Sparkle Market

[Towntalk]

"T'aint funny McGee." 

[Rick Rowlands]

"Day-O! Day-O! Daylight come and I wanna go home.
Come Mr. Tally-man, tally me bananas."

Is it Mr. Tally-man?

[Towntalk]

Speaking of grocers and grocery stores, can anyone name this famous local grocer?

[Towntalk]

Amen Shar. I've also ran into rude check-out clerks at that store, but on the whole most were nice.

Jay seems to think that we should only shop at local stores regardless of what that does to our food budget, but he's not putting the food on our table, or taking care of our family budgets each month.

As I said before, I shop where I can get the biggest bang for my food dollars, and if that means shopping at Save-A-Lot and Giant Eagle in Liberty so be it., and when Jay is prepared to put the food on my table then and only then will I shop at the local stores.

[Shar]

Sorry Jay but I don't agree....the North Side is no less alive this week than it was last week.

For a business to survive in the City of Youngstown it has to compete with the business in the suburbs.  That means that it must provide a quality product, friendly service and a clean environment.  I have talked to many of my neighbors on the north side this week about the closing of Sparkle.  None of them really shopped there for various reasons such as poor selection, rude check out people, etc.  I don't think that any business should expect the citizens of the City to accept less quality than the people in the burbs receive.  Again, I am not a fan of Walmart and I don't shop there but you cannot blame them for this closing.  All they did was provide a clean friencly environment with a good selection of groceries, meats and baked goods that is close to the city.  When given a choice, people will spend their money where they believe they get the best value.

[Why?Town]

Rick,

Don't confuse unemployment and welfare.

In order to be unemployed, you have to have worked. Everyone that I worked with had worked their entire adult lives. 

I don't think any of us have decided that living on unemployment is acceptable.

[Rick Rowlands]

At least during the Great Depression the unemployed Americans had a work ethic and WANTED to go to work.  Same cannot be said for a way too large portion of the population today. 

[Youngstownshrimp]

Jay,  In regards to neutral money, maybe this will sink home to many on this forum.  If we produce shrimp in Ytown, within this local economy, what product can we transact in return?  57% of Ytown's inhabitants produce nothing and subsist on the dole of Jobs and Family Services, they have nothing to offer but government dollars.  Maybe another 20% are employed by State and Federal entities, what product do they have to sell me?  Free enterprise is under attack in America today and the reason this depression is more dangerous than the last is because unlike the 30's, we basically produce nothing.

[ytowner]

Yet another reason why I cannot stand Wal-Mart...

[jay]

With the departure of Sparkles, the north side died a little this week.
Now the north side has more cemeteries than major grocery stores. 

[northside lurker]

I wonder how long Westside Sparkle will stay open?  It's sort of an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery store.  So, it doesn't have the room to carry the same amount of selection as modern, big-box grocery stores.  It sounds like the only difference between it and the north side Sparkle, is that it doesn't have big-box competition nearby.

[jay]

How many large grocery stores were in Youngstown in 1980?

[Towntalk]

I shop where I can get the biggest bang for my bucks, and if that means shopping at Save-A-Lot and Giant Eagle, so be it. Wih Sparkles closing, I'm going to shop at the stores that I just mentioned, and not at stores that just happen to be in the city because those in my neighborhood are convience stores that don't save me money. Today I went to Giant Eagle and came home with 10 bags of groceries for under $75.00. None of the convience stores could match that on a good day.

[Rick Rowlands]

Walmart does stimulate business growth, just not in the same area of retail.  The opening of a WalMart tells other national chains that the area is a good place to locate in. So the Wal Mart may be the key that unlocks the door to a future Lowe's, Home Depot, or other large retailer to the Belmont Avenue district. 

I have shopped at Giant Eagle and the new Walmart, but would not shop the Union Square Sparkle as it looked rather uninviting and would not have the same selection that we are accustomed to.   Perhaps they should get out of the general grocery business, reassess their opportunities and find a niche market that they can thrive in.  Look at how well Jimmy's is doing in their niche.

[jay]

It has been said that there will only be five larger grocery stores in the city of Youngstown after the north side Sparkle Market closes.

North Side - None
East Side  - Two
South Side - One
West Side - Two