[URBAN NOTE] "Neechi Commons: Winnipeg grocery store bucks trend in core neighbourhood"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC's Rosanna Deerchild has an interesting story about how old native entrepreneur is dealing with a "food desert" in part of downtown Winnipeg by opening up an indigenous-theme grocery store.

Neechi Commons sales and marketing coordinator Kelly Edwards says the indigenous-owned supermarket is bringing healthy, affordable food - and jobs - to one of Winnipeg's poorest neighbourhoods.

An indigenous-owned supermarket is succeeding in one of Winnipeg's poorest neighbourhoods, at a time when other businesses have long left for the suburbs.
Neechi Commons is an aboriginal worker co-op housed in a 35,000-square-foot converted brick warehouse located at 865 Main Street — a strip notorious for its run-down hotels.

"We have a supermarket that includes a bakery and produce section, meats and pretty much all of the groceries that you can find anywhere else," says Kelly Edwards, the store's sales and marketing coordinator.

"We also have a restaurant, we do catering, and we have an art store that features over 200 artisans."

While the price of meat skyrockets across the country, Neechi Commons has boldly slashed their prices by as much as 50 per cent. The move not only helps provide healthy, affordable food to an area known as a food desert — it's also providing jobs.

There's more, including a feature more than five minutes long, at the site.