Publix's departure disappoints community

By Ernie Suggs and Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Twice a week, Louise Ricks walks to her local Publix on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to shop. The Publix is her lifeline to fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. She doesn’t drive, and at 97 years old, the walk is one of her major forms of exercise.

“I have enjoyed my walks to Publix,” said Ricks, who looks at least 30 years younger. “And I’m old, so I have to get my exercise. So I walk.”

But come Christmas Eve, Ricks and hundreds of her neighbors in the surrounding area will have to find a new place to shop. The Publix, blaming poor revenues and unfulfilled promises, will close its doors on Dec. 24.

Residents and community leaders are calling the departure a blow at the heart of a struggling but proud and historic community.

“The fact that the historic Westside is the cradle for much of the civil rights work, I hate to see the people and history of this community treated in this manner,” said resident Joel Alvarado. “You have seniors, working families, students who will not have access to goods and services. I don’t know what people who don’t have access to transportation are going to do.”

Brenda Reid, community relations manager for Publix Stores, said the decision to close the underperforming store was made in November, because grand promises of developments never came to fruition.

The Publix opened in 2002 as the center of the $140 million Historic Westside Village, a mixed-use development pushed by the Atlanta Development Authority.

The project was supposed to revitalize the struggling west Atlanta neighborhoods, including Washington Park, Vine City, Pittsburgh, English Avenue and the Atlanta University Center.

It was supposed to be a mini-city providing up to 1,500 jobs and featuring a bank, restaurants, condos, offices, a movie theater and a hotel.

“We saw it as a growth opportunity at the time,” Reid said. “So far, we are the only retail stop there.”

In 2007, Publix decided to stay another two years, renewing their lease with the new owners of the property and the developer, H.J. Russell & Co.

“It is a big blow,” said company President H. Jerome Russell. “There are some good things going on in the area, and the store was viable, but we understand. We tried to do all we could to keep them in there, but in the end, Publix made a business decision.”

Ivory Young, who serves the area as a city councilman, said over the years, the developer and the ADA tried to make concessions with Publix, including offers to expand the store, build a pharmacy and subsidize rent.

“The reasonable request is to sit down and find an equitable way to transition,” Young said. “This is a shock to everybody. Who does something like this the day before Christmas?”

Russell said they are looking for a new tenant for the space.

When the Westside Publix departs, it will leave a bank branch, a tax preparation shop, a cellphone store, a beauty supply shop and a Chinese restaurant. In other words, it will look like any other depressed shopping center in hundreds of poor and black communities across the country.

Looking over it at a rally Wednesday night, community leader and lifelong resident Byron Amos said the move is “devastating.”

Without a major grocery store in the neighborhood, residents will be forced to shop at corner stores or drive at least five miles to the closest grocery store on Cascade Road or Howell Mill Road.

“It is very clear that there is more at stake here than the bottom line,” said community leader Makeda Johnson. “There is nowhere to get quality food within a five-mile radius of us. We are not pointing fingers, but we are asking for compassion.”

Ricks said she doesn’t know where she will be doing her shopping now, nor does she know how she will get there.

“I will have to get somebody to carry me. I guess I will only be able to go about once a month now,” she said. “I have lived in this community for 70 years. I was so excited when this Publix opened, and it broke my heart when I heard it was closing.”