Ellwood Thompson's Natural Market

Ellwood Thompson'sEllwood Thompson's is a very successful, evironmentally conscience natural market based in Richmond, Virginia.  CEO and founder Ryan Youngman would love to bring his natural market concept to Columbia Heights.  Youngman feels that the DC USA retail complex would be the perfect fit.  Show your support for bringing Ellwood Thompson's to Columbia Heights here.

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Home arrow Latest News arrow DC USA and Ellwood Thompson's: Prospects
DC USA and Ellwood Thompson's: Prospects PDF Print E-mail
Written by Columbia Heights News   
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Page 1 of 2

DC USA       Ellwood Thompson's

It is refreshing to have a company show so much interest in bringing a specialty grocer to Columbia Heights.  The fact that the CEO of Ellwood Thompson's made numerous trips to Columbia Heights to get a first-hand sense of the vibe of this neighborhood is a testament to the kind of company this is.  The tables are now turned.  Rather than the community joining forces with DC USA developers to lure a stubborn retailer like Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's to Columbia Heights, we have a retailer who is committed to the neighborhood and wants  to bring a much needed specialty grocer to DC USA.  At this point, the ball is in the developer's court.  Whether Columbia Heights will get an Ellwood Thompson's or not is now up to Grid Properties.

We contacted both Drew Greenwald of Grid Properties and Peter Mallios of Newmark Knight Frank to inquire about their interest in Ellwood Thompson's.  We also wanted to see if it would be helpful to demonstrate support from the community through direct emails to Grid Properties.  Both Greenwald and Mallios expressed reservation about having their inboxes inundated by community emails but they indicated that "the developer is aware of the community support."  Greenwald explained that at this point it really boils down to "economics".  We are somewhat concerned with this statement.

For months now, Greenwald claimed that he would lend support to the community's efforts to bring some sort of grocer to the DC USA project.  We were made clear that the specific economics of having a grocer tenant would not be a factor.  Grocers do not command the sort of rents that other retailers do.  But many large-scale commercial property owners are more than willing to sign on grocers early on for lower rents because they serve as an anchor and a source of traffic that would attract other higher paying retailers to their project.

When Greenwald indicated that there would be "economics" at play, we got the sense that Grid Properties wants to fill vacancies with the highest bidding tenants.  Now that the DC USA project is well underway and the amount of retail space available is dwindling, retailers are scrambling to get in before its too late.  If Grid Properties wants to squeeze out as much rent money as possible from the remaining retail spaces at DC USA then Ellwood Thompson's would almost certainly be out of the picture.  Again, grocers cannot afford to pay the kinds of rent per square foot that say a clothing retailer could.  But if Grid Properties can look past immediate profits and really consider what would be the best for both the DC USA project and the Columbia Heights community in the long run, then Ellwood Thompson's should have a good chance of being accepted.  A few months ago, Peter Mallios explained that many retailers including bookstores were on the fence with DC USA but most ultimately backed out when it became clear that Whole Foods Market was not coming.  Ellwood Thompson's would undoubtedly become a big asset to DC USA by enhancing the mix of retailers unlike another discount clothing retailer which would just add to what is already there.

It seems hard to just sit back and let this take its course on it own, but we have few options at this point.  Both Grid Properties and Newmark Night Frank told us that they would prefer not to receive emails from the community that voice support for Ellwood Thompson's.  They claim that they are already aware of our support.  Ryan Youngman, CEO of Ellwood Thompson's, is already quite convinced that Columbia Heights would be a perfect location for a new store.  If it appears that the deal with Ellwood Thompson's is falling through due to "economics", contacting our Councilmember Jim Graham may be in order.  From what we understand, Councilmember Graham is very supportive of a natural grocer coming to DC USA.  If there are other channels we should pursue to try to get Ellwood Thompson's here, please let us know.

In the mean time, please visit the new section we created for Ellwood Thompson's.  There you can find relevant contact information and updates on this situation.  You can also show your support by leaving you thoughts and comments here.  In the future, we plan to compile all the comments we receive from the community and send them to the DC USA developers.

Comments
Written by duexepard on 2007-08-19 09:47:11
Can we set-up an online petion to let Graham and Grid see our support without inundating either with e-mails? You make a good point about Grid needing to see the bigger picture here.
Written by mike on 2007-08-19 10:04:14
Your assessment of the situation seems reasonable, but we don't really know the "economic" factors GRID properties is considering. 
 
We should assume GRID properties wants to maximize the present value of total rent, period. It would be hard to get them to do otherwise. It seems odd to me, though, that ET would pay less than Ross or other retailers. 
 
If GRID is deciding between Ross and ET, and only considering the rent each would pay, they are extremely naive. ET would attract higher-end clientele, with more money to spend, which would spill over to other retail in DC-USA and other area retail (Kenyon Square, Highland Park, Park Triangle, the Tivoli). So, even if Ross would pay more than ET (which I doubt), this doesn't mean choosing Ross means maximizing total rent for DC-USA. I doubt GRID is that naive, but who knows.  
 
Rather than write to GRID properties, we should write to Donatelli Development and see if they might have some leverage and $$$ to push for ET. I'd guess their preference might have more sway than ours. And I'd guess their preference will likely be for ET.
Written by Richard on 2007-08-19 15:58:56
How much public money was pumped into this project (parking garage)? The public has every right to make it's voice heard and acted upon in this project.
Written by Jeff on 2007-08-20 08:36:26
ET's sounds like a better fit for the 'hood than Whole Foods did.  
 
But ultimately I am more concerned about the traffic that is going to snarl the area rather than the stores that will be there.
Written by jgbrc on 2007-08-27 11:41:21
Yeah, I agree with duexepard that a green grocer would attract more folks to the area and have a spill over effect for the other retailers. If DCUSA limits itself to a bunch of cloth stores, then I for one will not visit it too much. If I have to go there every week to buy food, then there is more of a chance I'm continually exposed to what DCUSA has to offer and will shop at the other stores when the need arises. Otherwise, the "out of sight out of mind" thing starts to come into play. 
Written by X-DupontR on 2007-09-17 10:27:37
I want a decent organic, locally grown grocer that's an alternative to the Giant which is so overrun on Sundays that you can hardly move. Not to mention the truly surly staff that work there.
Written by Former Ellwood Employee on 2008-05-23 18:59:50
 
OK. Now I know to outsiders, Ellwood Thompson's looks GREAT, right? Well, just to put a second view out there, they are a TERRIBLE business. I have worked there for the past 3 years until recently. When I started working there, the managers, employees were wonderful. Everyone worked hard, helped each other and they CARED about each other and the community. Now, if you ask anyone that works there they will tell you, Ryan Youngman is an evil marketing genius. It is all lies and MARKETING. They don't care about community or being green at ALL. I have seen Ryan himself leave a hose running water into the street. After they rid of plastic bags they accidentally received a new shipment of bags and threw them away!! But hey, no one will find out right? A freezer FULL of turkeys broke down, they all defrosted and rotted and they took the ones in good shape and refroze them for sale! They have successfully driven away every worthwhile employee including 99% of the managers. They have stepped on EVERYONE that works there to benefit themselves, inlcuding taking away peoples benefits, taking away profit sharing, cutting hours, finding any excuse they can to fire long term hard-working employees because they are unconditioned to the terrible work environment that is Ellwood Thompson's. Please do not fall for their tricks. I am not a crazy person I want to let people know what has been happening and I will do anything to let people know about how dishonest and unfair this place really is. People in Richmond are waiting and waiting for Whole Foods to open due to the lack of caring given by Ellwoods. Be glad that you all have Yes! Organic Market. Although not as flashy as Ellwoods, I promise you that they are an honest and fair establishment that should be supported way before you give your money to a soon to be evil corporation. If you care about people and your community then please boycott Ellwood Thompson's!
Not true and not cool
Written by Current Ellwood Thompson's Emp on 2008-06-02 14:15:18
Okay, there are always two sides to every story and the truth can usually be found somewhere in the middle. That said, Ellwood Thompson's is a great company. I have worked there for a little more than a year and while I can't truthfully say everything is "rainbows and butterflies" - no job is. That's why it's called work. But, I can tell you that the owner of Ellwood's has his heart in the right place. He has been sharing his company's profits with ALL employees - not just upper-level managers/directors - for a long time. Employees get really great comprehensive health and dental insurance after 90 days with the company. Ellwood's also offers 401k plans with 100% company match up to 3% and that's in addition to profit sharing. And Ellwood's is a small, local independent - not a chain, not a "super" natural food store. I've worked at other small businesses that don't get close to these benies and I've worked for large corps that never give bonuses or share profits with everyday workers, like me - they only handed out bonuses/shares to the big wigs. The owner also allows a very generous budget for donations - there are 5% days four times a year when non-profit orgs are given 5% of the day's sales, not profit, sales. That's in addition to funding special events in the community, giving items for auctions to raise money, catering events for non-profits at no charge and I could go on. He is a nice man that has the community and his employees at heart. Period. This fact cannot be argued. 
 
As for Ryan, he's the CEO, and he focuses mostly on current store operations and future growth initiatives, not marketing. Ellwood's has a marketing person for that and she seems pretty nice, not an "evil marketing genius." Yes, Ryan has instituted some changes that required adjustment (which was hard for some long-time employees and managers), but this happens whenever you get a new leader. ET had been under the same management for 10 years. The company is facing increased competition from Whole Foods (coming soon), as well as enlarged natural food sections/organic produce in conventional grocery stores like Kroger and Ukrops. Change was inevitable. 
 
Some employees and some customers didn't agree with Ryan's methods, and in his defense, he took note and has tried to make adjustments to "meet in the middle." The bottom line is ET is a business, and in order to remain in business, we have to be competitive; we have to make money to keep employees on staff (and afford to pay them) and to pay our bills (and as I stated b4, we're a local independent. We don't have the buying power of WF.) 
 
As for the running hose - he was watering plants that had just come in from a local auction and was going to turn the water off. Ask anyone who was there helping him unload the plants/produce. How many CEO's go to produce auctions themselves and then help the clerks unload and water plants? 
 
Re: the turkeys - that statement is not only absolutely false, it's below the belt. While it's true the refrigeration unit on the truck went bad, Ellwood's did not try to salvage the turkeys. That's ridiculous. Why would the company put customers in danger? It wouldn't. Why would we take the chance of tarnishing our good reputation after 19 years in business? We wouldn't. An insurance claim was filed and a full pay out was awarded since the company that provided the truck had fully insured our turkey delivery/storage (and passed the fee on to ET of course.) 
 
It's true some managers have left (four out of seven), but it's been for different reasons. Two moved, one had health problems and retired, and one left because she was not happy, but honestly, she didn't seem happy before the new CEO -she was a pretty negative person and always seemed disgruntled about something. Other long-time, hardworking employees have left for a variety of reasons - it is retail after all. 
 
So, I'm all for expressing opinions, but there should be a shred of truth involved. 
 
There have been times when I've been unhappy with decisions that have been made, changes, new initiatives, etc. but at the end of the day, I'm an employee of Ellwood's and I'm not paid to make the big decisions, nor do I have grocery store management experience, so I just have to put my feelings aside and hope the "powers that be" are making the right decisions. 
 
So all you folks in Columbia Heights, Ellwood Thompson's Local Market is a great grocery store and a nice place to work.
oh, forgot about the plastic bags
Written by Current Ellwood's Employee on 2008-06-02 14:21:17
I forgot to clear up the inaccurate claim about plastic bags. It's true that ET got rid of plastic bags at check stands. We offer affordable reusable canvas and poly bags or paper bags (soon all paper bags will be 100% recycled content). When a shipment of plastic bags was received, in error, after the store banned them, the shipment was split. Half was given to the Va Food Bank and the other half was given to the Richmond SPCA to pick-up puppy poo. The bags were not thrown away. ET makes every effort to be "green" and has been doing so long before it became part of the mass pop's mindset.
Written by GforGood on 2008-06-06 08:55:30
Wow.. couple of interesting posts. The latter seem more real (although the frequent use of "we" makes me wonder.. ;)) 
 
So can you find out about their plans with the DC USA? Are they (or is it "you"? ;)) coming or not?
use of "we" and status of DC USA
Written by Current Ellwood's Employee on 2008-06-09 12:24:32
You were astute to take notice of the use of "we" - the reason is I am a current ET employee and have been with ET for just over a year. See name on posts - I used this for transparency, but would rather not disclose my name, because the original post which inspired my mini-manifesto in defense of ET - was obviously written by a very disgruntled former employee who didn't disclose their name. I would know them and they would know me if names were used.  
 
Another reason for the use of "We" is because I, and a lot of my co-workers, share a sense of ownership. Essentially we are all owners of the company (see profit sharing from previous posts) and take our jobs seriously, because we see the impact of our efforts on our profits/bonus checks.  
 
As for DC USA - we, the employees, haven't received an update recently, but we know the talks are continuing and a lease should be signed soon.  
 
To get the word from the horse's mouth (Ryan Yougman) - see DCist that links to an update on New Columbia Heights - http://dcist.com/2008/05/05/go_home_already_242.php 
 
 


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