Join the Walk to Aldi on March 18th

By Maria Muzzie on March 16, 2015 in Action, Blog, Get Involved

Mar. 27 UPDATE: ALDI has announced they will reopen their grocery store at 5200 Penn Ave!

On Wednesday, March 18th at 6pm, Garfield community members, led by the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, will meet at 5200 Penn Avenue and then walk to the Baum Boulevard Aldi store to demonstrate their commitment to bringing an Aldi to the former Penn Avenue Bottom Dollar location.

On March 31st, Aldi will announce whether or not it will open a store at that site.

The Garfield area was without a grocery store for 25 years until the Bottom Dollar opened on Penn Avenue last June. However, the store closed just a few months later in December due to Aldi buying the store as part of a larger deal.

If Aldi refuses to open a store in that location community leaders hope to find another store operator who will. The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation is planning to buy the building and seeks to sell it to another grocer.

The Garfield neighborhood, which has 40% of it’s households living below the poverty line, is considered a food desert. Food deserts are areas where affordable and nutritious food is difficult to obtain, particularly for those who do not have access to a vehicle.

Due to lack of transportation many low-income residents have to shop at convenience stores where there is no option to purchase healthy foods. This leads to poor diets and, as a result, higher rates of obesity and chronic illnesses, such as diabetes an heart disease.

Just Harvest Board member Gabe McMorland lives in Bloomfield and was born on Roup Street in Friendship, down the street from the closed Bottom Dollar store. “We need fresh, affordable food in our neighborhood, and we need a grocery store that understands the opportunity here. We’ve got a whole neighborhood of people who want to shop at a grocery store they can walk to. A livable city doesn’t let food deserts grow when we have the chance to do something about it. Come out on Wednesday and ask ALDI to be a good neighbor.”