Farmer Jack To Become 'Food Basics'

Customers Wonder Where To Shop During Conversion

POSTED: Tuesday, January 20,

UPDATED: 9:19 am EST January 20, 2004

MELVINDALE, Mich. -- Melvindale's Farmer Jack plans on two months worth of downtime while it converts into a Food Basics store -- great news for the competition, but frustrating to some customers.

Farmer Jack customer Mary Scantanburlo isn't sure about the new stores, which will all close sometime in mid-February.

Retiree W.T. Ross doesn't mind, saying, "I'll give it a try, yeah."

Still, many in metro Detroit wonder what's to come.

"At Food Basics, we will provide fresh food at low prices and without the frills," said the store's president, Mark Carter.

Windor, Ontario, recently opened three Food Basics.

Food Basics promises to cut customers' food cost by about a third, boldly offering triple the difference back if customers find something cheaper elsewhere.

Still, Food Basics offers no deli counter, fresh cut meats, or specialty items. They only carry about half the items a Farmer Jack did. Farmer Jack says the American version of Food Basics is a little different than the Canadian version, and Detroit shoppers will soon eventually find that out.

Many wonder where they'll shop during the two months needed to convert the old Farmer Jack to Food Basics. Just one mile away, on Grand River, there's an alternative, and one of the few metro Detroiters happy about Farmer Jack's troubles.

James Hooks bought Metro Foodland two decades ago, but Farmer Jack provided him with a dose of bare-knuckle reality.

"They opened in 1995 and took quite a bit of my customers from me," Hooks said.

He scraped by for a decade.

This year, with the help of the city of Detroit, he took out a $1 million loan to expand and upgrade. He'll quadruple the size of the deli, and will offer the hot food, salads and fresh meats Food Basics won't.

"Hopefully I'll get some of my customers back," Hooks said. "I'm very pleased; I'll be here to welcome the ex-Farmer Jack customers if they come down here."

For more information about food basics, click here.

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