A hunger-relief agency's pledge to build America's first nonprofit supermarket was greeted skeptically at first. However, Philabundance may be confounding local doubters. Its Fare & Square grocery store, seven years in the making, is ready to open its doors Saturday morning, a rare oasis in what has been called a food desert.
Usually in the business of distributing donated food to pantries in the Delaware Valley, Philabundance, a nonprofit, has augmented its mission and become a store owner, charging prices 8 percent to 10 percent lower than small urban grocers.
Unlike most store owners, Philabundance is obliged not to make a profit in Chester, declared a food desert by the federal government - a low-income area lacking ready access to healthy food. The agency said it would strive to offer fresh fruits and vegetables as well as meats at the lowest possible prices.
In a city of 33,000 people where it's nearly impossible to buy a head of lettuce in any of 100 corner stores, that qualifies as a game-changer, said Bill Clark, the agency's executive director, who planned and created the $7 million store with the financial help of numerous partners.
Anyone can shop at the 16,000-square-foot store, but low-income people will be offered an advantage. Shoppers with annual incomes equal to or less than twice the federal poverty level of around $23,000 for a family of four can accrue 7 percent store credit each time they shop, to be applied toward future purchases.
Fare & Square is offering 69 jobs, 82 percent of which will be held by Chester residents, said Marlo DelSordo, director of marketing and communications for Philabundance.
