February 2009 Archives

Last week I wrote about the closing of the Jewel-Osco store at 126 W. Boughton, Rd (Route 53 and Boughton Road).

Jewel officials refused to comment on the closing, but instead issued a short press release, which states "no jobs will be lost." I wondered what the "no jobs will be lost" statement really meant. Would employees really be offered jobs at other locations, and would those locations be within a reasonable distance.

In this economy, with the unemployment rate increasing daily, the closing of a major grocery chain would have a great impact on this community.

So I went over to Jewel to talk to the affected employees.

One woman, who was unpacking some cookies, told me that she was just glad to have a job. "I'll go anywhere," she said. And she just may have to. She said the company has told employees that all management and full-time staff will be relocated at any store where there's an available opening. They have no say in relocation preferences.

Part-time employees can choose to take positions at one of the five closest stores to the Route 53 and Boughton Road store. Another employee, a part-timer, he too was quite happy not to be laid-off, said he was electing to go to the nearest store at 1200 W. Boughton Road.

And another gentleman who looked close to retirement, appeared a little more skeptical. When asked was he glad to still have his job, he said, "That's what they say. We'll see when the time comes," he added.

When the times comes, which is April 4 when the store closes its doors, helpfully these employees will remain on the Jewel-Osco payroll and off the unemployment line.
###

I was just about to write a column on the poor quality of the Jewel-Osco food store located at 126 W. Boughton (Route 53 and Boughton Road), when I got word that the store is one of 50 Jewel stores across the country scheduled to close.
It will close shop on April 4.
I thought maybe it's closing because it looks the way it does, and because it never seems to have the items that you want.
Jewel officials refused to comment on the closing and instead issued a three paragraph press release that indicated their business decision for closing one of the longest-running businesses in town.
"While the decision to close a store is always difficult, it is guided by what is best for the company's ongoing success and future growth," the press release states.
OK, I can get with you trying to stay afloat during difficult economic times. We're all trying to stay afloat. So I thought to myself, maybe this is an opportunity for a specialty store to take over the space.
Me being the health food person that I am, I would love to see a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's at that site. That's the type of store that the village is really lacking.
In many ways, the square footage of the location is smaller than many Jewels and better suited for this type of niche store.
However, Mayor Roger Claar said Jewel Foods, which owns the building, is not likely to sell that site to a competing store. Claar put it to me this way, "If you were Jewel, would you sell that space to your competition?"
My first response was "no." But after thinking about it over dinner, I thought, if I were a major grocery chain, I should have some responsibility to the general public. People are looking to me for their very sustenance. That should count for something. Some decisions should be made because it's the right thing to do, not because it's the best business decision. If someone can come in and provide a service that I can't, but may compete with a segment of my business, and it's for the good of the people, why not allow it?
However, it becomes quite clear that this is not how these development issues are approached. Even in the grocery industry, it comes down to how to best plot against one's competition.
Also in the Jewel press release, it states that the company will cooperate with Bolingbrook officials to sell or redevelop the land. The question is, will the selling and the redeveloping be in the public's interest our Jewel's interest?
I find it unfortunate that our access to quality food is based on one food company competing against another. When it comes to food, something about this just doesn't seem healthy.
What do you think should replace Jewel at the busy intersection of Route 53 and Boughton Road? Comment at my blog at www.thebolingbrooksun.com.

At a school board meeting last week, School Board President Mark Cothron, suggested phasing out eighth-grade graduation ceremonies.

When I first heard about it, I thought, "If this happens what will we tell our eighth-graders?" No class books to sign? No ribbons blowing in the wind. No celebration to commemorate this rite of passage into high school.

I called Cothron, who isn't seeking another term, to find out how this issue came about.

"I don't know what the reason for doing this is [having eighth-grade graduations], other than to have a ceremony," he said. "I'm not against it, but I just think the board needs to evaluated the cost of it," Cothron added.

As I spoke with him, I couldn't help but to think about the parents and the children. What about what they want? I called my niece who happens to be in eighth grade to ask her opinion. I asked her what she would do if this happened at her school.

"I want my parents and the kids I go to school with to see me walk across the stage. That's important to me," she said.

Now I haven't been a teenager for a long time but the way I understand it, a teenager's highlights these days are striking keys to get to their MySpace page and downloading ringtones. Gadgets have become their best friends. And an eighth grade graduation is one of their last traditional contact events where they get to see and be seen by their peers.

I think it would be a mistake to take it away. If money is the issue, do some creative fundraising to pay for the ceremony, or seek out local business sponsors.

Larry Randy, Director of Community Relations for Valley View School District, said the issue is being reviewed, but for right now no actions have been taken, and that graduations are scheduled as usual.

Thank goodness.

I'm relatively new to Bolingbrook, but I've got to say that this town has grown on me. But as the journalist that I am, I can smell a story when it is out there.

One of the things that has bothered me since I've been here is the drop-off and pick-up procedure at my kids' school, Wood View Elementary. My kids come from a community-based school on Chicago's Northwest Side. It was a place where everybody knew everybody. Not so here, but that's another story. At 3:15 p.m. daily, the pickup at Wood View is a scene of mass chaos. When I first saw it, all kinds of motherly tendencies and journalist alarms sounded off in my head. But I said to myself, "Down girl, you've just moved here. Don't go picking fights on the first day of school."

Well I've been here five months now, and this week I happened to be talking with another parent who's son also attends the same school. She confirmed my initial discontent with the school's drop-off and pick-up plan. So I called down to the school's district office to see if other schools in the village share similar drop-off and pick-up methods.

"Our number one thing is to keep our kids safe and traffic flowing," said Larry Randa, director of community relations for Valley View School District 365U. The exit and entrance route to a school is left up to the school's principal, and the district superintendent evaluates each school's plan, he said.

If you're traveling down Winston Drive during the end of the school day, traffic is hardly free flowing. If you're a parent who picks up children, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. All the parents wait in line in their cars to pickup their children at one or two doors oozing with descending kids. I find it so amazing that the parents just sit there in their cars until their vehicle reaches the coveted front door. What great patience. I simply was not cast that way.

I dare not allow my car to enter into the pool of parental car chaos, so I park in the parking lot across the street and wait for my child to find me. Now I have all kinds of problems with this plan, including my child's safety.

There are two parking lots. The staff parks in the lot closest to the school, while parents and visitors park in the lot across the street. Here's a thought: since the staff is at the school all day, why doesn't the staff park in the lot across the street and leave the parking lot immediately outside of the school for parental pick-up parking. This would ease traffic on Winston Drive, and parents could actually walk up to the door and retrieve their children. This would be both a safer and friendlier approach. Parents could actually see one another and see their child's teachers at the end of each day, instead of waiting in a winding bumper-to-bumper car line.

Let me know about your school's drop-off and pick-up plan. Is it working? Or has it hit a bump in the road? Drop me a line at www.thebolingbrooksun.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
###