SF Bayview gets a Lucky supermarket to alleviate food desert
SAN FRANCISCO - A grocery store is something many neighborhoods take for granted, but San Francisco's Bayview now has a new supermarket. The new Lucky Bayview may help alleviate a food desert in the neighborhood.
Just minutes after opening its doors, customers flooded into the Lucky Bayview supermarket on 3rd Street in San Francisco, showing the pent-up demand for a grocery store.
April Spears is a neighbor, and restaurateur in Bayview. "I have two restaurants, Auntie April's and Café Envy and bought my Lucky sandwich today," said Spears. "My first purchase here at Lucky's."
Spears says this Lucky supermarket is a welcome addition. "I am an expectant mother and I have a two-year-old," said Spears. "So, fresh food is, of course, at the top of my list. We're always shopping, so I'm happy I can come right down the hill from where I live and get fresh product available here in my community."
President of the Board of Supervisors Shamann Walton said more than a year of planning has gone into turning this space that had been a Walgreens two years ago into a food destination in the middle of what has until now been a food desert. "We need to make sure that we have quality grocery stores in proximity to where everyone can get to, whether they walk, whether they cycle, whether they take public transportation, and this helps us provide that," said Supervisor Walton.
Mayor London Breed also adding neighbors will have to be the caretakers of this new supermarket. "This belongs to the community," said Mayor Breed. "So, it's going to be up to the community to protect it, to support it, to respect it and ensure that there aren't a few people that mess this up for this neighborhood."
The hope is the store will also be an economic engine for the area, with plans in place to ensure that 90% of its workforce is made up of Bayview residents, and serving as an anchor for Bayview Plaza.
Lucky says the grocery store is already gearing up for the holiday season and will have turkey and all the holiday favorites available for the neighborhood. The store is significantly smaller than any other Lucky store, with only 5,500 square feet of shopping space. But, Lucky says it already has a supply chain in place from nearby stores to ensure Lucky Bayview has everything it needs for this community. "We will be supporting this store like any of our other stores, and if there's something that a guest can't get here, we'll have it here that day or the next day," said Bobby McDowell from Lucky. "We have a truck that goes back and forth between stores."
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The shop also has a community area it will make available for community gatherings and meetings. The store is open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.