Some Bronzeville residents worried they’d never get a local Mariano’s Fresh Market, whose owner boasted in 2009 that the South Side food desert was one of its next target locations. After a five-year delay, Mariano’s announced it will begin construction on a Bronzeville store in 2015.
Chi-Town Review reported in February that part of Bronzeville is technically a city food desert and that residents had been pleading with Mariano’s executives and local officials to make good on promises to open a store there. Resident Erica Mosely even created an online petition, signed by more than 1,200 residents.
Meanwhile, the chain opened several other locations across Chicago, including one in the nearby South Loop community, which already had a Jewel, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s within a one-mile radius of one another. That location’s development was aided by South Loop and Bronzeville alderman Pat Dowell (3rd), much to the disappointment of some Bronzeville constituents who wanted a store closer to their food desert.
Mariano’s told Chi-Town Review in February the chain did not lose sight of Bronzeville. The chain and city officials are expected to officially announce the store’s Bronzeville plan Wednesday May 14, 2014.
