A bright future in Roy
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lected leaders in Roy are gnashing their teeth over a few closed storefronts on 1900 West, the city's main drag. That's a good sign for the city's residents, because it means the people at the top are paying attention.
The irritating bone in Roy's throat is the vacant building that was once an Albertson's grocery store. There are tenants doing active business in the same strip mall-type development, and in other storefronts up and down 1900 West. But that long, silent, colorless wall of inactivity makes for a parking lot that is mostly empty -- smack dab in what was once the city's commercial epicenter. It's hard to ignore.
Roy's mayor, Joe Ritchie, is right when he directs people to cast their gaze toward Harmons grocery, just a few blocks north along 1900 West from the former Albertson's.
Harmons remains busy as ever, he reminds them, and is itself the center of lots of business activity.
But residents, and elected leaders, are concerned that while stores and shops are sprouting up along 3500 West and, soon, Midland Drive in western Roy, the vacant storefronts along 1900 West aren't seeing the same action they did a couple of years ago.
The irony, of course, is not lost on anyone who remembers the redevelopment of the property that became the Albertson's site in Roy.
Two decades ago, there used to be a string of businesses along 1900 West -- even a movie theater. But the whole shebang was redeveloped into the grocery plaza, complete with fast-food eateries and other businesses. Right now, those businesses on the periphery seem to be getting along just fine, but in time the old Albertson's will probably become something besides a grocery store.
That spot remade itself once before, and it'll happen again.
As we drive along 1900 West in Roy, traffic is thick. One of the reasons it takes longer to get through the area than it used to is that lots of cars and trucks are turning into and out of myriad shops and businesses lining the roadway. Over time, some will close and others will open, but never bet against a business district that's so close to a full freeway interchange.
City officials and private property owners will continue to work with potential tenants and/or buyers, and Roy's 1900 West will still be a place for people to shop and do business.
A little paranoia may be a good thing if it motivates local officials to work harder.
And if they do that, Roy will continue to be successful -- even without an Albertson's.
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