Saturday, July 01, 2000
Downtown residents want store
By Allen Howard
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The conversation between Charles Weaver and Ken Million last week at the Cafe Cin Cin was about Cincinnati getting a supermarket downtown.
Both are downtown residents and both agreed the supermarket chain to put a store here should be Kroger.
“It is a shame that the largest supermarket (chain) in the country with its office downtown will not put a supermarket here,” Mr. Million said.
Mr. Million has lived downtown 14 years. He said he loves it, but doesn't like having to leave town to get to a supermarket.
Mr. Weaver, who has lived downtown since 1936, said he goes over the river to shop for groceries.
“I don't like the Kroger store on Vine Street (in Over-the-Rhine),” he said. “It is not very well stocked, and it is (in) a bad area.
“There is a lot of residential housing going up, and a lot of businesses are coming into the downtown area. It is time for a supermarket down here.”
The latest figures from the city show that more than 4,000 people live in the Central Business District and Riverfront area in Cincinnati.
Another 9,509 in Over-the-Rhine and 11,352 in the West End are close enough to be downtown shoppers. Yet, downtown dwellers have to go over the river, or to Walnut Hills or Corryville to the nearest Kroger.
The Kroger Co. headquarters is at 1014 Vine Street, downtown.
“If they can put their headquarters downtown, I don't see why they can't have a store down here — even if it has to be in the same building where their headquarters are,” Mr. Million said.
Kroger and the city explored locating a store near its headquarters about four years ago, but the deal failed, said Myron Hughes, division manager for downtown development.
“We were looking at the spot at Central Parkway and Jackson Street, across the street from the Kroger Headquarters,” Mr. Hughes said.
We are looking for another spot to locate a grocery store downtown, not necessarily Kroger.”
The Downtown Council Inc. has entered the push for a store.
“One of the things the city needs to make downtown a success is a grocery store,” said David Ginsburg, executive vice president of the council. Kroger spokesman Steve Jagers said he knows of no plans to build a store downtown.
The Western Hills auxiliary of Mercy Franciscan Hospital awarded four college scholarships to high school students pursuing health care careers.
Matt Mergy of White Oak received a $1,500 scholarship. He is a senior at St. Xavier High School. He plans to major in chemical engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and work in pharmaceuticals. Matt is the son of Vicki Mergy, a medical research technologist at Western Hills.
Other awardees: Christopher Corso of Price Hill, a senior at Elder High School, plans to major in pre-pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati; Amanda Morris of Price Hill, a senior at Seton High School, plans to major in nuclear medicine at the University of Findley, Ohio; Katherine Schroth of Delhi, a senior at Seton High School, will study pre-medicine at Miami University.
Scholarships are based on ACT or SAT scores, grade point average, community participation, school activities and an essay on why students want to pursue their chosen career.
Allen Howard's column runs on Saturdays. Call: 768-8362. Mail: The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.
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