LA Mart announced its 4th location in the space in Oakland Mills Village Center where the Weis store was. LA Mart is an international grocer with foods from around the World. Hope it lasts longer than the one that was in the Long Reach Village Center. Plan to open is Spring of 2019. Dunkin Donuts is also mentioned as taking the space next to the Mart.
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Yes, AT LAST, we may have an anchor store in Oakland Mills that will stay more than 4 years!!! This village center, which is MY village center (for 19 years), has had a checkered history with maintaining an economically healthy vendor in the anchor store location. The WEIS stayed only 2 years, but anyone who researched the problem with its demise is aware that Weis didnt want to be there in the first place. Indications of poor bottom-line revenues was an issue, as it was with Pantry Pride and Food Lion before. As with other village center anchor stores, local village patronage cannot support these stores. Trader Joes, Wegmans, and Whole Foods are changing the economics.
The story goes that Weis purchased, as part of a package deal, 13 (14?) Food Lion stores that were closing in this region, AND the one that they didn't really want was Oakland Mills. They blamed the closure, in part, on excessive theft by the patrons . . . . . . to the tune of $100,000 per month! Preposterous!! Theft probably was an issue, but they did not aggressively discourage it. After talking to several employees, including a manager, I heard that the plain-clothes detective assigned to patrol the aisles was there only several nights per week. Insufficient!! That would have been a full-time assignment.
The new (specialty) store, however, with it's supposed "international" offerings, may attract a wider patronage, more than the paltry local patronage . . . . . and hence remain economically healthy over the long-term!! After all, Kings Contrivance has Harris-Teeter (a specialty store). Long Reach and Wilde Lake have given up their anchor food stores, and will likely never regain them. Changing times!!
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