Supporters Hope Revamp Will Give Gateway a Push
When Gateway Marketplace opened in November, it was expected to play a major role in the revitalization of Southeast San Diego by providing jobs and a badly needed supermarket for the long-neglected community. But the crowds that flooded the grocery-warehouse supermarket on opening weekend have been long gone.
The market’s sagging sales came as a surprise to Gateway management and city officials, who see the success of the supermarket as a key to Southeast’s rejuvenation.
“We were surprised to have the market open and business be so slow when the market was so badly needed in the community,” said Beverly Schneider, Gateway’s marketing manager.
35 Employees Laid Off
Poor sales forced management to lay off 35 employees from December through January, cutting the staff to 75, she said.
Gateway decided to poll its customers to find out why so many weren’t coming back. What it learned was that although the community wanted to shop at Gateway, the store didn’t offer a wide enough variety of grocery items, Schneider said.
The layout of the store was changed to include more grocery items, and the fresh produce and meat sections were expanded. A delicatessen and magazine rack were added, and customers can now cash checks and pay their San Diego Gas & Electric bills at the store, Schneider said.
While it remains uncertain whether the changes will have a long-term affect on customers, business has increased more than 50% during the past three weeks, said store manager Joe Rodriguez.
‘We Made Changes’
“The store wasn’t what it should have been when we opened,” according to Schneider. “When we opened, we had one-third grocery, one-third hardware and one-third everything else, similar to a Price Club warehouse, but we found out that was not what the community wanted, so we made changes.”
Southeast San Diego resident Michael Sibley said: “I came to see how it was when it first opened, but now it is better organized and there is a wider selection. The prices were very low, and I will be back.”
Shopper Tiffany Tate added that after the changes, she “was impressed with the wide variety of food goods and appliances. It’s nice to have a place like this close to home. The community has been without one for so long.”
Lisa Bridges, a student at the San Diego College of Retailing, which shares space with Gateway, said: “I have been here in Southeast San Diego and I have seen some of the stores in the area try to sell spoiled meat with flies on it. I have seen the dirty floors. But because there was no pressure from the people, the stores never cared. Now the people in the area have a choice to shop in a clean store with low prices. Now they can shop in a store with floors so clean you could eat off of them.”
Donation From Price Co.
The store was started with a $3.5-million donation from Price Co. Chairman Sol Price, founder of the successful Price Club discount warehouse chain. The store is owned by the non-profit Gateway Marketplace Inc.
The no-frills store bears a striking resemblance to a Price Club in both its look and prices. As at Price Clubs, the goods are stacked high in aisles, freezers and shelves and are often left in the original cases with the tops cut off.
One difference is that Gateway does not require membership from its customers, as does Price Club.
Another is that its items come in typical supermarket sizes--not the wholesale-size items often seen at Price Club.
College Shares Space
The market shares its building with the non-profit San Diego College of Retailing, which owns the 12-acre property. Rents paid by the store, figured as 1.5% of gross sales, will support the school.
The 25 students at the four-year school, most of them minorities, will learn skills enabling them to work at or manage retail operations ranging from department stores to supermarkets. Students spend 10 hours a week in the classroom and 30 hours a week working in the store.
Schneider said that because the Gateway concept is a new one, management at first had “no idea” what to expect. And, like any new business, she said, it is experiencing “growing pains.”
“This is the first time a market and retail college like this has opened in the country,” she said.
Lack of Advertising Blamed
Schneider also said a lack of advertising has contributed to the market’s slow start.
“The more we have to spend on advertising our overhead goes up, and that’s not the ideal of Gateway,” she said. “We want to give the community name-brand products in a clean, safe environment.”
To help make up for the small advertising budget--$4,000 a month--Gateway management, students and community volunteers, along with Mayor Maureen O’Connor, City Councilman Wes Pratt and County Supervisor Leon Williams, recently walked door-to-door in the residential areas near the market, asking people to shop at the market.
“Because we are located in an industrial park, there is virtually no foot traffic through the area, and customers need transportation to get to the market,” Schneider said. “Seniors would like to shop at the market but have no way to get here. We are now looking into obtaining buses that could bring them to us.”
Bus Stop May Be Moved
“One lady told me she would love to shop at the Gateway but the bus stop is too far away. Currently we are checking out ways to get a bench and move the bus stop right on the property.” (The stop is in front of the Gateway industrial park about 400 feet from the market.)
Store management is also hoping that a Burger King restaurant under construction, as well as other small stores scheduled to be built on the 12-acre parcel, will increase traffic in the area.
Councilman Pratt said he is confident that sales at the market will increase.
“It takes a little while to change the shopping habits of the consumer, but I am confident that the market will be a success,” he said. “It’s an excellent idea. And some young people in the community will gain employment and have a chance to develop skills in the retail trade industry, which is almost a reason in itself to see the Gateway Marketplace succeed.”
Schneider said Gateway is striving to be not only a supermarket, but the center of community activity as well.
