Bottom Dollar sale leaves hole to fill in Ross
The impending departure of the Bottom Dollar Food store in Ross might lead to a new business that boosts McKnight Road's image, one business observer said.
“I would like to see something other than ... discount food chains in the area,” said Craig Linner, president of the Ross Township Business and Economic Development Corp., or RED.
“Putting that many cheap stores on the main drag is bad. It presents Ross as a discount area.
“I don't want to have Ross viewed as the cheap place.”
But, he said, he also does not want to see McKnight viewed as too pricey, either.
Linner's comments came after officials of Delhaize Group of Brussels, the Belgium-based owner of Bottom Dollar, announced Nov. 5 that they plan to close all 66 of its stores, including the one in Ross, by the year's end and sell the assets to competitor Aldi Inc. for about $15 million. Bottom Dollar has about 20 stores in the Pittsburgh market, including four in the Youngstown-Warren, Ohio, area. The Pittsburgh-area stores employ about 600.
Linner said there was stiff competition among discount grocery stores on McKnight in Ross. Bottom Dollar is next door to Good Cents Grocery + More, owned by Giant Eagle Inc. They are near Aldi at the Shoppes at Northway and Kuhn's Quality Foods at North Hills Village.
Discount grocers require customers to bring their own bags or purchase them and bag or box their own groceries, and many offerings are private-label items with unfamiliar names. Discounters have no bakery, bank, pharmacy or dry-cleaning counter that consumers often find at full-service supermarkets.
Linner said he doubted Aldi would put another of its stores at the Bottom Dollar site.
Dominic Rickert, Ross' planning and zoning administrator, said he was “shocked” at the announcement that Bottom Dollar would close. The 18,388-square-foot store opened in the McKnight Road Shopping Center, commonly known as Ross Towne Center, in 2012. Rickert said he does not know what Aldi officials plan to do with the space.
Leon Zionts, an attorney representing the owners of the portion of the shopping center where Bottom Dollar is located, declined comment.
Delhaize Group officials said the sale of the Bottom Dollar stores and leases to Aldi is expected to be completed by March 31. Delhaize Group CEO Frans Muller said, “The divestiture of Bottom Dollar Food ... is consistent with our strategy, announced in March, of investing in and focusing on our core markets.”
Officials of Batavia, Ill.-based Aldi said the purchase is part of an expansion plan that will add 650 stores nationwide by the end of 2018, but they did not commit to reopening all 66 of the closing stores.
“It's premature to share any plans specific to the purchase of these assets,” Aldi spokeswoman Julie Ketay said. “Aldi welcomes Bottom Dollar Food employees to consider applying for open positions.”
Mike Thomas, a customer who had just finished grocery shopping Nov. 6 at the Bottom Dollar in Ross, said an employee at the neighboring Good Cents had predicted the Bottom Dollar's demise.
“They said they would put this store out of business, and it looks like they did,” said Thomas, 69, of Ross.
Bottom Dollar employee Brooke Taranto, 18, said employees were told about the closing Nov. 5.
“I don't have to work here,” she said about the Ross store. “I'll bounce back.”
Aldi operates more than 1,300 stores in 32 states, primarily from Kansas to the East Coast, including more than 20 in the Pittsburgh region and 85 in Pennsylvania. It has a division warehouse in Saxonburg and employs 19,000 nationwide.
Bill Zlatos and John D. Oravecz are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Zlatos can be reached at 724-772-6353 or bzlatos@tribweb.com. Oravecz can be reached at 412-320-7882 or joravecz@tribweb.com.
