CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Pete Chihak — a “grocery boy,” as he refers to himself — eagerly browses the aisles of the new Cultivate Hope Corner Store on Ellis Boulevard NW in a green T-shirt lively, showing the store. healthy food collection.
Vibrant red, green, and yellow fresh fruits and vegetables line the shelves. The savory aroma of roast chicken fills the checkout area. In the middle, shelves are filled with meal kits of local pastas, cereals, granola bars and dairy products. Of course, locally brewed beers and wine from area distilleries are also close at hand.
Frozen foods, including fish, fruits and vegetables, fill the freezer shelves, while beef, pork, chicken and other quality meats are kept refrigerated in an open display case.
“I like to barbecue, so I know what good, decent meat looks like, and it’s good meat,” Chihak told the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Chihak, 66, moved to Cedar Rapids in the 1970s and lives on O Avenue NW. His own home escaped destruction by the floods, but he knows of others who weren’t so lucky. For several decades it has seen much devastation in this part of town which is still struggling with recovery from the 2008 floods.
The Time Check neighborhood is classified as a “food desert”, with old shops and restaurants wiped out by flooding, and so far limited access to nutritious food within a reasonable distance.
But the nonprofit convenience store, at 604 Ellis Blvd. NW, it changes. The million-dollar store, operated by the nonprofit Matthew 25, offers healthy, discounted and free foods in this part of Cedar Rapids, with a mission to improve access to food and to educate residents on how to have a more nutritious diet.
It began with a “soft opening” earlier this month and will fully open this coming week, with regular hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
“I want to see the northwest side improve,” Chihak said. “I’ve seen good and bad here, obviously, in the northwest and I see this whole area as being on an uptrend. And I think that’s a big, big plus.
Matthew 25 executive director Clint Twedt-Ball said the store was a “social enterprise”. He is expected to lose $100,000 a year, but his 501(c)3 status gives the store access to backstopping the loss with grants and also allows volunteers to supplement staff work. There are about a dozen employees, but the store is looking to hire more.
“The reason a lot of these little grocery stores don’t exist in neighborhoods like this is because of the challenges of making it work financially,” Twedt-Ball said. “You don’t have enough customers who have a sufficient revenue base to consistently buy the food.”
Through partnerships with local vendors who believe in the store’s mission, the store is able to sell much of its food at a reduced cost. The stickers indicate the suggested retail price compared to the store’s lower price. A pantry next to fruits and vegetables allows people to get fresh produce for free.
In addition to various food items, there are also Groundswell Cafe-branded salads and other ready-to-go meals created by its “top-notch” chef and prepared by cafe staff. The pay cafe is also operated by Matthew 25.
Although the store pays special attention to supporting Time Check and surrounding neighborhoods within walking distance of the store, Al Pierson, president of the Northwest Neighborhood Association, said there were not enough people to rely on. as customers in that area alone, so the store hopes to attract people from Linn County.
Already, Pierson and the staff of his own business, Pierson’s Flower Shop, are quickly beginning to love the corner store. Neighborhood residents have a habit of going to Casey’s to get something frozen or lacking in nutrients, Pierson said.
“A lot of people need to be educated on how to use fresh produce better, how to use it properly before it spoils, and I think people are not educated on that at all anymore,” he said. Pierson said.
With that in mind, one of the main goals of the store is education. There is a lounge area where classes and other programs will take place. Chief Executive Mark Elias said it was about teaching people how to cook and use certain foods to prepare meals at home, as well as the value of nutritious foods for improving health or promoting walking at home. groceries instead of driving.
Iowa State University Extension will help with some food education courses and materials. Elias said ISU Extension can help teach people how to grow fresh produce in their own backyard or connect to Matthew 25’s urban farm, or share and trade the produce they grow with others if they have excess. The store pantry accepts such donations.
Elias, a fourth-generation grocer, has worked for small independent grocers and large corporations. He said his father had a grocery store in western Iowa before he died in 1989 that was similar in size, with the same red brick. Located in the historic Hosmer Building, the home of Cultivate Hope was originally built in 1920 as a grocery store and meat market.
“It reminded me a lot of the first time I saw this building in my father’s store,” Elias said, smiling at a picture of the store hanging above his desk.
Pierson remembers growing up with about a dozen grocery stores — one every two blocks in the neighborhood. He said the name “Time Check” came from the railroad company that issued post-dated checks to workers, who took their checks to grocery stores to buy food on credit.
When people hear that a nonprofit runs a grocery store, Twedt-Ball said, it’s often assumed that standards will be lower. He said Matthew 25 wanted people to know that the store aims to provide high quality fresh produce and products that rival any other grocery store and be a place where everyone is welcome, and where people pay to help others have nutritious food.
“Come and shop like you would anywhere else, and you’ll be happy, plus you’re doing good for the community,” Twedt-Ball said.
The launch of the convenience store is part of Matthew’s 25 Healthy Neighborhoods fundraising campaign unveiled last year. Its original goal was $1 million, but it dropped to $1.4 million due to rising construction costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Twedt-Ball said the band was more than $2,000 away from reaching their new goal.
The remaining funds will go towards three homes to be built on Eighth Avenue NW that will be sold to those with incomes at or below 80% of the area’s median income. The hope is to begin construction this fall after reaching a development agreement with the city of Cedar Rapids, Twedt-Ball said.
All of these combined efforts contribute to strengthening the social fabric of the neighborhood and meeting the needs of the “missing link”.
“I think people are looking for these walkable neighborhoods with small businesses, this connectivity where they can go to a place small enough to see their neighbors, they meet people they know, and yet they still feel like there are amenities that are bigger than they would get in a small town,” Twedt-Ball said.
Samuel Thomas, who lives in Edgewood Road NW and was shopping on Monday, said it was his first time at the store but he had driven it several times while taking his son to the Y. He usually does his shopping at Hy-Vee or Natural Grocers, although Thomas said he would prefer to buy from a local place such as Cultivate Hope.
“I’m sure I’ll be back,” Thomas said. “…Something like that, I think, is really needed, because in particular areas, if you can’t get to a big grocery store, things like this are rare in terms of availability.”
As the city begins work to expand Sixth Street NW to Ellis Boulevard NW and connect Ellis to First Avenue, the Northwest Neighborhood and Time Check await improved downtown connectivity and sustained economic development prospects. Other changes are taking shape in the neighborhood, with the Mirrorbox Theater and a revamp of Shakespeare Garden in Ellis Park.
“There’s so much going on in the neighborhood right now that it’s going to change quickly, but it’s a good cornerstone,” Pierson said.
