No, they’re not secondhand groceries that someone gave away. They’re new, fresh, affordable, accessible – and now available for sale, courtesy of Goodwill Industries.
Just over a year after work began to transform a Goodwill repackaging facility and office building in Roanoke, Virginia into a full-fledged grocery store, that store officially opened to a grateful public last week.
Market on Melrose is owned and operated by Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, and is one of the only – and certainly the largest – Goodwill-operated grocery stores in the country.
Why would Goodwill get into the grocery business? The surrounding community in Northwest Roanoke has been without a full-service grocer for more than 40 years. A third of neighborhood residents don’t have their own transportation, and have easier access to convenience stores and fast food restaurants than they do a grocery store. Efforts to attract a grocer to serve the community have never panned out, so Goodwill decided to take matters into its own hands.
“Through the Market on Melrose, we are continuing our mission of empowering individuals and strengthening families who now have convenient, walkable access to affordable nutrition without having to leave their neighborhood,” Goodwill Industries of the Valleys president & CEO Richmond Vincent said in a statement. The store’s opening, he said, represents “a bright day for our city and a celebration of our future as we are another step closer to putting food insecurity and poverty in our past.”
“I was born and raised in Northwest (Roanoke). I have never seen a grocery store in the community,” the store’s Customer Service Manager LaCresha Brown said at last week’s grand opening, attended by local dignitaries and community members – many of whom have been hired to work at the store. “The Market on Melrose will provide convenience for my elders in the community, and it will be beneficial for families without reliable transportation,” she said.
The 15,000-square-foot store is roughly the size of an ALDI, and aims to stock everything that a traditional grocery store would, from fresh meat, dairy and produce to name-brand and store-brand packaged foods. Goodwill has partnered with the wholesale food distributor MDI, which not only provides the products on its shelf, but assists with everything from pricing and promotions to store signage and IT services.
And coupons, too. Market on Melrose accepts manufacturer’s coupons, and offers a digital coupon program as well. And given that many community members have limited means and may be stung by the “digital divide,” which many low-income and elderly shoppers say prevents them from taking advantage of digital-only savings, the retailer features a coupon kiosk, pictured above, that shoppers without their own digital devices can use to select and print coupons right in the store.
The store also accepts SNAP/EBT benefits, though anyone is free to shop there regardless of income level or payment method. Market on Melrose also features a weekly ad, and its everyday prices are comparable to those of traditional grocery stores.
So it’s basically a grocery store like any other, which just so happens to be owned by Goodwill. But a grocery store like any other is just what community members have long said they’ve needed.
And now, those who put in years of effort to turn this idea into reality hope their experience will inspire others. “In the words of Margaret Mead,” Elizabeth Ackley, Director of Roanoke College’s Center for Community Health Innovation, told those assembled at the grand opening, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”
So if you have easy access to a grocery store in your neighborhood, you might not think much about the fact that there are many people who don’t. But if more communities across the country follow Roanoke’s lead – then grocery shopping at Goodwill won’t seem like such an unusual idea anymore.
Image source: Goodwill Industries of the Valleys
Do the store except insurance card?