The South End Grocery, downtown Albany’s first store operated as a not-for-profit charitable organization, [opened] Dec. 27, 2022
By Paul Grondahl, Columnist
Updated Nov 23, 2022 2:08 p.m.
ALBANY — John Boyd could not contain his excitement about the imminent grand opening of the South End Grocery in a former McDonald’s at the busy corner of South Pearl Street and Madison Avenue.
“I’ve been watching it grow and it’s a beautiful thing,” said Boyd, 72, a retiree who lives in the South Mall Towers, a subsidized apartment complex for low-income seniors located directly across from the grocery on South Pearl. The South End Grocery, downtown’s first store operated as a not-for-profit charitable organization, is set to open Dec. 27.
“I consider it a blessing for this neighborhood,” said Boyd, who fast-walked across South Pearl Street to catch up with Travon Jackson, president of BlueLight Development Group and leader of the South End Grocery consortium. Jackson also serves as executive director of the African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region diagonally across the intersection from the grocery.
Together with partners in city and county government and the business community, Jackson is leading the effort to transform a fast-food restaurant into a small market that will sell nutritious food and offer practical lessons in healthy living.
He has attracted investment from philanthropists Chet Opalka and Charles Touhey, MVP and CAP COM Federal Credit Union, as well as collaborations with Forts Ferry Farm in Colonie, Black Horse Farms in Greene County and Soul Fire Farm in Rensselaer County, whose focus is addressing racism in the food system.
The South End Grocery rectifies a long-standing food desert. It also stands as a symbol of equity urbanism, a public-private partnership that reclaims a blighted corner and 1.55-acre property on a major downtown intersection. Boyd wanted to talk about how he couldn’t get enough of Forts Ferry Farm’s heirloom vegetables and eggplant stew, which he had been taking back to his apartment from a weekly farmers market outside the grocery.
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be stocking the eggplant stew,” Jackson reassured Boyd.
For the first time, Boyd and his senior neighbors, along with others in one of the poorest sections of the city, will be able to enjoy the same heirloom vegetables and fruit sold to high-end restaurants and affluent, discriminating foodies. Forts Ferry Farm is run by Emma Hearst and her husband, John Barker, graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, who both had worked as professional chefs. Hearst is the daughter of Times Union Publisher and CEO George R. Hearst III.
The South End Grocery is leveling the high-quality food playing field.
“I call myself a harbinger of equity,” said Jackson, 29, who grew up in South Troy. He graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and urban planning in 2015 and returned to the Capital Region a year later after stints in finance in Chicago and Atlanta. He established BlueLight in 2016 to focus on urban planning and development that elevates the poor, distressed and underprivileged.
“Equity urbanism is a real thing and we’re bringing it to the South End,” Jackson said.
A tour last Friday made clear interior renovations and retrofitting are progressing in the former McDonald’s. The glass-enclosed entry foyer has been reimagined as a hydroponic greenhouse and herb garden.
“It’s important to create opportunities to teach folks how to grow and prepare their own food,” said Jackson, who intends the grocery as an educational enterprise. A long wall of industrial freezers has been installed across from a large deli counter and prep area that repurposed the fast-food kitchen in the 3,200-square-foot building. Interior walls are painted with murals and colorful graffiti art. Large blackboards with chalk invite customers to leave drawings or messages of hope and resilience.
There are ovens to bake bread and make pizza, as well as waffle makers. “A lot of pizza shops won’t deliver down here, so we want to fill that service gap,” Jackson said. The menu will include homemade apple butter, hearty soups, breakfast sandwiches on waffles and organic fruit roll-ups. The 90-item inventory will focus on locally grown fruit and vegetables and staples such as grains and dairy products. They will not sell candy, alcohol, cigarettes or lottery tickets.
“We want to set an example of healthy living,” he said. “The grocery is a way for this neighborhood to control its own destiny.”
Initially, the South End Grocery will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. He hopes to employ about a dozen people. Jackson, who used to get coffee at the former McDonald’s, will rectify one major gripe of the past. “The McDonald’s staff didn’t like to let people use the bathroom. We’ll have our bathroom open and accessible to everyone,” he said. Much is riding on the shoulders of Jackson, whose elocution on social justice and economic matters reminds me of a cross between Cornel West and Paul Krugman. He ignores the whispers of naysayers. “At this point, I don’t have any energy for negativity and my main concern is feeding people,” Jackson said. He and his wife, Jayonna Jackson, have a 4-month-old son, Azlan.
“There’s power in the people of the South End and I never forget that,” Jackson said.
Standing with Jackson on the fourth-floor rooftop of the African American Cultural Center beneath a cobalt sky on a crystalline winter morning, it was not difficult to picture his vision for creating a more just and equitable food system. The Albany Housing Authority sold the property for $850,000 and about $1.5 million has been invested so far in creating the grocery, Jackson said. He estimates annual revenue of about $300,000 will cover the debt load and sustain the operation.
“I support the social justice aspect to what Travon is trying to do here,” said Jonell Milton of Albany Artisans, a carpentry firm doing the retrofitting work. “This is his way of attacking food insecurity and investing in his community at the same time.” Replacing broken windows, plumbing work and finish carpentry are on the to-do list. Jackson is confident they will be ready for the Dec. 27 grand opening, which will have the atmosphere of a street fair. “I’ll be first in line when it opens,” Boyd told Jackson, before giving him a hug and walking back across South Pearl.
Paul Grondahl is director of the New York State Writers Institute and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com
Comments