South Park Dollar General to bring in fresh produce by late July
Close to a decade since the last neighborhood supermarket closed, residents on Port Huron’s south end will soon have access to fresh produce at a local store.
Dollar General announced on Wednesday it’d be adding produce to its store at 3599 Military St. — not far from where the River District Market burned down in November 2013.
According to a news release, that produce set would include 20 items sold in traditional grocery stores with fruits and vegetables ranging from salad mixes to potatoes, onions, strawberries, apples, and more, in addition to the frozen and refrigerated foods already available.
The news follows a multi-year push from Port Huron officials for grocery access in South Park and amid an ongoing effort to revitalize the neighborhood at large.
“Fresh produce is an urgent need, and this enhancement will buttress additional investments being made in South Park,” City Manager James Freed said in a statement. “The Conner Street corridor and South Park is one of the most promising areas of the city, seeing millions of dollars in new investments and planned investments.”
The current south end Dollar General is located at the intersection with Conner Street, and city officials first publicly advocated for market access at the store five years ago when the store was still in development.
At the time, the store hadn’t altered its plans. However, in follow up Wednesday, Freed said they’d been more seriously working with Dollar General for fresh produce over the last year, reiterating they were thankful for being able to engage with the company’s CEO, and that conversations “took a serious turn about six months ago.”
Dollar General runs four stores in the city in addition to several others around the area.
According to its release, produce was expected to come to the store by late July.
In his own statement, Steve Brophy, Dollar General’s vice president of public policy and government relations, said they aim to be a positive economic influence in communities and that they “look forward to offering fresh fruits and vegetables to South Park soon.”
Is fresh produce an answer to Port Huron's food desert?
David Haynes, planning director for the city, added via email early Wednesday afternoon that the southside neighborhood was still considered a food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA defines individual population areas as low food access tracts where at least 100 households with no vehicle are located more than half a mile or at least 500 people, or 33% of a population, live more than 20 miles from the nearest supermarket.
Under its 2019 access data, all of Port Huron except one central area south of the Black River and another on the city’s north end, which are each near a Kroger, was cited as a food desert.
However, that was prior to the opening of the Country Style Market more than a year ago. That store is three miles from the south end Dollar General.
Joe Bixler, president of the Southside Initiative, said the Dollar General news was a good step forward in revitalizing the area. Still, he said he'd hope it could've gone a step further to offer animal proteins — and something closer to a grocery that residents at large have continued to push for.
“Fresh produce is certainly something that everyone should have access to, so it’s positive news,” he added. “… It’s always been on the top of our list: A full-service grocery store, which would include animal protein. The model doesn’t have to necessarily look like a big box Kroger, Aldi, whatever. There’s all kinds of different models, and we’ve looked into some of them and haven’t pursued any efforts so far. But there’s co-ops and all kinds of things. I still think we will have food needs in this neighborhood beyond fresh produce.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: South Park Dollar General to bring in fresh produce by late July
