Across D.C., a resurgence of the small neighborhood grocery store

Across D.C., a resurgence of the small neighborhood grocery store

On a stretch of Rhode Island Avenue that for years was a food desert stands Good Food Markets, a small neighborhood grocery store that opened in January 2015.

Arranged neatly on shelves inside a tiny retail space of a mere 800 square feet is a diverse selection of fresh, packaged and prepared items. There’s pasta and canned tomatoes for a quick weeknight dinner, but also fresh fruit and vegetables, organic quinoa in bulk and even Vietnamese spring roll wrappers.

“I love it,” said Senait Teklehaimanot, 48, a resident of nearby Woodridge who does almost all of her weekly shopping at Good Food Markets. “They’re reasonably priced and have good products.”

Good Food Markets is just one of a handful of neighborhood grocery stores that have opened across the District recently, part of what appears to be a resurgence of small-scale groceries catering to neighborhood residents — in stark contrast to the trend of disappearing mom-and-pop stores in small towns across the country.

 

Read more from The Washington Post here.