WEST END ATLANTA

Finally my prayers have been answered.

Kroger is having a meeting April 18 at 7pm. They want us to tell them what they need to do to make the Kroger more appealing.

Have I died and gone to heaven. Oh wait! I am still John's secretary so i guess I still in hell!

I found their flayer...

I was at Kroger last night and saw another flyer like this. They're having another meeeting tonight (Tuesday, June 24) at 7:00 pm. According to the flyer, this will the their 4th meeting. They had numbers printed on the flyer regarding their shopping carts - apparently they have had a lot of carts stolen over the past few months and are now down to about 95 carts from about 400 they started with a few months ago. That sounds like a huge problem. They're still seeking community involvement and feedback about beautification, clean-up, customer service, etc. etc. for anyone who's interested in going.

Debbie

Were you able to attend the meeting? I would be interested in knowing how it went. I don't go to that Kroger very much, so if someone else sees any info about future meetings, please pass it on as Debbie did.

When I visited Germany I noticed that they had this system at the store where you had to put in a euro to get a cart and then when you returned it you got your euro back. Maybe they should try something like that. At least they would earn a little money on the missing carts.

No, I was not able to attend the Kroger meeting last night - I went to the NPU Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Committee meeting instead and that was a great meeting - everyone who missed it really missed a lot.

They have shopping carts where you have to put in a quarter to use the carts in Ohio, too, and I think that the Publix on Ponce de Leon tried this a couple of years ago but it didn't last long. People are annoyed by it. In Ohio, the way it works is that you get your quarter back when you return the cart, so the store doesn't actually make any money from it, it just provides an incentive for the carts to be returned.

Maybe our Kroger needs to install those things that won't let the cart go off the premises, although I really hate those things and they seem to break all the time.

I still think the problem with stolen carts is purely economic and a result of the depression our county is experiencing. I believe in calling it like it is, and folks, I think it's a depression, not a recesssion, not a turndown, but a fullscale depression. Maybe when President Obama takes office we will see things begin to improve, but until then we'll just have to hold our collective breaths, I'm afraid.

Meanwhile, check out our own urban farm, operated by Creating Vibrant Communities on Atwood Street behind the aforesaid Kroger. This Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm they are sponsoring a major neighborhood cleanup and cookout, and shares to the CSA (community supported agriculture) will be pre-sold to residents of NPU-T.

Kroger - another story. I try not to go there because it is simply disgusting. Unfortunately, sometimes due to the lack of time I am forced to visit their premises. It is never a pleasant experience to me because that place is just dirty, very dirty. This place could use some serious clean up, but except organizing meeting, I do not see any progress. The floor usually has black foot marks or cart marks through out alleys, the cash registers are sticky and so dirty that it make me sick when I have to use them. The lines are so long... get ready to wait at least 20 minutes to check out your stuff. The best thing is that the personnel do not care at all. There were two instances when somebody spilled juice on the floor and nobody cleaned it!! One cashier was working 5 feet away from that stain and would not move...

I hope that place will change but at this point I do not see any improvements

As for the carts, the coin thing would probably help. Definitely, it would help if we had less poverty, squatters, and homeless people around this neighborhood. That is where the problem is.

Short story about coins and carts...

tesugen.com/archives/05/04/shopping-cart-coin-replacement-thing

Correction: I don't know where I got the cookout idea for the urban farm on this Saturday. I just checked the literature I was given and here's what it actually says:

Operation Clean-Up supporting the new Beecher-Donnelly Community Association & CVC Urban Farms
Saturday, June 28th 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be provided for all volunteers
Trash bags, gloves, hand sanitizer supplied
All participants should convene at CVC Urban Farms,
779 Atwood Street
For more information or to volunteer:
info@nputatlanta.org or 404-587-2227
Sponsors: Kroger, Council Members Cleta Winslow and Ceasar Mitchell

Debbie