Monday, July 30, 2007

Foodtown - The Meeting

We met w Dan Katz from Foodtown Saturday morning. Besides being a little po'd at us for the post and really upset by a comment or two (which was understandable considering one in particular that we've deleted!) the meeting was really constructive. He is not skirting any of the issues that were made on the blog and seems to be generally ready to get the store up to expectations.

The store has a pretty big renovation in the works and Dan wants some feedback on what locals would like to see. He was kind enough to bring along some photos of another store that recently got an upgrade down on Ralph Ave. We were impressed. Dan noted that many of the things we pointed out would be included in our store - a cheese section, larger deli area, baked goods bin etc. While we talked about improvements/ additions we reminded him that there are a lot of people shopping at the store that don't read the blog and hope that changes (or lack of some) fit the entire community. Regardless, already in the works are some organic products and and a stroller accessible entryway.

Dan specifically asked we give out his email (dankatz@sprintmail.com) and that people email him with what they'd like to see in the store (be specific people! brand etc). He also would like that if there is an issue with a cashier or employee you make note of their name or number (can be found on bottom of receipt) rather then making blanket statements in the comments so he can deal with employee. That only seems fair especially since when we've shopped there most of the employees have been kind and helpful. Let's try and remember that one underwhlemed cashier does not mean that every Foodtown employee is awful!

We felt the meeting was really constructive and are hopeful to have a full service grocery store very soon. Personally we'd love to not have to shop outside of the hood for certain products. We think with bad comes good and now having met Dan and seen how involved he is in the process are pretty confident in Foodtown's future.


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