Food deserts slowly fill in
Mary Train, an independent contractor, had to start taking two buses to get to the nearest full-service grocery store after the Dominick’s closed two years ago in her Northwest Side neighborhood.
Now she’s thrilled that the Dominick’s will reopen Friday in the renovated store at 6623 N. Damen in the West Ridge neighborhood.
“There are lots of good ethnic markets on Devon (Avenue),” Train said. “But I couldn’t pick up staples like flour or towels in short errands early in the morning or late at night.”
The bus trips could take Train from 15 minutes to an hour. “If you’re carrying ice cream, it’s melted by the time you get home,” she said.
The reopened Dominick’s will have a Starbucks cafe, a hearth oven for baking breads and a full-service fish counter. The store opening is the latest example of how Chicago’s food deserts are, little by little, sprouting oases.
Discount grocer Aldi will open a new store at 6221 N. Broadway in the Edgewater community on Aug. 27, marking its 33rd store in Chicago.
On the Near West Side, residents are to learn later this month which grocer will open on a long-vacant lot on the southeast corner of Madison Street and Western Avenue.
Residents have lobbied for a Pete’s Fresh Market, saying they prefer the local grocer’s fresh and organic produce and ingredients to make meals from scratch over a no-frills discount store or a major supermarket that might make way for a strip center next door.
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