JenCare moving into old Harper’s Hardware
JenCareMed has a sign on the old Harper Hardware, advertising their intent to open a neighborhood medical center, described more specifically as “senior preventative care”, in September 2011. A reader tipped me with “some quick research shows JMCG RICHMOND LLC, a Florida based company, bought the property in May from Harper for $1.4 million.”
WOW. Talk about a misuse of premium retail space!!!
No kidding. This would make a nice grocery store. Or if someone were willing to work customer friendly hours, I think a hardware store could have worked here also. I guess there’s big money in dialysis though. How convenient that it’s located right by McDonald’s.
I don’t believe Church Hill can support a grocery store. I hope to be proved wrong however.
Boo.
Alex, what makes you think it’s a dialysis center? There’s one down on Main Street near 20th or 21st, I can’t imagine there is a need for another, but maybe I’m not good with the dialysis market.
I can’t find a website for JenCare at least through a google search. Alex or anyone know anything more about it?
For those who think the building could be put to a better use: hey, they spent serious money to buy the building so they must think it can work. And much as I’d like to see a Trader Joe’s closer than Short Pump, apparently the grocery business has very slim profit margins. And someone told me recently that getting a Trader Joe’s going takes some really serious money. Me, I’d be happy to see a Trader Joe’s in Carytown, I can make it there in ten minutes which is a whole lot faster than Short Pump.
My bad on the dialysis center. I think I got it confused with one of the other projects in the area. This one seems to be a general care facility targeted at seniors. Do we have that many seniors around here? My impression of the surrounding area is that it’s mostly younger folks in the Bottom so it seems like an odd place to build.
This is just emblematic of our disturbing national trend away from producing anything but healthcare and apartments. Used to be a hardware store supporting industry and is now a place devoted to keeping old people alive a little bit longer. How many other places in Richmond have suffered the same fate?
Most of the old people could not afford the apartments near there so they will be bussed in like everyone else
Just noticed tonight that there’s another Jen Care opening on 360 behind the Long John Silvers. They also have a fleet of vans waiting in the parking lot. Wonder why they couldn’t have used them to bus folks out there and save a good retail location for something worthwhile.
Alex, because that would make more sense. It’s not the Richmond way.
Isn’t there enough traffic down there on Broad what with the gas station, the McDonalds, and all of the cars going to the highway ramp or MCV?
I spoke with someone at JenCare who says that they have transportation services for those on Medicare and offer other services just for seniors. They can take non senior walk-ins but on a Cash Only basis and don’t offer the entire range of services to them.
There is nothing specifically saying this is a Medicare only type service and being the area they are moving into is more 50 or under in age, not sure how this service will survive?
I was curious about JenCare also. I googled, yahoo’d and bing’d all I got were links to cached sites that take 100′s of years to load.
I found this on a google search, here’s a cut and paste from Virginia Business
“JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers enters Virginia market with five office locations August 15, 2011 5:42 PM
A new option in preventative health care for seniors is coming to Virginia. Divaris Real Estate Inc. in Virginia Beach announced Monday the signing of three leases and the purchase of two buildings by JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers. Three of the offices will be located in Hampton Roads and the other two will open in the Richmond area.
JenCare has leased a 10,000-square-foot office in Newmarket Shopping Center on West Mercury Boulevard in Newport News. Another lease for 5,700 square feet was signed for a location on Turnpike Road in Portsmouth. The company bought a 16,000-square foot building in downtown Norfolk on East Brambleton Ave, which already has opened.
In the Richmond area, the first location that will open is a 7,144-square-foot office in the Glen Lea Shopping Center on Mechanicsville Turnpike. JenCare bought the former Harper’s Hardware Store, an 11,867-square-foot building on East Broad Street.
According to the company’s Web site, the offices are scheduled to open this month, with the exception of the Richmond office, which will open in September. According to a press release from Divaris, JenCare specializes in primary and multi-specialty care for Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. It offers courtesy transportation to patients as well as on-site prescriptions, dental care and acupuncture services. The company started in Miami under the name of ChenMed, named after its founder, Dr. James Chen. It operates nine offices in that market. Divaris represented JenCare in leasing and sale negotiations.”