Rumors of the demise of
Shoppers Food Warehouse at 5110 Nicholson Lane in White Flint Plaza reached my desk earlier this week. However, a call to the grocery store confirmed it remains open indefinitely. A corporate spokesperson for the grocery chain responded to an inquiry earlier this week on Friday. She said the store will stay open for the immediate future, but that the pharmacy inside the store will close on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
10 comments:
All stores are closing. It's not happening overnight, but Shoppers intends to sell all stores "within months". They closed their store in Olney last year and it is being converted to a Giant. Giant also bought their stores in Alexandria, Falls Church and Herndon.
This was reported by local news media 5 weeks ago.
Looks like they are closing their stores faster in Northern Virginia. Already 3 out of the former 6 stores have closed there.
7:09: I am aware of that larger issue, but the immediate rumors were that this store had closed, or would be closing at the end of the month. Clearly, the store is still open.
No local media has reported the pharmacy at this store is closing next week until I just did this morning. That's the benefit of hyperlocal news - not just taking a national story from the business journal.
Yup. Takes more than a Wall Street Journal subscription to report local retail news.
We need Dyer, now more than ever, covering local retail.
So reporting on a "rumor" about something that didn't actually happen, that no one else reported, is "news", but the coming closure of the entire Shoppers Food Warehouse chain, including this store is simply, "I'm aware of that larger issue", but no actual mention in your article?
7:41: You should read an article before criticizing it. The pharmacy is closing Tuesday. That is news, not a rumor. No one else reported this, Saul.
FYI -- The Giant in Olney in the old Shoppers is open and crazy busy. Was there on Friday.
From Robert Dyer's article: "Rumors of the demise of Shoppers Food Warehouse at 5110 Nicholson Lane in White Flint Plaza reached my desk earlier this week. However, a call to the grocery store confirmed it remains open indefinitely. A corporate spokesperson for the grocery chain responded to an inquiry earlier this week on Friday. She said the store will stay open for the immediate future."
The Washington Business Journal reported on March 20 that Shoppers Food Warehouse intends to sell all of their grocery stores. Several other news sites reported this shortly thereafter. Shoppers sold their Olney store to Giant last June, and that store re-opened as a Giant just a few weeks ago. For Robert Dyer to pretend at this stage that he does not know the future of the Kensington store (or any other store) is unethical.
But wait… it's actually worse than that:
Robert Dyer (in a comment at 7:15 AM): "I am aware of that larger issue."
He acknowledges that he knows - but is withholding - a key element of the story that he is reporting.
From the article: "The pharmacy inside the store will close on Tuesday, April 30, 2019."
Robert Dyer (in a comment at 7:54 AM): "The pharmacy is closing Tuesday. That is news, not a rumor. No one else reported this, Saul."
NBC4 and Washington Business Journal reported on Wednesday April 24 that Shoppers will close all of the pharmacies in their stores by May 2, including the four stores in Suburban News Network’s coverage area:
• Germantown – Monday, April 29
• Kensington – Tuesday, April 30
• Takoma Park – Wednesday, May 1
• Wheaton – Thursday, May 2
Also, the unattributed image accompanying this article was copied from Google Street View (image captured July 2018).
I noticed that. He also deleted my comment that I already knew about the pharmacies closing when I saw the story here. And that I must have gotten it from them because I also remember learning that Sweetgreen was going to take cash again at the same time.
Is he really that thin-skinned that he has to delete reality?
9:55 AM 4/27/19
"Shoppers Food Warehouse on Nicholson Lane not closing, but pharmacy will"
Obviously so.
I was in Shoppers by White Flint this morning. One of the managers has confirmed that they are reducing the ordering of their inventory significantly.
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