Living Cities engaged with Jeff Brown and UpLift Solutions to learn more about the mechanics of his business model and the value in creating career pathways for local low-income residents. They conducted a series of interviews with Jeff to kick off this work. In this first installment, Jeff discusses the specifics of the UpLift supermarket business model, including the impetus for its creation and lessons from its successes and challenges.

Greensboro is aiming to create a co - op grocery in their area, which is considered a food desert area.  They are hoping that the site will entice other businesses like pharmacies or delis to open within the surrounding area. 

This report provides updated population estimates of spatial access to affordable and nutritious food. Estimates by income, vehicle availability, and other characteristics of the population are provided in addition to estimates for those who live in low-income neighborhoods. These estimates are based on data from 2010 and precede Federal policy initiatives to reduce barriers to food access, which began in 2011.

This study examines the long-term impact of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) on rural grocery stores. The Reinvestment Fund gathered information from store owners on how FFFI financing had affected their ability to access credit, stay in business, carry new lines of products (including fresh foods and produce) and stimulate economic activity in their communities.

In order to sell attractive, fresh fruit and vegetables, it’s important to learn some tricks of the trade. This guide provides tips on how to order, handle, display and store produce in your store.

A guide on how to sell produce. It includes helpful hints, resources for grocers, guidelines for storage and display, special produce lists and tips and tricks.

This is a guidebook from Australia with suggestions about how to bring healthy food into stores in remote rural locations.  It includes practical tips on shelf talkers, cooking demonstrations, shelf displays, store tours, rewards programs and other promotional ideas, many of which will be relevant in diverse settings.

Circle Food Store is set to open in mid to late summer of 2013. New owner Dwayne Boudreau spent years lining up the $8 million needed to repair the damages from the post-Katrina flood.

Lafayette Market, a 10,000 square-foot grocery store is set to open December 2012. It will offer fresh produce, a café, a fresh meat counter and more. Federal money from the Neighborhood Stabilization 2 and New Markets and Historic Tax Credit programs, as well as the Michigan Magnet Fund, state historic tax credits, brownfield tax credits and private lenders helped pay for the renovation of the building at North Saginaw and Lafayette.

Grocery stores are not necessarily designed to help customers choose the healthiest food. Signs and specials advertise chips and soda, and the coupons are usually for the pre-packaged, processed foods advertised by big brand-name companies with deep pockets. This article discusses small things stores can do that will help them move a lot more volume of the healthy stuff.