Media accounts have it that Pittsburgh will welcome a new grocery store to Downtown, on Liberty Avenue, and perhaps as soon as the second quarter of 2026.
It’s welcome news for those living Downtown now who’ve long advocated for such a store and for developers hoping to offer more Downtown living (although, regrettably, much of it has taxpayer subsidies). A Downtown Target store already features a grocery component.
The new store, branded as a “Well Well Market,” will have a relatively small footprint for a “grocery store” at just over 3,800 square feet and feature 40 percent organic products.
Per the Post-Gazette:
“The Downtown Neighbors Alliance (DNA) began trying to bring in a grocery retailer in 2024 and is now working with [Eric] Iacone [a Carnegie Mellon University graduate and owner of Philadelphia’s Ecclesia Jewelry] to close financing gaps.”
What exactly that means is not clear. Neither is how big those “financing gaps” are. But if that means traditional lending institutions are not stepping up fully, it suggests the venture has been deemed too risky for those lenders. That risk, however, should not be assigned to, and assumed by, taxpayers.
The P-G also reports DNA “likely will seek funding from the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s rent abatement program, which offers a rent subsidy to new businesses during their first year in brick-and-mortar spaces Downtown.”
But at least part of that money comes from taxpayers. Why should taxpayers be subsidizing this new grocery store’s rent for a year?
Pittsburgh, of course, has a putrid history of turning taxpayers into venture capitalists to underwrite grocery stores. The failed Shop ‘n Save and failed Salem’s Market, each at the same Hill District location, are prime examples of officials’ hubris in believing they can command the marketplace where no real market demand exists.
Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Allegheny Institute, questions the very premise of the forthcoming Well Well Market.
“Organic tends to be more expensive versus affordable,” he says, also noting that the endeavor sounds like more of “niche” market than a “general market.”
Hence, will there really be sufficient demand for its offerings.
And Jake Haulk, president-emeritus of the Pittsburgh think tank, notes the past that very well could become the prologue of such a heavily gush-gushed project.
“It will not result in any embarrassment for the media or Pittsburgh pols who will push the notion that this is a sign of a new Downtown ‘renaissance’ when the store fails or ‘requires’ more financial support from taxpayers,” he says.
If the coming Well Well Market truly is viable, it should be able to secure 100 percent purely private financing. But that does not appear to be the case.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
