After moving the Longwood Barnes and Noble bookstore in November 2017 from the Midtown Landings, focus groups and plans have been made for a grocery store, according to Sheri McGuire, associate vice president of the office of community and economic development.
The Longwood Real Estate Foundation began a dialogue with the Farmville Downtown Partnership about what to do with the leftover funds from the recent removal of the bookstore, according to McGuire.
“This grocery store could provide options for people who are starting to live and work downtown,” said McGuire.
McGuire said the key challenge for this grocery store is finding the appropriate store for Farmville’s community.
“The population statistics are not attractive to something like a Kroger or Whole Foods,” said McGuire. “It’s hard to sell our area to them. Grocery stores typically have thin margins of profit.”
“After doing about eight focus groups with Longwood students as well as other people in the community the same need for balance in the grocery store was reconfirmed,” said Louise Waller, associate vice president of the real estate foundation.
“In about three to four months, we should have enough data to begin being able to say what our costs are going to be and put together a better business model and start shopping around for a proprietor,” said Waller.
Waller said adding a grocery store within walking distance to Longwood’s campus will help students and the Farmville community “come together and intermingle.”
“I feel like it’s our responsibility to have a grocery store in walking distance from campus for our students,” said Waller.
The Longwood Real Estate Foundation started looking at independent operators instead of larger chains according to Waller.
“An independent operator invests their own capital into a venture like this, but the challenges for setting up a new grocery store, one that could meet the needs of the surrounding population, would require someone very specific to pull it off,” said McGuire.
“For many people there are enough excuses to go out to Richmond already that they end up traveling with a cooler in their car and shopping at Wegmans or other chains that are not available to them locally,” said McGuire.
“People love those experiences of shopping at these nicer grocery stores,” said McGuire. “So, if we are going to make this work than it needs to be the exact right fit so that people can get out of those habits. If we put something here than they have got to love it.”
In September 2017, the Student Government Association (SGA) held a meeting about the grocery store and discussed a number of similar options and issues.
“We can’t expect to outbid Walmart and Food Lion in terms of low prices, but we will be able to provide organic, local and sustainable options that they don’t have,” said McGuire.
“We want to emphasize our desire for it to be organic and local,” said Waller.
Waller said she is always looking for student input with the possibility of a grocery store in the space.
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In the vacant space within the Midtown Landings, university officials are planning to create a small grocery store beneath the apartments.
