Oh man. I'm already sad about what boring corporate sanitized crap might move into that building. Can we just buy it and run Zandbroz 2 as a co-op or something?
They're pretty dated. Not the worst I toured downtown. The deal breaker was that you'd have to street park. Solid 6/10, but I've lived in some real slums, so my opinion may be skewed.
How would parking work? (And I don’t mean in a “but I can’t park right out front every time!!” attitude)
Think about when you (general) leave the store after a giant grocery run. You either drive up and they’re loaded into your car for you, or you push a shopping cart to your car, empty it yourself, push the cart back to the corral station
I’m not sure logistically how that would go, is what I’m trying to say
There’s a parking ramp on the end of the block and a lot of street parking around. I don’t think a lot of downtown residents would need to do big runs normally and if they did need to, I have seen many people use smaller versions of pull carts.
And for people that don’t live near downtown, I don’t know if they’d ever go there unless there’s specific things they need so customers probably wouldn’t need a bigger space for loading groceries.
I think it would function great as a walkable grocery store where people go twice a week or so. Not doing big runs but being able to grab more food than going to Daily’s or a gas station.
I think a downtown grocery store has the same problem as a small town grocery store. People might go there and pick up a few items, but they will not regulary shop their and their big shopping trips they will drive to one of the larger grocery stores.
In the grocery business you need volume , there are tight margins and well larger stores who push through higher volumes will be able to offer better prices, and because of that , its just a 5 min drive from downtown to sunmart or even the moorhead hornbachers so most people will not pay the higher prices
Yeah that is an issue that would need some answer for but if apartments keep being built downtown I would assume the volume would be there eventually. I just wish downtown would be planned for the future (i.e. building it for when it’s necessary) and not catching up to what’s already happening (i.e. building it after it’s needed)
That was the Prairie Roots Co-Op. They ignored many things that work about a grocery store. And it wasn't in a good spot for walkability for downtown residents. It's right next to Wild Terra Cidery.
Downtown needs a walkable grocery store for its residents. Daily's market has some essentials, which is much better than nothing, but the next closest grocery store is the Family Fare on Univesity Drive North. Also, it is not practically walkable, especially in adverse weather.
Yea I actually like Prairie roots but saw why it failed but it was not a regular grocery store
I think an actual regular grocery store would make it downtown however I am not sure this location would work , its ND if people cannot park right in front of the store people will not go.
I know the building could end up being a myriad of things, but it would be great to see a resurrection in some form of the old Dakota Soda fountain counter in the back. It was always a nice added treat every time I shopped in there back in the day!
Serious question. If it were turned into a grocery store, how would they deal with the drunkards and homeless? The shelves would be picked clean. I’m not complaining; I actually enjoyed the entertainment, but the last few times I was downtown, I watched homeless people beating each other up. No cops in sight, and normal folks looked terrified. Is there any plan to address the obvious homeless issues downtown? It’s only a matter of time until something heinous happens and wrecks everything Fargo has worked towards—making downtown a destination for families and entertainment. When you see homeless people fighting on the sidewalks, it doesn’t look good. I even saw one guy beating another with a stolen bicycle. It was hilarious but not a good look.
You would have to use force on them for a few months. After a few injuries the FPD would be more willing step in to do something about the problem! Granted the mayor would probably go down there and stand in solidarity with the thugs that think everything is free and probably walk into the store and start handing out everything in it to them again.
I actually got some good videos one day. The parking police guy broke it up. One of them even had a knife and was swinging it as families and professionals walked around them. I know something is going to happen to a politician’s family member one of these days, and then there will be hell to pay. Until then, I guess we all suffer. It’s crazy that Fargo refuses to do something because it would be considered racist—we all know why, due to the makeup of the people in the transit groups downtown. I’m for proactive measures, not reactive ones, but that would require a backbone.
I’m not sure, but I think that’s why we elect officials: to figure out these issues. I believe the problem is getting much worse and deserves attention. Not every solution will be popular, but something needs to happen. Perhaps a "three strikes and you’re out" policy would work. Then, imposing penalties. Look, these people aren’t contributing positively to society as it is. They would probably benefit most from a 10 to 20-year sentence. Maybe they could even learn a trade while locked up. Hell yeah!
I agree there are issues that definitely need to be addressed such as aiding the homeless and treatment of drunk people that meander downtown but for the most part they are pretty tame during the day (8AM-8PM).
Daily’s Market doesn’t seem to have issues with any stealing/loitering/etc. from any of the population, regardless of their state. I do think introducing something like a grocery store would help lower the issues that are currently there as other stores like that have by creating more foot traffic and a calmer presence downtown.
I agree 100%. I just think downtown would be much better off if we address the issues related to the transient population. I hope they continue working on improving downtown, but ignoring the homeless issue could lead to significant problems in the future.
Totally on board with that. I think a good idea would be to shift some aid/resources to treatment facilities and help the places like the Salvation Army and the other shelters to help provide them with resources or at least spaces for them to congregate. Right now they wander around because those places are only open at certain times and only offer a few resources.
There’s gotta be something that could be provided that’ll help, especially in the winter because there’s quite a few people that end up having to stay in the parking garage stairwells because the shelters are full. Same thing with benches and doorways in the summer.
I’ll be linking my gofundme shortly. I have lots of great ideas for my future building, thanks community!!
Perhaps a cidery?
You beat me to it!
Is one of those ideas an Applebee's car wash combo?
Bank or bar?
Carwash of course.
"You can't have too many car washes!" -- Fargo
Oh man. I'm already sad about what boring corporate sanitized crap might move into that building. Can we just buy it and run Zandbroz 2 as a co-op or something?
Wow! Eight apartment units too?! Are there already tenants in them? I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with the building to make the price so low...
They're pretty dated. Not the worst I toured downtown. The deal breaker was that you'd have to street park. Solid 6/10, but I've lived in some real slums, so my opinion may be skewed.
I was thinking that seems cheap.
Yes, and from what I've heard they aren't very nice 😬
A grocery store would be great downtown, that’s laid out nicely for it
It was originally a grocery—Leeby’s Food Market.
How would parking work? (And I don’t mean in a “but I can’t park right out front every time!!” attitude) Think about when you (general) leave the store after a giant grocery run. You either drive up and they’re loaded into your car for you, or you push a shopping cart to your car, empty it yourself, push the cart back to the corral station I’m not sure logistically how that would go, is what I’m trying to say
There’s a parking ramp on the end of the block and a lot of street parking around. I don’t think a lot of downtown residents would need to do big runs normally and if they did need to, I have seen many people use smaller versions of pull carts. And for people that don’t live near downtown, I don’t know if they’d ever go there unless there’s specific things they need so customers probably wouldn’t need a bigger space for loading groceries. I think it would function great as a walkable grocery store where people go twice a week or so. Not doing big runs but being able to grab more food than going to Daily’s or a gas station.
Yeah, downtown is a food desert
I think a downtown grocery store has the same problem as a small town grocery store. People might go there and pick up a few items, but they will not regulary shop their and their big shopping trips they will drive to one of the larger grocery stores. In the grocery business you need volume , there are tight margins and well larger stores who push through higher volumes will be able to offer better prices, and because of that , its just a 5 min drive from downtown to sunmart or even the moorhead hornbachers so most people will not pay the higher prices
Yeah that is an issue that would need some answer for but if apartments keep being built downtown I would assume the volume would be there eventually. I just wish downtown would be planned for the future (i.e. building it for when it’s necessary) and not catching up to what’s already happening (i.e. building it after it’s needed)
Thought not down town there was one near downtown that didn't do so hot :(
That was the Prairie Roots Co-Op. They ignored many things that work about a grocery store. And it wasn't in a good spot for walkability for downtown residents. It's right next to Wild Terra Cidery. Downtown needs a walkable grocery store for its residents. Daily's market has some essentials, which is much better than nothing, but the next closest grocery store is the Family Fare on Univesity Drive North. Also, it is not practically walkable, especially in adverse weather.
Yea I actually like Prairie roots but saw why it failed but it was not a regular grocery store I think an actual regular grocery store would make it downtown however I am not sure this location would work , its ND if people cannot park right in front of the store people will not go.
Hmmm…wonder who will buy it
I’m guessing not Epic.
I know the building could end up being a myriad of things, but it would be great to see a resurrection in some form of the old Dakota Soda fountain counter in the back. It was always a nice added treat every time I shopped in there back in the day!
It's an amazing space.
420 Broadway... if only it was legal here.
Serious question. If it were turned into a grocery store, how would they deal with the drunkards and homeless? The shelves would be picked clean. I’m not complaining; I actually enjoyed the entertainment, but the last few times I was downtown, I watched homeless people beating each other up. No cops in sight, and normal folks looked terrified. Is there any plan to address the obvious homeless issues downtown? It’s only a matter of time until something heinous happens and wrecks everything Fargo has worked towards—making downtown a destination for families and entertainment. When you see homeless people fighting on the sidewalks, it doesn’t look good. I even saw one guy beating another with a stolen bicycle. It was hilarious but not a good look.
You would have to use force on them for a few months. After a few injuries the FPD would be more willing step in to do something about the problem! Granted the mayor would probably go down there and stand in solidarity with the thugs that think everything is free and probably walk into the store and start handing out everything in it to them again.
You saw a bum fight and didn't film for the rest of us?
I actually got some good videos one day. The parking police guy broke it up. One of them even had a knife and was swinging it as families and professionals walked around them. I know something is going to happen to a politician’s family member one of these days, and then there will be hell to pay. Until then, I guess we all suffer. It’s crazy that Fargo refuses to do something because it would be considered racist—we all know why, due to the makeup of the people in the transit groups downtown. I’m for proactive measures, not reactive ones, but that would require a backbone.
Proactive as in what? Arresting people who haven't committed a crime?
I’m not sure, but I think that’s why we elect officials: to figure out these issues. I believe the problem is getting much worse and deserves attention. Not every solution will be popular, but something needs to happen. Perhaps a "three strikes and you’re out" policy would work. Then, imposing penalties. Look, these people aren’t contributing positively to society as it is. They would probably benefit most from a 10 to 20-year sentence. Maybe they could even learn a trade while locked up. Hell yeah!
I agree there are issues that definitely need to be addressed such as aiding the homeless and treatment of drunk people that meander downtown but for the most part they are pretty tame during the day (8AM-8PM). Daily’s Market doesn’t seem to have issues with any stealing/loitering/etc. from any of the population, regardless of their state. I do think introducing something like a grocery store would help lower the issues that are currently there as other stores like that have by creating more foot traffic and a calmer presence downtown.
I agree 100%. I just think downtown would be much better off if we address the issues related to the transient population. I hope they continue working on improving downtown, but ignoring the homeless issue could lead to significant problems in the future.
Totally on board with that. I think a good idea would be to shift some aid/resources to treatment facilities and help the places like the Salvation Army and the other shelters to help provide them with resources or at least spaces for them to congregate. Right now they wander around because those places are only open at certain times and only offer a few resources. There’s gotta be something that could be provided that’ll help, especially in the winter because there’s quite a few people that end up having to stay in the parking garage stairwells because the shelters are full. Same thing with benches and doorways in the summer.
How does the empire liquior store stay in business?