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He continued, “I’ve got all my eggs in one basket. I called the city about getting help with my remodel construction for Subway and they said, No, because I’m not in a substandard building. Some people say the city wasn’t big enough for a grocery store? I say it’s not big enough for two liquor stores either. I don’t have a backup plan. I would like to expand my liquor store. I want nothing more than what was given to Fresh Seasons. Everything requires time and money and it’s one step at a time for me.” Paul Schindler, who made the application for Crossroads Liquor, said he is a resident of Carver and already owns a liquor license in Shakopee for the last several years, with a partner, where they employ 20 people. “We’re looking to open a full service liquor store in Victoria where customer service is number one,” said Mr. Schindler. “We’re very hands-on at what we do. It’s fun to develop relationships. We truly believe that more than one liquor store can survive here. There are nine in Shakopee. We’re enthusiastic and excited to be here.” Dale Riley, owner of Fresh Seasons Market, spoke next. “We worked desperately to try to bring a pharmacy here. Snyder Drug and the parent company had troubles in Canada. We also closed the pharmacy at our Glen Lake location. Didn’t have the purchasing power of the big guys. If there was someone [a pharmacy] who wanted to come to Victoria, we’d make sure that could happen.” Continued Dale, “I respect the job that Deep has done. If we can prevent people from driving outside of Victoria for businesses and services, that’s a good thing. The two liquor stores would be different experiences. We need another tenant in downtown Victoria. Thank you for your time tonight.” Councilmember Kim Roden commented, “I’d hate to see a liquor store and no grocery store.” Replied Dale, “All the studies we do say we’re doing a good job. We had a very successful format for many years. With today’s market, pricing is #1 or #2 for people now. Sales aren’t what we expected but we’re not giving up. From a spot-on survey we’ve seen that people come from a long ways to shop here. We need more of them and, frankly, more from people who live one to three miles away.” He added, “We’re looking at other services to bring to Victoria, like Sir Knight Cleaners, which is now here. There has been no interest in the empty space in our building except for Crossroads Liquor.” Councilmember Tim Amundsen referred to the 2012 construction on Hwy 5 that will make travel difficult through Victoria. “I’m concerned about that construction,” he said. “That can’t be good for anybody in Victoria. Are you concerned?” “Yes,” said Dale, who referred to employee expense at Fresh Seasons. “All of our employees are union. We pay 100% of benefits for full time and part time. We’re not afraid to compete. You’ve got a nice piece of property out there [across the bridge]. Someone will find it and bring another grocery store.” Jody Majeres, who offices in Victoria’s downtown Clocktower, said, “I do leave the city to buy my wine. I think you’ll be missing a lot of customers if you don’t bring Crossroads here.” Stated Chris Johnson with Power of Life Chiropractic downtown Victoria, “We’re in full support of bringing Crossroads here. Standing in the way of it would be a big mistake.” Steve Delich, a resident at Deer Run, suggested that if Crossroads Liquor were approved, the taxpayers of Victoria would be funding a liquor store with TIF money granted to Fresh Seasons. Mayor Mary Thun pointed out, however, that it was the developer of the property who benefited from the TIF money, it was the developer who purchased the blighted C.H. Carpenter property, not the grocery store. She said developer Tom Workman got the TIF benefit, not Dale Riley and Fresh Seasons. “‘As for the Deed Grant,” continued the mayor, “it was given to the city because of Fresh Seasons. The $235,000 in TIF money is available as long as the developer continues to pay taxes. The grocer pays rent to the developer who gets the TIF benefit.” Administrator Uram pointed out that Fresh Seasons added $2.5 million to the value of the city. “We’d never be receiving the tax benefits without Fresh Seasons. Based on the benefits we have received, and will receive, it’s pretty substantial.” Stated Councilmember Amundsen, “I don’t want it to be misrepresented that there isn’t a dual benefit,” since Victoria City Center LLC is Tom Workman, and, in fact, Fresh Seasons is Dale Riley and Tom Workman. Councilmember Paulsen stated, “When we approved the grocery store, we had no idea how it would change Victoria. If the store really starts to hum, will we have enough parking space?”
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May 2010 |
