[Vision2020] Palouse Monopoly Empire Mall; Gas/Food prices

Sat Apr 21 16:33:50 PDT 2007

Paul,

  It seems to me you are saying that if people cannot afford a $1 loaf of bread at WinCo they can always go buy a cake at Safeway for $19.95?

  I think you fail to grasp the concept that for thousands of people on the Palouse WinCo is something they can barely afford now. Safeway is not an option for many anymore than having fresh bread vacuum sealed and Fed Ex'd from Paris for many others. 

  I am glad you have the option of spending so freely as to do all your shopping anywhere you want. However, many people only have a $150 budget for food or less and that doesn't buy much at Safeway. Top Ramen gets a little old after your 4000th helping over 5 years.

  Safeway is NOT a super discount store. It is not for the poor and underclasses, it serves primarily the middle and upper middle class neighborhoods surrounding the area. People go there mostly for convenience of location or to avoid the large crowds at WinCo.

  Best,

  Donovan 

Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:
  I could have sworn I bought food at a massive chain store the other day in the other mall.  Anyway, I don't think the Winco retail chain is being overly hurt by UI and WSU student population declines.  Maybe this branch, but I'd like to see some figures first.  I'm also wondering if large supermarket chains, such as Winco, aren't just raising prices all over in an attempt to cover losses in other places.  Anyway, there are alternatives to Winco.  There must be, because I rarely shop there (except to buy the occasional Pocky sticks) and I need food to survive just like everybody else.  I'd be interested to find out if local stores, such as the Co-op, are having to raise their prices more than the big-name stores.  Presumably, this same rise in prices due to gas prices will affect everything that is shipped by truck - not just food.  Walmart is basically built on the idea of massive transportation of goods quickly.  I'd imagine that the rise in gas prices will affect it
 more than most stores.

As for the honey bee problem, I'm hoping that it will work itself out the natural way.  The 40% of bees that are left will breed resistance to whatever it is that is killing them off, and the survivors will flourish because there is now so little competition for them individually.

Also, the Palouse Mall does not have a monopoly.  There is nothing that they are doing that would stop another developer from building their own mall.  If you want to protest the high prices they charge for rental space, don't shop there.  You'll find there are a number of alternatives out there.

Paul

Donovan Arnold wrote:     Food prices are only going to go up even more for several reasons;

  1) The massive extinction of honey bees has created a void in pollination of 1/3 of the US food supply. 60% of honey bees have died, with no cure or solution in the near future.

  2) Increases in fuel prices increase the shipping costs of food. 

  3) Many crops were wiped out this year due in the freakish winter storms. For example, oranges had a massive freeze.

  4) The UI and WSU student populations have decreased, the main income for Winco. With a reduced volume in sales, Winco has to raise prices to cover losses in volume sales.

  5) No competition. With no other discount grocery stores in the area, like say a Super Wal-Mart, Winco can raise its prices with no consequences, everybody has to eat.

  6) The owners of the Palouse Empire Mall are raising their rents. 

  I think it is obvious, Moscow needs competition in the area to curve rising prices. It also needs to do some sting operations on gas price fixing which obviously is going on. 

  Maybe, many of you guys should call Pat Vaughn and ask him to reassess the property value of the Palouse Empire Mall, which is monopoly. Perhaps if the mall can make such huge increases in their leases, the value of the only active retail mall on the Palouse is much higher than what the County Assessor has it listed as. 

  If I had the time, and a personal interest at stake, like so many of you do, I would contest the taxable value of the Palouse Empire Mall. It is clear that it has a really high value since it is able to charge so much for its lease spaces and has no real competition. Moscow is probably losing $100,000s in tax revenue that could go to things like finding a new space for the public bus to park on the west side of town, and to give property tax breaks to locally owned businesses that are having a hard time due to the fact no mall will let them conduct business on their property. Just a thought to those litigious and want what's best and for our community.

  Best,

  Donovan

Ellen Roskovich <gussie443 at hotmail.com> wrote:
      As the cost of gas continues to climb at the pumps, the price of food starts to rise at the grocery stores.  Has anyone else noticed this recently?

  Ellen Roskovich

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  =======================================================   List services made available by First Step Internet,    serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.                    http://www.fsr.net                                   mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com  =======================================================

=======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. 
http://www.fsr.net 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
 Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
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