Wheaton giving up on getting bigger Jewel
Wheaton's quest for a bigger, better downtown grocery store has been mired in corporate limbo for years, but a new approach may shift the project into the express checkout lane.
Mayor Mike Gresk says it's in the city's best interest to create a plan B that doesn't include a Jewel Food Store on Willow Avenue.
That store is one of the smallest in the chain and Gresk said four conversations with the corporate owners show things may get worse before they get better.
"My major concern with regard to Jewel is that someone is looking at a spreadsheet in a 40-story office building and going, "Mmm-hmm, nope," Gresk said. "This issue truly is at the top of the heap in terms of economic concerns that we have."
Gresk said Supervalu executives have said they'll keep the store open through the end of the year. That creates an uncertain future, Gresk said, where Jewel may or may not close. At some point, Wheaton may have no grocery store downtown.
"Realistically, that's a definite possibility," Gresk said. "If Jewel says, 'Fine, we're closing in February,' could we find a replacement in 30 days? I don't think so."
Gresk said the joint ownership of the downtown Jewel by Supervalu and CVS makes an expansion improbable.
"That's what's screwing the whole thing up," Gresk said. "The CVS people and the Jewel people hate each other. The need that we have as a city is to try to bring them together, and there's no way they're going to do that."
Wheaton is taking a step toward a new plan with the creation of a law to open competition on the use of commercial land. The law would block Supervalu and CVS from restricting a developer of its Willow Avenue location from building a new grocery store on the site.
The city council could allow the restriction if, say, a new Jewel were built elsewhere in the downtown in return for the Willow Avenue property not being used for a competing grocery store.
Chicago has a similar law, but Wheaton city attorneys said it's never been tested in the courts.
Gresk said the downtown ultimately needs a full-service grocery store with a pharmacy to meet the needs of current residents and projections of increased demand.
Gresk said he's willing to fly to Supervalu's corporate headquarters in Minnesota for a discussion about the downtown Jewel. He's had no takers thus far.
Jewel-Osco Public Affairs Director Miguel Alba issued a written statement when asked about the future of the downtown Jewel.
"Jewel-Osco regularly evaluates its stores to ensure that customers enjoy a high quality shopping experience in all of the communities we serve," Alba wrote. "It is our policy not to speculate on the company's future plans for operations."