I've been asked to pass on two bits of info for the Argonaut:
1. The Argo is currently hiring servers.
2. The Argo wants to sponsor your local spots team.
If either of these propositions is of interest to you, email Scott at scott.magnuson[AT]yahoo.com
47 comments:
The Argonaut is currently hiring servers, both full and part-time. We are looking for nieghborhood people with good character, the ability to multitask and work well with a small family-like staff!
We are also looking to sponcor local summer teams. house softball? soccer? Or any other team (or group) That would be interested in partnering with The Argonaut!
Feel free to email me dirrectly at scott@argonautdc.com or scott.magnuson@yahoo.com
Thanks!
thread hijack: WBJ up with story that Giant coming to 3rd & H Streets.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/04/19/daily61.html
A shiny new Giant, while not Whole Foods, would be a great addition to the corridor.
However, I don't like this quote:
Robinson said. "To the extent we can work with Giant on the look and feel and offerings, that might be something we might be able to work out on the road.”
This is squarely in ANC 6C, *NOT* 6A. Kelvin Robinson and 6A should stay out of any negotiations on this property and let the appropriate commissioners work on this. An out-of-boundary ANC trying to get involved can only delay this important project.
Kelvin Robinson and 6A should stay out of any negotiations on this property and let the appropriate commissioners work on this.
Especially because he represents an area with a western boundary of 18TH STREET NE!
you mean 8th st? and of course he should have input. the store will affect residents in 6A
I was hoping they would split the space up and have a smaller specialty grocer with something else cool/unusual adjacent to it.
I guess beggars can't be choosers.
you mean 8th st? and of course he should have input. the store will affect residents in 6A
Kelvin's Single Member District (SMD) has a western boundary of 18th Street NE (which is where he lives). The entire ANC has a western boundary of 8th Street NE, which I concur is in reasonable proximity to the site. But why is he talking as if he represents the entire potential customer base? Nobody wanted a Giant...
hmph. I won't be shopping there
Really, A giant, at 3rd and H? Im kind of shocked. With a safeway at 5th and K NW, A Harris teeter at 1st and M, I didnt think there would be enough demand for a general grocer like that. Interesting.
uhoh. the dean & deluca crowd in trinidad ain't gonna like this. anything to compete with safeway and teeter is good for the neighborhood. certainly is better than empty lot.
but then again, i live near stanton park and don't care for dean & deluca.
stantonsez
Not sure what all the resistance is about and certainly not sure what the basis is for the quote "Nobody wanted a Giant..." I live in the H street area and am definitely planning on shopping at that Giant. I also think that the wanna be foodie crowd that keeps advocating for Whole Foods/Trader Joes, or some other over priced store is not taking into consideration those H street residents who have families with young children and as such would welcome the convenience and cost savings associated with Giant.
Kelvin is just giving his take on things, I wouldn't get too worked up over a single quote in a hastily put together 300-word story. I would have preferred something better too in terms of a grocer, but this is still good news. It's a major retailer anchoring the strip and with it should come more. I do wonder a bit about how the traffic flow is going to be handled, especially for the folks on 3rd st, which already can get pretty congested at times.
A Giant? Meh. What a complete letdown.
For all the haters, just take a tour of the Giant up in Columbia Heights...its fresh, clean and modern and has done wonders for the neighborhood.
Not this again.
I welcome our Giant overlords.
Only reason I am kind of surprised is there is a Giant over by Home Depot. But I guess they know where the customers at that store come from.
Another thread hijack - what happened to the raccoons?
Check the hot food section at Giant. They're next to the chicken tenders.
Giant/Teeter/Wholefoods whatever. The only thing that would have gotten me really excited would have been an Eastern Market North. The rest is just food.
Back to the original thread, kudos to Scott for offering to sponsor a team - it's a great way to bring the neighborhood together. Why not have an H St league? Softball? Play on a team sponsored by your favorite bar or tavern? As much as I enjoy the Argonaut, I'd even bring my slow bat to play for the Biergarten Haus, (or for Sidamo, if the city keeps delaying my access to a bier stein)
@so - H Street Stickball league?
I'd like a Giant IF they train their staff well and keep it clean.
The improvements to the Safeway on Kentucky Ave made me try really hard to keep going there.
But within a month it was the same old crap - super slow cashiers (some of those older ladies are wonderfully sweet but they can't keep up with the lines, particularly when other cashiers are super slow), perishable items on the verge of going bad, substandard meat products, and a general surly attitude.
It's the attitude and the service, folks.
I have never walked into a Giant and been impressed with the service, layout or offerings. Giant lets their stores go to crap almost within weeks after the grand opening.
I agree that something is better than nothing but this is a disappointment.
Cue the Trader Joe/Whole Foods/gentrification haters in 5...4...3...2...
Raccoons are way meaner than Giant, but Possums prefer Whole Foods.
washington business journal: Giant at H and 3rd....
I second the stickall, chuck
I also think that the wanna be foodie crowd that keeps advocating for Whole Foods/Trader Joes, or some other over priced store
First, just wanted to say this is a pretty ignorant comment. There's almost no price difference when buying the same items from WF versus Safeway or Giant or Harris Teeter. There's just not. The difference is, with Whole Foods, you actually have options.
Secondly, I've found the quality of Giant or Safeway to be dependent on what management perceives the customer-base will put up with. The Safeway on 14th Street SE was basically a pit for decades. It was only when Harris Teeter opened and threatened to undercut their customer base that they did a store renovation. Lately, as they've found their old customers keep coming back, it's been back to business as usual--crappy produce, and filthy floors.
Contrast that with the impeccably clean Harris Teeter on Penn Ave.
Personally, I judge chain stores like these on the quality of the least of their locations. It's pretty obvious when they have such contempt for their customers--they do the bare minimum they can get away with to stay a step ahead of the health department.
trader joe's is not overpriced. They're actually more affordable than Giant and the quality of food there is 150% better and healthier
Whole Foods may be pricier than Giant but in the long run you'll save money when you're in your retirement years. Less health problems = more money in your pocket and a better quality of life when you're old. A lot of the Whole Foods haters don't understand this concept.
Please stop mentioning Trader Joe's. Through a number of different channels, Steuart Development has made it very clear they will not decrease the size of their development to accommodate a medium-sized grocer. And Trader Joes has no interest in a large-scale build-out.
I'm just happy it's not Bloom (aka Food Lion). Or Super Murrys!
There's almost no price difference when buying the same items from WF versus Safeway or Giant or Harris Teeter. There's just not.
If you’re suggesting that prices between WF and Safeway or Giant are comparable then we’re clearly buying different baskets of goods. HT aside, WF or TJ has limited dry goods (diapers, paper towels, formula etc.) and what they have tends to be more expensive. That Safeway has lately “found their old customers keep coming back” when a new HT is just three/four blocks away just substantiates that some difference exists between the two stores and that difference is preferred by the “old customers.” Oboe, what I found most interesting about your argument is that you cite Safeway @ 14th and KY as the basis for your criticism of Giant. In fact, except for one post, all the critics of Giant don’t actually cite a bad experience @ Giant rather the negative comments default to one particular Safeway.
I'm fine with giant going in at that space. It will be so nice to walk to a full service store right in the neighborhood rather than drive to 5th and K or Penn SE.
I don't understand why people make bad choices. I think the government should protect them from themselves.
(no you won't live longer if you shop at whole paycheck. pricey baguettes still fatten the ass.)
A Giant? Oh no!!!
I'd much prefer an abandoned lot with broken crack pipes strewn about.
On another topic, I was an investor in the coop that had hoped to open somewhere on the H St corridor, but will not. While I loved the idea that the organizers had, I am totally upset by the fact that when they decided not to open, they wrote to those folks that donated $100 to their undertaking that we could get our money back if we wished. I wrote back and said that I did want mine back. That was in January, and while they have given some funds to the Fresh Farm Market organization, I have not received mine, nor have they had the excuse me here balls to even write back and say when I would get it if ever.If they don't have it anymore, fine let people know that, if you do have it why not send it back. I will be more careful in the future when investing in something like this without checking out the individuals more closely.
Sorry about the rant, but it angers me.
Again, folks who think that Whole Foods is always much more expensive don't know what they're talking about:
http://www.noshtopia.com/2008/04/price-compariso.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/business/media/10adco.html?_r=1
You don't have to buy rotten vegetables and brown meat to save money, much as Safeway and Giant would like you to think so.
"(no you won't live longer if you shop at whole paycheck. pricey baguettes still fatten the ass.)"
Actually Whole Foods sells gluten free bagels. Maybe if you shopped there your ass wouldn't be so fat Emily.
I want to play stickball.
anon @ 4:15
did that coop include a homeless guy named jacques? i lent him my snow shovel to enable him to go earn some money. haven't gotten it back. notgonnadothatagain
Also, I've never understood the hate for the Safeway on 14th SE. I got there at least once a week. Never have many problems.
Mostly because of their history of operating a slum grocery-store. These guys did absolutely nothing to class up their act for decades (rotten meat; rotten vegetables). It wasn't until the upper-middle class folks moved into the neighborhood--followed by Harris Teeter--that they bothered to actually clean up the place. The produce section is still pretty sad.
Don't go to the Harris Teeter much any more, because after doing some comparison shopping, I found that the Safeway was vastly more affordable.
Fair enough; that's your experience. But I know there was an article on Hill Is Home recently that showed, for a given list of items 30-something items, the prices between HT and SW were within a buck or two of each other. Like WF, the difference is that there are actually high-end things to buy, if you choose to do so.
What I find amazing is that there are these traditional grocers (Safeway and Giant) that have literally shit on their customers for decades, but apparently pay no price whatsoever for it. I guess folks just get used to that kind of treatment.
Really, A giant, at 3rd and H? Im kind of shocked. With a safeway at 5th and K NW, A Harris teeter at 1st and M, I didnt think there would be enough demand for a general grocer like that. Interesting.
It seems to me a large grocer like Giant can go into a neighborhood and still earn a profit even if they capture only 25% of the market share. And that's all that matters in the end.
It all depends on who they hire for that location. Most likely it will be neighborhood kids from nearby. If that's the case, then there's a good chance it will end up like the rest of the DC Giants and Safeways
Can we play stickball with the raccoons? Did ella fitzgerald eat scat or did she just scat? I'ld like to donate the alley behind the pug for the stickball league. Hitting sn animal with a batted ball is an automatic homerun. The redid giant on brentwood road dropped cheeseballs from their stock so i unfriended them. My wife and kids love giant since the remodel. Who knows maybe you'll one day be able to ride the trolley from a friendly giant to the friendly pug.
tonyt
the pug.
I concur w/ tonyt. I'll also offer up the lot behind the diner. And, with the extra dirt we have back there, we can play mudball. :-)
Oh yeah, and if your stickball stick-launched mudball ends up striking an empty 40 bottle in the alley, you get extra points. Free Slush Puppies for the winning team.
Hey do you own that alley or are you just offering it up Tt? And i'm pretty sure that Ella just sang the scat.
Stick ball at least takes more skill than kick ball you losers.
Giant routinely has two sometimes, three types of fried fish at the hot foods buffet, (eat some of that a couple of times a week and Willard Scott is not likely to have your picture on the tube) but on the upside the split pea and bean soup that Giant serves up made me a believer ... ... don't like the produce don't buy it... ... winners Jesus... H Street will never have a WF or TJ... If we're lucky one or the other will locate in "Capitol Hill" one day so quit your bitch'n.
How about a cycling team? I think the Argonaut brand would look good on Spandex.
I would totally be up for stick-ball if someone starts a league. It definitely requires more skill than kickball. Even bocceball requires more skill and is fun to play. I never understood kickball, why would you play game that requires you to use your arms and play with your legs? It's like playing soccer with your hands.
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