On Crenshaw Boulevard in Inglewood last Friday, green streamers hung in the air, a DJ played a mix of throwback jams and upbeat tracks, and people walked around with goodie bags.
This wasn’t any block party. Hundreds of residents had gathered to celebrate the opening of Inglewood’s first Sprouts Farmers Market, the latest location of the Phoenix-based grocery store chain.
“We’ve been asking for a grocery market here that has fresh produce, that is health-conscious, and I think it’s great that we have something like this in our community now,” Inglewood resident Pamela Briggs shared. “We just hope that the momentum stays, and that we continue to shop here.”
Bright and early, long before the store’s party officially kicked off at 7 a.m., the line around the brand-new grocery store wrapped around the building. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., District 1 Councilwoman Gloria Gray — who is running against Butts in Inglewood’s mayoral election — and other city officials were there for the ribbon-cutting. Sprouts employees and the store’s assistant manager, Julian Levine, stood up front, greeting customers and passing out tote bags containing snacks and a long-stemmed rose.
“Before we even opened the doors, as we were putting the store together, cars would stop by constantly, roll down their windows and ask, ‘Hey, are you guys open yet?’” Levine said. “So I know the community has been very, very excited and has anticipated our opening for quite some time.”
The opening weekend reflected that. The store was still filled with shoppers when the party officially ended at 5 p.m. that evening. That was Day One of the festivities, which also took place on Saturday and Sunday.
“The most exciting part was walking the line, talking to people, and people wanted to take pictures and have me take pictures with their parents and children,” Mayor Butts said. “The camaraderie, the excitement, I’ve never seen anything like this for the opening of a food store.”
Many leaders in the community, who were instrumental in helping Sprouts Farmers Market build and plan its location, were present at the store’s opening.
“Inglewood has evolved,” Butts said. “This is a city where a Sprouts could be successful. And that first day proved it.”
Bernard McCrumby, Inglewood’s development services department director, and Chris Jackson, Inglewood’s assistant city manager, were both actively involved in the development of the store, and say it’s been a long time coming. The site hasn’t housed a major supermarket since the 1970s, when Safeway closed its store at the location. It then became a church school and later a 99 Cents Only store.
“We’ve been working on this for about a decade … trying to get a grocer to come in,” Jackson said about the space. “We’re … kind of a food desert. We don’t have as many grocery stores as we should.”
Although Inglewood has other major supermarkets, many residents note that there is a disproportionate amount of fast-food restaurants, convenience and liquor stores, and limited grocery store options compared with neighborhoods in Los Angeles. This forced residents such as Cherie Harris to look for healthier options outside of the community. Harris shopped regularly at the Sprouts in Culver City before the Inglewood store’s opening.
“To have healthier options, organic options, things that come in directly from farms right to us is super important for the health of the Black community,” Harris said. “Now we can be educated by having healthier options right in the community.”
Though Sprouts routinely partners with local brands to support the communities around its stores, Jackson said the new location is still in the process of stocking Inglewood-based labels on its shelves.
“Initially, no, we were working hard just to get [the store] here,” he said when asked about outreach to local brands.
One community effort already in place is Sprouts’ Food Rescue program, a program that donates unsellable, but edible, groceries to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
One resident said that they hope the store will invest in “urban” brands, with other shoppers expressing a desire to see more Caribbean and African items stocked at the store.
“Any business here in the community should be in partnership with the community,” said Councilwoman Gray.
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