Do you really want Harmon’s at the outlet mall?

For those new to Park City, you may not know that we used to have a K-Mart. It stood where TJ Maxx, World Market, and Michaels now live. When it went away, Kimball Junction was a wasteland. That is until a redevelopment made it into the walkable, beautiful development it is today. Long-time readers will know that I say that in jest.

Yet, we are at the forefront of seeing the second coming of suburban blight to the Basin. If you haven’t been following the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission, Harmon’s Grocery wants to become “the anchor tenant” at our local outlet mall. I’d never heard of an outlet mall actually having one of those. That tells you something about the state of the Tanger outlets.

Oh, sorry, they are no longer known as the Tanger Outlets but something called Outlets Park City. I love that their home page shows a picture of Main St and not the acres of concrete at the Outlets Park City. But I digress.

The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission is deciding if, and how, Harmon’s can become the featured tenant of the outlet mall. While I am often critical, I am not critical of the job the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission has done recently. They have to thread the law, with what makes sense for our community, with what is under their purview. It can’t be easy. So, whether they think it’s a good idea or not, Harmon’s is likely coming to an Outlet Mall near you.

Is that a good thing for our community?

No. We have too many grocery stores. We have a Walmart, Kroger (Smiths), The Market, Whole Foods, Fresh Market Park City, and Fresh Market Pinebrook. There is also the concept of another supermarket around Hideout. As Ryan Dickey of the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission said, “To the extent, we benefit this retail project with a successful Harmons, we’ll probably lose one of the others.” He qualified that this opinion doesn’t impact their decision-making about whether to approve the location. I completely agree on this taking down a supermarket and guess which one that will be?

Walmart isn’t closing. Whole Foods isn’t going anywhere. Smith’s is too entrenched and successful. The Market has a different market. Fresh Market in Park City also has a different market. The impact of a Harmon’s will be on the Fresh Market in Pinebrook.

Fresh Market in Pinebrook has always had one thing going for it. It has specialty items. The community seems to forgo the fear of high prices because of the specialty items and the fact it is easy to shop … since no one is there.

It is easy to imagine that Fresh Market Pinebrook will fade into nothingness with the introduction of Harmons down the street. That’s unfortunate because I like Fresh Market’s proximity to Jeremy Ranch. I like many of the people that work there. I like their selection of foods. It will be sad when it goes.

So, what will the shell of the building become? Perhaps we will get a seasonal Spirit Halloween store like they have in the empty supermarkets that dot the Salt Lake Valley. You may wish that a Trader Joe’s or Sprouts would come in. However, you don’t fix an overcrowded grocery store market with more grocery stores. Also, the space is too big. Trader Joe’s, if they ever arrive here will likely be in a space that is similar to World Market. And no, Costco won’t go in there. Neither will Target. There aren’t enough people here.

Longer-term it wrecks the plans that the Summit County Planning Department has for Jeremy Ranch. Jeremy Ranch was supposed to be a micro-hub for development. Residents were supposed to go about their day without ever driving a car. Without Fresh Market, it makes even less sense. I’m not sure it even made sense in the first place.