The signs have been ripped down, but there's still hope for a Key Food at 589 Prospect Ave.—at least in part.
Assemblyman Jim Brennan confirmed Monday night that Walgreens—tentatively slated to open its doors in the former Key Food space next spring—is in the process of negotiating with a nearby Key Food to collaborate on a dual pharmacy and grocery store that would meet the demands of residents, who for months have been waging war against the drug chain through rallies, petitions and pledges to boycott the store.
But Brennan warned that discussions with the pharmacy giant are nascent.
"There is not a decision or a completed negotiation yet," he told the crowd of roughly 50 residents assembled at Holy Name of Jesus Church for the latest meeting of Green Beans not Walgreens, a community movement dedicated to ensuring that fresh produce is brought back to Windsor Terrace.
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"We do not know what is going to happen. But we do know they are talking to each other," he said, adding that more information should be available by the end of October.
This is a sea change from Walgreens' stance only a few months ago, when representatives dismissed requests from elected officials and community members to consider sharing the space with a grocery.
Lauren Elvers Collins, co-founder of the Windsor Terrace Alliance, attended an initial meeting with Walgreens officials in June, and came away less than optimistic about the company's willingness to work with the community.
"I didn't get the sense in June they were interested in looking into the grocery option," she said. "It does seem like they've changed their approach dramatically."
If Walgreens has changed its mind, it may be because Windsor Terrace is sending a message that has become impossible to ignore.
Almost 5,000 residents—representing 60 percent of the Windsor Terrace population—have signed a petition in protest of Walgreens, said Ryan Lynch, a Green Beans organizer and member of Community Board 7.
The group has also released a list of demands, specifying what exactly it wants to see in a grocery store, and began publishing a bi-weekly newsletter called the Green Beans Gazette to keep the community apprised of the latest news from the front lines.
But Lynch reminded the crowd that the war has not been won.
“The theme of this evening is that it's working, but we’re not there yet," he said.
"We need to keep the pressure on them in the weeks and months ahead.”
The efforts of Green Beans Not Walgreens, reaching out directly to Mr. Geller and Walgreens, has never said what the food market should be other than the desired size, what kinds of (fresh) foods need to be provided and how much. Union Market would be a welcome edition, in my opinion. They just announced yesterday that they are opening another location in Park Slope in the former Sette restaurant location, so they are still open to expansion. If Walgreens did their market research throughly, they would see they are actually not welcomed in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood by most of the community. You will be free to shop there if they choose to stay whereas many other people will exercise their free market right not to shop there.
BTW - i have a hard time believing that a union market would not be met with age and income wars. I hear them being nasty to deli owners who charge $3 for a sandwich. I just heard a retired old-timer tell someone to go back to the midwestern state where they came from and take their walgreens with them. Not bullies?
should they stick their heads in the sand and wait for store to be fully stocked and open and running before they "act", in this case as you suggest action to be to "don't patronize the place and they will go out of business. Let the free market work itself out." Not sure I agree that the free market is doing so well as to "work itself out" in this, and many other instances. As long as those who have get more and more of what they want, they seem happy to pee down on the the rest of us so we get our trickle... As long as they get more first, trickle down works great!
and not for nothing, but you speak of bullies...? read your own words... are you not bullying people by insulting and demeaning them in an attempt to get them to stop speaking up for what they believe in?
There are pretty limited options for people without a car- not so easy to carry groceries on a bus if frail. II personally would love a Union Market, but it might not be loved by all. I think the free market works in general and in the long run, but may not optimize situations in the short run. For example, if someone leases a buding for 30 years, it may be cheaper to run an unneeded enterprise than break a lease.
I think it's great that the neighborhood is (now) peacefully attempting to find some sort of compromise. Of course, this strategy wasn't the initial one suggested by many. At the start of this whole debacle, there were plenty of people calling on our local representatives (Marty Markowitz, Brad Lander, Bloomberg, etc.) to outright STOP Walgreen's from opening a store. Revoke the necessary licenses. Zone the lot for nothing but a supermarket. That sort of thing. You should consider that these requests painted the "protestors" in a very bad light and helped to bring about this backlash against what many (myself included) perceive as being a truly criminal way to go about getting what you want. The simple facts are that the former owner had every right to sell or lease his land to anyone he chose, Walgreen's has the right to be that choice and open their store, and only the demand, or lack of demand, for their services will ultimately decide whether they are "not needed or desired". All the meetings, protests, and online comments in the world won't change that.
Not everyone has two pharmacies on PPW. You see, for those people who work in manhattan (i know, the horror) and with no stay at home wife, or are not retired, there are not two usable pharmacies in WT. (check the local hours, and what time professionals are through commuting). For people who would prefer to not get sick on a Sunday, but do anyways, there is also no local pharmacy. For all those people who like the merchandise at a drug store like you could find at the end of the last century, there is no drug store. A supermarket would be fantastic, why not - a shake shack would be divine too, since WT is a hamburger desert - but if it is another "reasonably priced" piece of junk like we just had, no thanks. Walgreens please. However, i'm not going to place signs that say "for the love of god, someone who knows how to run a business please open something in Windsor Terrace". You know, like a decent restaurant that has a dish invented after 1930? I'm going to guess that few intelligent educated persons of resource probably would want to hang their shingle here, after seeing how the local fauna embrace business that isn't what they wanted.
They get signatures after asking "would you like to sign this in support of a supermarket?" Sure, why not! More of everything for everyone! Then they use it as a tool of war. Oh, the poor poor insulted and indigent people of windsor terrace. They need so much of our sympathy.
We petitioned our elected representatives for assistance in voicing concern over the opening of a Walgreens in the Keyfood space. We amassed a large body of citizens of Windsor Terrace who expressed their opinions directly to Walgreens representatives. We got signatures in protest of opening a Walgreens. We continued to keep in contact with the elected representatives. If anyone opposed this, they could have voiced their concerns at the meetings, had counter meetings, gathered signatures, had dialogues with elected representatives. Walgreens in their limited wisdom, has chosen to try to find a compromise. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than a cookie cutter big box pharmacy? Maybe. Is the system working? I think a lot better than many here have expressed. Private enterprise working with the community, whose voice has been aided by elected officials.
Glad you finally figured that part out, at least.