'We Just Don't Really Need Kroger,' Downtown Royal Oak Petition Signers Say

In hopes to obtain a substantial amount of anti-Kroger signatures, Royal Oak residents supporting the Preserve Royal Oak mission gathered at Hollywood Super Market and Holiday Market today to further their message that a large Kroger store downtown is not a good fit for the community.

The advocacy group planned to collect petition signatures from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at both markets, but decided to extend their efforts as long as volunteers were willing to stand outside the grocery stores. According to Sandra Wilkins, a near-downtown resident who organized Preserve Royal Oak, the support is snowballing. Signature collecting will continue Sunday throughout the community and next weekend as well.

Jeanne Sarnacki, a Royal Oak resident and president of the , was aiding the effort today to accumulate residents' support. For Sarnacki, the proposed placement of Kroger, on Main Street north of 11 Mile Road, hits close to home as she lives just blocks away.

“There is no value here,” Sarnacki said. “Not for the number of sacrifices that need to be made.”

Nancy Barnett, another resident helping with the movement, said she lives merely a block away from the space. “I don’t think my neighbors have any clue what we’re up against,” a distressed Barnett said. “It’s not an appropriate place for Kroger and I’d be among those most affected.”

Hundreds of signatures were collected by noon; some residents were distraught, some sticking around and listening to the facts before signing the petition. Not everyone was willing to put the pen to paper today because they hadn’t heard about the issue yet and wanted time to mull over the topic. Others were scurrying into the store and raced even harder at the word "petition."

The thought of lower prices and finally putting a vacant piece of land to use were among the reasons mentioned by passers-by for leaning toward supporting the development. 

Joyce Boulan posted her opinion on the matter on an earlier story on Royal Oak Patch: “I am tired of looking at the eyesore that the former car dealership has become. Boulan wrote that she is a resident of , which is positioned behind the proposed property, and that she welcomes the Kroger store.

“Of course, the other grocery stores do not want the competition, but that is the American way,” she wrote. “This means more jobs for Royal Oakers, during construction and after it is opened.”

Still, many members of the community who did sign the petition today insisted they would prefer to see something else fill the empty lot.

“I would like to see a small, independent merchant – something family owned,” Linda Aardema of Royal Oak said.

“We just don’t really need Kroger,” George Kopy of Royal Oak said. Kopy supported the nearby  entertainment complex that opened this week because it brought added value to the community, as did Sarnacki. This, he said, doesn’t. “We need to bring in something more useful.”

What specifically the city should bring in, he didn’t know, but many other residents offered ideas with the popular suggestions being a small classy hotel or a building used for office space.

Resident Vicky Jackson noted she does not have a passionate opinion of the matter because she lives on the opposite side of town, but signed the petition nonetheless after hearing some of the group’s reasons.

“That space is empty though, and something should go there,” Jackson said.