As the recent explosion in residential development has made the greater downtown Chicago area a more attractive place for people to call home, Chicago’s new downtown-dwellers want and expect the same services and convenience offered in the suburbs. Full-service grocery stores top the list. But, whereas suburbanites are used to large, one-level design grocery stores with plenty of convenient parking, retail space in the downtown market is limited, expensive, and uninviting to car drivers. These challenges have required developers and operators to rethink development criteria and design for grocery stores seeking to adapt to Chicago’s urban market. BWM&S’s Mike Martin has extensive experience in urban retail expansion from representing a major national grocery chain that has recently expanded into several new downtown locations. According to Martin: “The urban business market and urban consumer are somewhat different from what grocers experience in the suburbs. Developers and operators have to reexamine details from parking, delivery, procedures, product mix and store layout. The business model that stores have used in the suburbs may not always work in urban stores; thus, concepts need to be modified to accommodate the needs of the new urban food store customer.” The typical downtown grocery shopper is not driving a mini-van, and does not have two hours to prepare dinner. “Typical busy customers may be young professionals and from dual-income homes,” says Martin. Other customers may be the rising number of middle-aged professionals who often move into the city after their children leave home. “Both place a value on convenience and fresh food. These customers make more frequent trips to the grocery store looking to purchase something fresh and quick, something they wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time preparing, thus making product placement-especially important. They are also health conscious, leading more grocery stores in the downtown area to provide numerous quality-prepared foods and ‘ready-to-eat meals,’ that are healthy, by placing them where customers will see them easily. This product placement differs from the suburban norm.” Stores within the city also differ greatly from their suburban cousins in basic size as well. According to Martin, “Urban grocers face operational challenges not found in the suburban free-standing store, such as fitting the product mix found in a suburban free standing ‘big box’ into a space half the size which is often situated on multiple floors. Also, many of these stores will occupy a portion of a multi-use high rise (retail on the first few floors, and residential above that.) In these developments, all of the occupants must share facilities that they are used to having to themselves.” For instance, large buildings that contain numerous retailers generally share a small number of loading docks. Martin explains: “When a food retailer shares a loading dock with other retailers, the retailers schedule their deliveries to avoid delays and traffic jams at the loading dock facilities. Additionally, the loading dock is often segregated from the back room, which creates a need to make sure the connecting corridors are wide enough and tall enough to permit quick transport of deliveries to the store’s receiving area.” Parking is another obstacle. Most people who live in the city try to avoid the high costs of parking and downtown congestion, and use the convenience that public transportation offers. However, many people prefer to load their groceries into their car as opposed to trying to lug them onto a bus or along several blocks to home. According to Martin, “Downtown grocery stores will work hard to find parking to meet the needs of its customers. If the store is part of a larger development, it may seek nonexclusive rights to spaces for its customers in a parking facility, which is built as part of the development. The negotiations between store operators and developers will include discussions regarding availability and cost for these spaces. If the store is an independent development, it might consider building its own parking facility. Parking facilities for such stores downtown have been constructed above stores and below ground. I have also seen parking decks constructed in the air rights above adjacent railroad tracks.” It is becoming increasingly common to see large (traditionally corner) grocery stores downtown, as they move into markets where customers are found. The limited land area and cost of land create many challenges to the creative developer, architect, and lawyer. But, as long as downtown Chicago continues to become a more attractive place to live as well as work, grocery stores will need to discover innovative ways to bring their goods and services to this growing market. Mike Martin can be contacted at 312.840.7011 or at mmartin@burkelaw.com.