We did it!
We lived, we learned, we expanded!
On December 3, 2018, our dream came true! We launched our very first brick and mortar grocery store in West Utica. 1110 Lincoln Ave has been hustlin’ and bustlin’ with cars since our opening day, and we couldn’t be prouder of our staff, and grateful to be a part of the revitalization of downtown Utica.
Our expansion has been four years in the making. It came with many trials, tears, and hard work. Going from 1,200 square feet of retail space to 13,000 square feet of retail space is no easy feat for any team, but to a small team like ours, it seemed like we were climbing Mount Everest. We are thankful for all of the outpouring of love, and support; and so grateful to all who have watched us scale the mountain of retail expansion and come down that great mountain with very few bumps (knock on wood).
Compassion Coalition’s Bargain Grocery has never and will never aim to be just another grocery store. Our community-driven focus has always been two-fold, we exist to bring food accessibility to a food desert, but also reinvest the money made in the store into our communities through very targeted programming. When 40% of food in America is thrown out each year — perfectly good edible food — yet 12% of our population in Utica goes to bed hungry every night, we wanted to create an innovative model that could feed the hungry, bring food accessibility and equality, and reinvest into our communities.
Without our grocery store, we would not have a teacher free store, mattress giveaways, or pop up grocery store for the elderly and disabled at Utica’s Municipal Housing complexes.
We are continually grateful for all of you who have been supporting us throughout the last 19 years, and look forward to this year with hope and excitement for all we can accomplish together.
Leave a Reply