A Save-A-Lot discount grocery store opened its doors this morning in a Wichita neighborhood previously considered to be a food desert.
The store is located near the intersection of Harry and Broadway in south Wichita. It will have fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, as well as packaged food items.
The United States Department of Agriculture deemed the neighborhood a food desert because the nearest grocery store was more than a half-mile away and because of the large population of low-income people in the area, many without transportation.
James Clendenin represents the neighborhood on the Wichita City Council.
"It was really devastating to the community when Dillon's decided to leave and it really did leave a huge gap of service," Clendenin says.
The Save-A-Lot is being franchised by a business called Honor Capital, a group of Iraq war veterans working to fight food deserts in the U.S. Clendenin says the city helped secure $500,000 in block grants from the federal government to provide a low-cost loan to support the construction of the store.
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