First Link Downtown Supermarket

Business First did a piece on this a few days ago. I must admit that I drove past many times as well without caring to take notice. This is the Rodney Dangerfield story of the year as far as no respect for a food outlet!

http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/b ... ll-of.html

http://www.firstlinksupermarket.com/

[Robin Garr]

I'm going to be blunt: Middle-class people don't know of it because it's for "them." I can hardly imagine an East End business person stopping off to grab something for dinner there on her way to the Highlands or the I-65 ramps. But maybe they should ... and maybe this will eventually start to change as east downtown gentrifies. Good catch, anyway, by Business First.

Excuse me, Robin, that is the most biased opinion that I have ever seen you post! "Them"??? We couldn't live further out in the "East End" and we, not only know about the First Link, we actually go there! They have a great choice of sausages, etc. that are made in house and the place is immaculately clean. The people who work there could not be nicer. Prejudice works both ways!!! Check it out

[Robin Garr]

Excuse me, Robin, that is the most biased opinion that I have ever seen you post! "Them"??? We couldn't live further out in the "East End" and we, not only know about the First Link, we actually go there! They have a great choice of sausages, etc. that are made in house and the place is immaculately clean. The people who work there could not be nicer. Prejudice works both ways!!! Check it out

Carol, I would respectfully suggest that you guys are exceptional. Trust me, I work in the East End and have a lot of good friends who I consider open-minded and fair. But most of them wouldn't stop at First Link, not when they can stop at Westport Kroger on the way home.

I've worked downtown for 4 years and live in Crescent Hill, but I had no idea First Link existed. My routes through downtown don't take me down Liberty, so I don't think I've ever driven past it.

Where do they advertise? How do they market themselves? They show up as First Link Pharmacy on Google Maps - you have to look twice to even notice they're also a supermarket. Now that I see the picture of their sign on their website, I remember seeing it. The sign proclaims DISCOUNT LIQUOR AND TOBACCO - no judgment intended or implied there, but that usually indicates a store more concerned with packaged, processed food than staples. I had no idea they had such a substantial meat program.

All I'm saying is, the makeup of a business's clientele is a two-way street. First Link's stock, physical prescence, marketing, and promotions are, presumably, effective with the people who live nearby. If they want to reach a different kind of customer, they'll have to reevaluate all of those things. Robin's absolutely right, there are probably a lot of (at least mildly) prejudiced folks who would never shop there. But that's not everybody, not even everybody in the bad 'ol East End. I intend to check them out soon. I'm sure more folks would do the same if they knew First Link existed.

[Robin Garr]

Robin's absolutely right, there are probably a lot of (at least mildly) prejudiced folks who would never shop there.

To be honest, I wasn't even thinking of prejudice at this point. I was just thinking about a lot of older people I know (and some not THAT old!) who attend a church where I've been working. They're decent, caring people who seem pretty darn open to diversity. But I just don't see them pulling over to park at First Link for a variety of reasons. And I think you've identified some of them in terms of its outward appearance and signage, Jeff.

Robin's absolutely right, there are probably a lot of (at least mildly) prejudiced folks who would never shop there.

To be honest, I wasn't even thinking of prejudice at this point. I was just thinking about a lot of older people I know (and some not THAT old!) who attend a church where I've been working. They're decent, caring people who seem pretty darn open to diversity. But I just don't see them pulling over to park at First Link for a variety of reasons. And I think you've identified some of them in terms of its outward appearance and signage, Jeff.

Ah, sorry - I misunderstood your statement "it's for 'them.'"

[Robin Garr]

'them.'"

Po' folks.

OK, I will admit it I knew where First Link was and I never thought of shopping there simply because of the high crime area in which it is located. I know that does not make much sense because I never had a second thought of shopping at Creation Gardens and they were only a few blocks away. I think it is because of the senior citizen towers across the street, when I worked Home Health that place was awful for crime, not the seniors mind you all the grandkids and kids staying with them in those tiny apartments. I know crime can happen anywhere by anyone, I grew up in the west end of Louisville and I feel fine in most areas of town, you just have to be aware.

I've seen their commercials on TV every now and then. They always seem to have exceptional meat prices. My wife and I always talk about going down there but never have gotten around to it. Maybe we'll do it this weekend.

OK, I will admit it I knew where First Link was and I never thought of shopping there simply because of the high crime area in which it is located. I know that does not make much sense because I never had a second thought of shopping at Creation Gardens and they were only a few blocks away. I think it is because of the senior citizen towers across the street, when I worked Home Health that place was awful for crime, not the seniors mind you all the grandkids and kids staying with them in those tiny apartments. I know crime can happen anywhere by anyone, I grew up in the west end of Louisville and I feel fine in most areas of town, you just have to be aware.

Were the Clarksdale projects still there when you worked over there? I wonder if the demolishing of those and replacing them with Liberty Green has changed the area much.

They also have a USDA approved meat packing and processing plant in the basement, along with several huge specialty smokers. They used to provide the bbq ribs to several places around the country (whose names you would recognize!), as well as processing their own sausages et al.

(sorry - write the above before reading the article . . . I've seen the plant, and you could eat off the floor! It's immaculate, and the stuff they process is absolutely top quality)

Were the Clarksdale projects still there when you worked over there? I wonder if the demolishing of those and replacing them with Liberty Green has changed the area much.

Yes to answer your question I believe the Clarksdale projects were there as I seem to remember having a visit or two in that complex as well.
You are right, I am sure Liberty Green would have helped.

I am bumping up this thread because today I was nearby First Link with my husband and son so we ventured in. As my husband put it as we left...that is off our bucket list. We will never ever go back. As bad as the place looks from the outside it looks worse inside. Once you get in the place you have to work your way past pallets of cheap beer , malt liquor ,charcoal and other odds and ends. When we got close to the meat dept. they had bed pillows for sale in refrigerated cases (not working or turned off) I did buy some smoked sausage and chips just to go on and get out of there but the whole place creeped me out. I saw no sign of a nice meat department just some standard cuts of meat and for the most part the prices all thru the store were higher than I am used to. I didn't check on the prices of the pillows in the meat case.

My wife and I went down there last week as a result of this thread. I'd agree it's not the prettiest place but if your shopping options are that versus a two-hour bus ride out Bardstown Road I could get over it. The place is clean and organized. We did buy about $60 worth of meat (and got $5 back, which was a nice surprise). Some prices were better than what I see in other stores and some weren't. The manager of the meat department carried our groceries out and packed them in the car. Whether he was trying to make us feel comfortable or angling for a tip I don't know, but he ended up with that $5.

Bottom line: It's pretty far out of my way so unless I see a super sale it won't be a regular stop. On the other hand, I have to give them a lot of credit for sticking with an area most other merchants have long since left behind. I really don't see the point in slamming them in public unless you bought product with which you were unhappy.