Former Chestnut-Encinal Market

Chestnut-Encinal Market shuttered last month. What do you think should go in this spot?

As the name suggests, the store is located at the corner of Chestnut St. and Encinal Ave.

I wasn’t able to contact anyone at the store or the landlord so I don’t know why they closed. I don’t want to speculate, but I’ll just pass some information I learned about the grocery business from talking with a couple of operators in San Francisco.

The grocery business is generally a low-margin business that requires high volume to make it viable. Unless the area has a lot of foot traffic you’ll usually need a good sized parking lot to achieve that volume.

Another option is to be a high-margin, low volume store, but unless you’re selling unique items that enough people want or there’s nowhere else for people to go, that may be a challenge.

This is just some fun info I learned and wanted to share, but not to imply that’s why Chestnut-Encinal Market closed.

So, what would you like to see here?

You can submit your suggestions on Spotmojo using this link: http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/chestnut/

Alameda Patch is working with Spotmojo to collect your suggestions.  Spotmojo is a website where you can suggest the businesses you want where you live, work, or play.  The suggestions are used to help new businesses find the perfect location and also to help commercial real estate brokers attract businesses to where you want them.  This gives you a voice in the businesses that open in your neighborhood and it helps local businesses succeed.