JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new community project set to open on Wednesday aims to address the food desert and provide other community services on Jacksonville’s Eastside.
The historic Debs Store on the corner of Florida Avenue and 5th Street spent 90 years in business before closing for good in 2011. It was first opened by Lebanese immigrants in 1921.
Now, it’s been redeveloped and will offer much more than groceries.
The Corner At Debs Store is a joint effort by Goodwill Industries of North Florida, the Debs family, anti-poverty non-profit LIFT JAX, and several other community organizations.
The new store has two floors. The first floor will be the grocery store with fresh produce, meat, and other products, and the second floor will have a career center, public computer lab, and a mini VyStar Credit Union.
Goodwill Industries of North Florida will operate the grocery store and career center. It will provide fresh produce, meat, and career opportunities, and the organization said seven out of eight of the store’s employees live in the neighborhood.
The store’s re-opening is a relief to Eastside residents like Tony Milledge.
“I’m on the city bus...it takes me about two hours to get to Sam’s Club. I’ve done Harvey’s downtown...it takes me about 45 minutes,” Milledge said.
He and other neighbors remember when brothers Nick and Gene Debs ran the local grocery store.
“They were the friendliest people in the world,” Milledge said.
The Debs weren’t just grocers, they also served as a kind of neighborhood bank, cashing checks for customers and letting them shop on credit.
“During the depression and years in that time frame, people could come in, they could get groceries, and when they could pay, afford to pay, they’d come in and pay,” said Joe Debs, who is the grandson of the store’s founders.
The store closed in 2011 when his father, Nick Deb, passed away. Since then, neighbors have been without a convenient grocery story carrying fresh foods.
“When we had to close the store, I knew that that was the end of fresh food being in this part of the city. And so that was tough,” Joe Debs said.
He said he tried to get it reopened, but the project didn’t take off until about four years ago when outside groups got involved.
Now, $3 million later, The Corner at Debs Store is ready for a new iteration, with the building now owned by LIFT JAX.
A major draw is the prices, like 94 cents for chicken fingers filets.
Eastside resident Priscilla Wilson said she’s going to be first in line when the store opens Wednesday.
“I’ve been out here 23 years and y’all progressing, now y’all making everything look a whole lot better...That store is gonna bring this whole neighborhood out,” Wilson said.
The ribbon cutting is Wednesday at 10 a.m.