[Source: Jahna Berry, Arizona Republic] — After nearly 30 years without a grocery store, downtown Phoenix will get one as early as June. The non-profit that runs a popular weekend farmers market has secured $305,000 to open a 4,000-square-foot shop at 14 E. Pierce St., the group will announce today. The store will be open five days a week and will sell produce, dairy, eggs, prepared foods, wine and beer, said Cindy Gentry, executive director of Community Food Connections. The biweekly Downtown Phoenix Pubic Market will remain open.
A key loan came from the non-profit Phoenix Industrial Development Authority. The farmers market group needs an additional $170,000 for startup expenses, but the authority’s $250,000 will allow renovations to start. “In these difficult times, the efforts of the Public Market and the outlet it creates for small business is needed more than ever,” Don Keuth, the Phoenix authority’s president. The last grocery store to serve Phoenix’s downtown core, the area south of Interstate 10, closed in 1981. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
Downtown Voices Coalition 