GREENSBORO, N.C. — With grocery stores like Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Lidl and Publix opening their doors and or preparing to set up in Greensboro, comes more options for some neighbors.
The recent influx of some of the food retailers though clusters in one part of the city, the West. Most of the grocery stores in the city are already within a 10-mile radius leaving some areas with very few or none at all. Many residents from those areas, like East Greensboro, have to travel a distance or go to multiple store locations to get their basic grocery needs.
"When I buy groceries, it's to Walmart, about two or 2 1/2 miles down Cone Boulevard," said Louise Cobb, 80, of Greensboro who is on a fixed income.
Cobb says since her daughter died last year, she's had to spend about $150 to $200 of her limited funds on groceries every month. While there is a Food Lion a little over a mile away from her home, she says she takes her time to go to several other stores farther from home to get everything she needs.
"When I finish my bills, I don't have a lot to buy groceries with so I get the very things that I definitely need from Walmart where it's cheaper, and my meats but when I get to Food Lion I get the really necessary things that I need," added Cobb.
Experts call areas like East Greensboro Food Deserts and it is is one of 17 in Greensboro with a total of 24 in Guilford County.
The US Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as a residential area with a high level of poverty and where at least one-third of its residents live more than a mile from a grocery store.
"For those who struggle with transportation issues to get on a bus to go to the grocery store across town, really prevents you from being able to access the types of services you're trying to go after," said Greensboro City Councilmember Sharon Hightower.
Advocates for the residents of East Greensboro say it's great that developers are helping bring in these grocery businesses but they are ignoring other crucial parts of the city.
"When you are bringing in two or three grocery stores and they all have to open on the same day and they are a pretty much in the same area, they need to look at the east and that's where the growth is coming," added Hightower who said the stigma about the prevalence of crime has also worked against the area.
Other advocates say developers and businesses are missing out on an opportunity by ignoring such areas with great need and saturating in only one side of the city.
"One of our studies about three or 4 years ago indicated that in East Greensboro, we have a third highest buying power in City Of Greensboro, therefore there's a tremendous need not only for grocery stores but other services," said Mac Sims, President, East Greensboro Now, a community development organization.
Neighbors say they would welcome more options like their counterparts on the west side of the city.
"My travel time could be cut in half. Sometimes I have to go to Food Lion on Golden Gate because sometimes the Food Lion in East market doesn't happen to have what I'm looking for," said Maurice Brooks who lives near the plaza which once housed the Renaissance Co-op on Phillips Avenue.
" I would be happy to have one right there," said Brooks pointing towards the vacant space at the Renaissance Shops Plaza.
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