Two points on the supermarket front today. First, that Fresh & Easy, big UK retailer Tesco's beachhead into the U.S., has recently signed a contract to open a supermarket in the Bayview. Following a lukewarm response to its SoCal blitz, Tesco decided to ease up on expansion a year or two ago— but if this news is any indication, it looks like the "7-Eleven meets Whole Foods" chain is beginning to feel its way northward. The relatively new brand had actually at one point considered entering the Tenderloin market as well — as the ground-floor tenant at a currently iced mixed-use project — which really brings us to the second gro-sto point.
According to Golden Gate [X]press, the North of Market Community Benefit District has been lobbying chains like Safeway, Trader Joe's, and Grocery Outlet to try the TL, all to no avail. (Given that Fresh & Easy first expressed interest, and then backed the hell out after a walking tour, the others' responses probably shouldn't be surprising.) The big grocers generally cite crime as the reason, though a community rep insists that "the crime here is much more perceived than reality." In the meantime, TL shoppers who want food of the non-Flamin' Hot Cheetos variety will no doubt have to make do by trekking out of the neighborhood.
· Low-income areas lack sufficient grocers [GGX]
· Grocers hard to find in San Francisco’s poorer areas [SF Examiner]
· Tenderloin Supermarket's Among Projects Put on the Backburner [Curbed SF]
· Rendering Reveal: The Future Home of a Tenderloin Grocer [Curbed SF]
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