings a week to the local stores and grab what they need for themselves or a family.

This requires a change is shopping habits - from weekly/monthly bulk purchasing to semi-daily shopping, and it requires a change in culture from people expecting others to provide services for you to you providing those services to your neighbors. Immigrants are fantastic at doing this, for some reason longer term residents have little interest in providing goods and services for neighbors through a small, local store.

If the demand for parking can be reduced significantly in the downtown (by reducing commuting and increasing the city’s population) then more residential units can be created downtown, which would be able to support a grocery store the size of Elm City Market without the need to draw residents from citywide.

Hopefully some changes to the zoning ordinance, a shift in the priorities of the Economic Development department and citizen involvement can help make this a reality in the city.

The more the each neighborhood can operate like a self-sufficient small town with a vibrarnt and diverse Main Street and employment center(s), the better for the downtown and the city as a whole.