FeedLocal: Adams Street Market stinks - literally
September 29, 2007 in Local
WHOI is reporting that Adams Street Market — I cannot call the joint a supermarket, as the station did — is in danger of closing because they owner is now claiming that it’s costing him $300 a day to pay an off-duty police offer to stand guard at the place after 2:30 p.m. on days ther store is open.
Here’s what I noticed when I stopped at the joint last week: The place stinks. Bad. There’s an odor of rotting meat throughout, although some parts of the store stink worse than others. How bad? Imagine you’ve left the house for a 7-day summer vacation and your power goes out on day one. Then imagine opening the door to your freezer when you get back. Yeah. Like that.
I walked down the aisles and looked at the merchandize on the shelves. It’s got the variety I would expect in a store that size, albeit with a lot of off-brand and generics. Haddad’s in West Peoria is smaller, and they’ve got more variety, I think. The store stock Diet DAD’S root beer, with I like, maki it the only thing I like about the place. But they don’t have ANY fresh veggies, expect for some sad-looking apples in baskets. I didn’t get too close, because they were on the side of the store that really stinks bad.
They’ve got a counter that advertises all sorts of freshly cooked foods, but all I saw was some fried chicken that you could not have paid me enough to try to sample.
Apparently, owner Ahmad Abud is going to ask the city to relieve him of the requirement he continue to hire a guard. This would be his second request to lessen the requirements for which he was so eager to agree.
I suggest that he might get enough people through to door to cover the cost of the guard if he bothered to keep the place clean. Just people most of his potential customers are poor, that doesn’t mean they are going to want to buy their groceries at a place that reaks of rotten meat.
When this guy’s liquor license came up for a vote, I was in favor. I saw no reason to deny the man a chance to conduct business in the city, especially in an area in need of stores within waking distance. But the good folks of Peoria wanted some concessions to make sure the place wasn’t just an excuse to become just another liquor store. And the owner agreed. And then he backpeddled once. Now he wants to backpeddle again. And his store is revealed to be what neighborhood activists feared: A dirty, smelly place that exists only to peddle liquor and lottery tickets.
Feh.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Billy sez: “….his store is revealed to be what neighborhood activists feared: A dirty, smelly place that exists only to peddle liquor and lottery tickets.”
I say: Huh, I knew it, Ricca knew it, in fact everyone who lives in the southend that cares about the neighborhood knew it, except Gulley, BVA, and all the great people who troll down here to have a look and just knew what was good for us.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I was never a fan of the condition placed on the license requiring him to hire off-duty police officers. In fact, I think it is a slap in the face to the residents of the area to assume that such a high level of government intervention is necessary to control the situation. I think that a better condition would be to have indicated that he would lose the license if he were proven to have sold liquor to anyone under age or allowed individuals to congregate on his property. That’s something he can control rather than what his customers do with the alcohol after they purchase it. Hold him accountable but provide a level playing field. Seems that we have as much trouble if not more with Sheridan Liquors and we don’t require them to have off-duty officers — in fact we put up a city funded camera to cover the area.
Personnally, I think there is as much a problem with drunk bar hoppers in the mainstreet area after midnight. Maybe the City Council should require that every new 4 a.m. liquor license applicant agree to hire off-duty officers for their bars. But we know that won’t happen when half the city council spends as much time at Kelleher’s (a likely beneficiary of a new 4 a.m. license thanks to BVA) as they do on conducting preparation for City Council meetings.
September 30th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Silly question alert! Why does he need to be open unitl midnight? He could reduce his private security cost by $90 a day if he closed at 9 PM like Haddad’s does. Does he have that many shoppers between 9 and midnight?
September 30th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Silly question indeed. THE GUY IS RUNNING A LIQUOR STORE.
September 30th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Stole my fire, Bill. This was all about being a liquor store from the get go.
September 30th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Its pretty sad when a store that only been open a few weeks is already in the toilet. The people in that area definitely needed a good, healthy store within walking distance and one without liquor could have flourished, despite what others say. I spoke to Gulley a while back about a store we had considered putting in in the area and he said he was no longer interested in our project. So now we have what we have.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
To answer some of the questions that have already appeared. He agreed to be open untill 10:00 p.m. not 12:00 I don’t know where midnight slipped into the picture. If all you people can remember a few months ago the beautiful picture of fresh fruits and vegetables galore that was portrayed to be part of this store??? well people it did not play in Peoria. Also the promise of a large fresh meat varity to be present also did’nt play in Peoria right from the beginning. Don’t you think it’s about time that our council person and this city sits down with the long time residents of the Southside while there are still some still living here and ask them what they would like to have and listen to them for a change. Why would I spend my money weekly at a place that is no better than the one I refuse to shop at on the Southside already. If they would spend half the time they have spent trying to get of the police on trying to find out why people are not shopping there and fix it maybe it could be a success. Why do other area residents in this city think that the people of the Southside should have to shop at a store they would’nt even step into let alone shop? You talk about a slap in the face!!!!!! How about the picture of a Northside resident who has never lived one day in the Southside being the savior for us poor dumb people who can’t make our own case on why this store is failing????? Do you think we would ever be consulted when businesses fail in the 4th or 5th district?? I don’t think so…. Mr. Abud threatned the council right from the start that if they did not create a TIF.area for the store he would leave. Now he is threatening again that if they don’t relieve him of the police agreement he will leave. WELL I SAY GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDENS……….
YOUR STORE SURE IS NOT AN ASSET TO THE SOUTHSIDE. REMEMBER WHY WE DID’NT WANT LIQUOR PEOPLE?????? WELL WATCH AND SEE IF WHAT WE SAID DON”T COME TO PASS.