JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new community project is addressing the food desert on Jacksonville’s Eastside.
Remember the historic Debs Store on the corner of Florida Avenue and 5th Street?
It spent 90 years in business on the Eastside before closing for good in 2011.
Now it’s being redeveloped and will offer much more than groceries.
Joy Rosier walks 30 minutes just to get the closest supermarket.
“That’s not round trip that’s one way,” Rosier said.
Joy doesn’t have a car or much less a choice ever since Debs Store, the Eastside’s locally owned and main grocery store, permanently closed 13 years ago.
Now it’s finally coming back but under a new name.
The Corner at Debs will be up and running this summer at the old site on Florida Avenue.
It’s a joint effort by Goodwill Industries of North Florida, the Debs family, Lift Jacksonville, and several other community organizations.
The new store will have two floors. The first floor will be the grocery store with fresh produce and the second floor will have a career center and a mini VyStar Credit Union.
Goodwill Industries of North Florida is the front-runner of the project.
It will provide the fresh produce, meat, and career opportunities and says 7 out of 8 the store’s employees live in the neighborhood.
Rosier welcomes the return on the revamped store.
“The convenience. You can walk. Especially if we have fresh fruit and vegetables which for me, I’m a healthy eater. So that’s best,” Rosier said.
Ending a more than decade-long food desert in a neighborhood hungry for change.