A forum on a full-service food market for Leisure World drew about 300 residents to Clubhouse 4, Thursday evening, July 14, at 6:30 p.m.
The Golden Rain Foundation had requested that a committee of directors review the feasibility of attracting a supermarket to provide easily accessible groceries to LW residents with limited mobility.
A market in Seal Beach Village Center, the strip mall adjacent to LW, closed in 2008 when the mall owners raised the rental fee and demanded a long-term lease rather than a month-to-month rental.
Despite the number of empty storefronts in the mall, the owner is not interested in another market.
For residents who no longer drive, this created a problem.  Public transportation buses limit riders to two grocery bags per person. Due to the length of time a trip involves, frozen foods do not remain frozen.
George Early, a Foundation board member, and his committee have worked to find a location and grocer.
Paul Pratt, a panel member and foundation director, said talks with over 20 established grocery chains were unfruitful, but there was hope with a new chain that wants to enter the California market.
Apparently the only viable option for location is within the gates of Leisure World.
Early said he has located an investor with experience who was interested in the project if it is located within the retirement community’s walls.
Two potential locations were identified:Â beside Clubhouse 2 or in the current ping-pong clubroom of Clubhouse 6.
Either provides ample parking. Requiring deliveries before 9 a.m. would keep traffic minimal.
The cost for development of either location would run around $432,000 and could be repaid by the grocer in four years, assuming a profit of $5,000 or $6,000 per month.
The Golden Rain Foundation would be the landlord, would own the building and could evict any grocer who did not pay.
Annie Sieffert, another panel member and president of the Where We Live Club, said that the idea is to enhance living conditions in LW, by not only the availability of groceries, but by the socialization that was central to the experience in the former market.
She pointed out that this project might qualify for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative from the Department of Health and Human Resources.
She indicated that public funds, in the form of tax discounts and actual grants, could be available to reduce the cost of the initial investment.
The audience was restless, however. Advertising for the forum indicated their ideas, concepts and opinions would be part of the discussion. Yet Early indicated that while written questions could be submitted, the intent of the forum was only to answer questions, not have a discussion.  At that statement, a lot of people left.
Early opened the floor for discussion of the market idea.
One man said a market was impractical where there was not likely to be adequate patronage to support the store, where the primary concern of shoppers was socialization and where the fresh foods would not be sold quickly and would spoil. Then time ran out. The forum ended without much further comment from the public.
