The Real Deal

By Sharman Egan

Lagniappe columnist

Praying for Winn-Dixie

Oh Lord, if I see another one of those “Getting Better All the Time” commercials…well, I won’t have the appetite to grocery shop anywhere. As my friend Tim points out, “Well, of course they’re getting better. They can’t get much worse.”

This conversation took place a couple of weeks ago over Sunday brunch with a group of my friends from church. I’m not sure why the topic came up, but we were talking about the “Crack-Dixie” on Government at Catherine.

Mom says I shouldn’t talk ugly about other people, and I assume that means companies as well. So I won’t go into detail on exactly what was said at Sunday brunch, but I will say this. The upshot was that our minister insisted we stop our trash talk and pray for Winn-Dixie. So, if you saw a bunch of people at Banana Docks a couple of weeks ago with their eyes closed, listening to a woman talk softly about Winn-Dixie, now you know why. Regrettably, Tim and I were laughing so hard I doubt our prayers were taken seriously.

So why am I whining about the Winn-Dixie in a business/real estate column? There’s a lot more at stake here than just where will all the Midtowners buy sushi and jicama.

If you read my column regularly you know I’m pretty excited about all the changes downtown (along with a lot of other people in Mobile). But I just don’t see people paying several hundred thousand dollars to live downtown if they have to drive all the way out to Bruno’s on University to buy South Beach pizza. Or fighting the crowds at Wally World when they’re jonesin’ for some low-carb ice cream.

OK, I can live without the specialty foods (if you call low-carb food “specialty”), but is it asking too much for them to stock ground beef? On a recent trip, my husband found nary an ounce of fresh ground beef in the entire store. And they call themselves “The Beef People.”

A good supermarket is critical to the continued development of downtown. When I ask around about who’s buying condos downtown, it turns out it’s mostly real estate agents who say they’re planning to use them during Mardi Gras. That sounds like a flippers’ market to me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But we all know how that worked out for Gulf Shores and Orange Beach…. I wouldn’t want to be one of the investors who got in late on that game.

For the downtown residential market to prosper over the next several years, it will need a steady supply of buyers who plan to actually live there more or less full-time. Which means we need a good supermarket somewhere close to downtown. Not just a little upscale grocery (although that would be a good thing too) but a real supermarket with South Beach pizzas, a reliable supply of ground beef and all the other things needed to sustain life for those who live in $300,000+ condos.

At least there may be some good news coming on the W-D front. By the time you read this, a new manager should be in place. Of course, stocking problems aside, the real problem is Winn-Dixie’s outdated and cramped building, combined with a business plan that appears to assume mostly lower-income shoppers. I truly believe most of the folks at the store on Government Street, bless their hearts, are doing the best they can given what they have to work with.

Sources tell me Winn-Dixie has budgeted a major remodeling of the store for this fiscal year. I couldn’t get an official statement from W-D Corporate (the Director of Official Statements has not responded to my voicemail or e-mail), but I’m told the remodeling will start in January at the soonest. They say the new store will use an affluent “planagram” (retail speak for a computer program that tells them what to put on the shelves).

That sounds like sushi and South Beach to me. There’s even a possibility they will expand into the mostly-vacant space next to the current supermarket since W-D already leases that space for the pharmacy. Glory be.

Austal Update

I’m sad to report that, after my last column, I received very few suggestions on how to enhance the curb appeal of the Austal building at the eastern entrance to the Bankhead Tunnel. Never mind a single new idea on how to solve the dreadful I-10 bridge dilemma. Hello, is anyone out there? All I can say is: don’t look at me when you see a second boat shed going up, blocking the view of our lovely new RSA Tower.

The best suggestion so far: put the Historical Commission on the job. I like that idea. Those guys (and gals) will know how to make the sheds look pretty, and they won’t take any excuses. In the meantime, I’m trying to get up with the folks at Curb Appeal on HGTV.

If you’d like to weigh in with The Beef People, call 1-866-946-6349 or go to www.winn-dixie.com. Or e-mail me at sharman@sharmanegan.com, and I will give you super-secret contact information for higher ups there.

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