To the editor:
We need an Aldi in Cazenovia. I don’t know if Tops charges more than it would if it didn’t enjoy a local monopoly, but I do know that whenever I get myself to the Aldi in DeWitt or Canastota I save around $40 on my weekly grocery bill. Just a wild guess: maybe Cazenovians would benefit by lower prices not only at Aldi but also at Tops if Aldi came to town. It’s called competition.
I appreciate the concerns about big box construction voiced by residents at the recent public hearing on annexation. I’ve studied the design guidelines for the Village Edge South zoning district into which Aldi proposes to locate. The developer should be pushed to comply with them to the greatest extent possible.
But the decision-makers also need to be sensitive to the benefit an Aldi would bring to residents in terms of reducing their grocery bills and should, in light of this benefit, be willing to compromise. From shopping at Aldi, it’s evident to me that Aldi succeeds in cutting prices as much as it does through relentless (and in certain respects quite clever) cost-cutting. A big part of this exhaustive economic efficiency has got to be the store’s big box layout. Form follows function. A canoe looks like it does for a reason. And so does an Aldi.
There are architectural embellishments which can and should be demanded of the developer. For example, the DeWitt Aldi has false towers at its western and eastern corners. But if we want an Aldi in Cazenovia, I think we have to accept that, however camouflaged, it is going to be a big box — or it is not going to be.
As for the concern that an Aldi would over stress the market and, thereby, create vacant stores, I think this is misplaced. Take a look at where the Aldis are located in Dewitt and Canastota: across the road from Wegman’s in DeWitt and across the road from another Tops in Canastota. There must be a reason for this, and the reason is probably that Aldi’s business model is built on synergy — not predation — on growing the retail pie, not (like Walmart) gobbling it up.
Finally, I was put off by the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation’s comments at the hearing, which consisted of an aggressive critique of the Aldi proposal based exclusively on design considerations without the slightest acknowledgment of the economic benefits an Aldi might bestow. When I was a CPF Board member, the rap on this fine organization was that it consists of wealthy homeowners whose main concern was to keep out downscale development to protect the value of their homes — and that this is why you can’t buy a pair of socks in Cazenovia. I don’t think this is true. But I do think the CPF needs to be more sensitive to the needs of young families, seniors and those on fixed incomes.
Barry M. Schreibman
Cazenovia
