ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[jeffster]

Well, I guess I won't be going back to Central Fresh.

FWIW...The LRT is the only reason I've ever gone to Central Fresh.

I stopped going because I can't ever get in with my backpack. They assume everyone with a bag is in there to steal. And it makes no sense. A woman can go in with her purse, but anyone with a backpack is a potential thief. It's nonsensical and annoying. Each time they shout at you to leave it at the front counter and that just got too annoying for me. I know they do have theft, everywhere does and it's particularly harder on independent businesses, but to treat everyone as a potential thief is a bad approach.

As for his actual complaints, I think he's approaching this from a naïve point of view. I get his argument (though I disagree with it) but he doesn't seem to understand why the LRT is a good thing. Sure, it cut out two lanes of traffic, but it provides access to the store for customers who don't have a vehicle. The property still has access as well. It's not like those 4 lanes that existed before were constantly funneling traffic to him and each car on that road was going there. And ultimately, the LRT is thousands upon thousands more people downtown, midtown and uptown to live and work. Development is booming and, being the only true grocery store in that area, that means he can capitalize on it.

I don't think he'll win this. It's weird to come out with this now. The LRT has been in operation...what...3 or 4 years now? Didn't he notice this sooner? And is he forgetting that we're living through the 5th deadliest pandemic in human history for the last two years? If there is any reason grocery sales have declined to the point that he is having to cut employee wages, benefits and bonuses, it's likely related to that, not the LRT. Sounds to me like he just wants to relocate the store somewhere and expects the region to pay for it. It would be a shame if he did close down, though. Rents are high and the pandemic has really made things more expensive, so it'll be hard to relocate the place. It's a risky decision to plan on moving. It's an independent grocer that has been part of this region for decades, so to see it shut down would be unfortunate. But I really don't get why he'd be suddenly trying to get 10 million dollars out of the region to relocate and is blaming it on the LRT. He could be digging his own grave here.

Also, I don't drive, so maybe I just don't know, but I don't see how a train going by every 10 or 15 minutes somehow makes it harder to pull into the store. When it does go by, it takes a few seconds to roll through the intersection and then it's gone.

LRT started in June 2019, so almost 3 years. Also, though, Covid started about 8 months after the LRT started, so it's hard to determine real damages. Central is already a crowded store, even if you don't have a lot of customers, so I am guessing many customers are avoiding it because it's too damned tight to begin with.

I also agree that I am not sure how the LRT has made it more difficult to get into that store. However, I would agree that many people are avoiding the area between Victoria and Allen, so visually he would be getting a lot less exposure. I would avoid that area myself, but my kid has been in and out of the emergency, plus our dentist and pharmacy are also in that area.