Community-minded independent retailer Bargain Grocery is planning to open a store in the North Central neighborhood of its hometown of Troy, N.Y. The store will be downtown Troy’s most centrally located large-scale grocery store and provide nutritious foods in an underserved area. Bargain Grocery will anchor regional developer First Columbia’s redevelopment of the entire city block north of Hoosick Street.
Bargain Grocery opened its first physical store in Utica in 2018, backed by nonprofit organization Compassion Coalition, which donates more than $20 million in goods annually to the local community. The retailer keeps its prices low with strategic purchasing — it buys fresh food at a discount, either because the food is overproduced or doesn’t meet such superficial standards as aesthetics or packaging issues — as well as extending additional, discreet financial assistance to those in need.
The North Central neighborhood is in a census district where at least 33% of residents live more than a half-mile from a grocery store. It’s also a low-vehicle access area, meaning that more than 100 households have no access to a vehicle and live more than a half-mile from the nearest supermarket. The neighborhood has a 43% poverty rate, similar to the area surrounding Bargain Grocery’s Utica store. The poverty rate for all of Troy is 24.4%, as compared with that of the New York state overall, which is 13%.
Source: Progressive Grocer
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