Cross your fingers!

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A real-estate developer is putting together a downtown grocery store. Hope it succeeds --- which would mean he's found someone with a lot of successful experience in the grocery trade to run it. It's a tough business, with thin margins.

Americans are incredibly spoiled when it comes to groceries and very price-conscious. You see people dump incredible sums on electronic toys that will be landfilled in a couple years, tops, and yet many of these people won't buy food that is priced to permit a decent life for the people who grow it. These same people have a cardiac if their milk or eggs go up a quarter, yet they buy bottled water by the case . . . .

A downtown grocery in Salem should quickly work to make deals with as many local growers as possible and to help them make the investments necessary to provide fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables year-round and all the local cheeses, meats, and breads from places like Cascade Baking Co. If the store only offers generica, well, people can get generica at Costco, Winco, and Fred Meyer for a lot less than a small downtown grocery can provide it for.