The search for an east side grocer is on again.
Joliet, for a second time, will devote city resources to attracting a grocery store to the east side of the city, although it is likely to look for one with appeal to residents farther south.
The new search is coming at a time when the state is making more grant money available through the Illinois Grocery Initiative to support groceries in areas that can be defined as food deserts.
Council member Suzanna Ibarra, who represents District 5, which includes the southeast side of Joliet, announced the grocery search at a City Council meeting last week.
“We need your suggestions and help on a location,” Ibarra said to residents of District 5.
The site has to be in District 5 and has to be on the east side or southeast section of the city, Ibarra said.
The city has hired consultant Mallon and Associates, Inc. on a $24,000 contract to help with the search for a grocery store, a city spokeswoman said.
Joliet actually has several grocers on the east side but none in District 5, which takes in more of the southeast section of the city along with a large stretch of the west side south of Jefferson Street.
The east section of District 5 actually extends into downtown and includes an area north of Interstate 80 as well as all of Joliet south of I-80.
The city last conducted a search for an east side grocer after Certified Warehouse Foods closed its two stores on Jackson and Richards streets in 2018.
That search led to a $1 million tax incentive deal to bring El Guero, a Chicago regional supermarket chain, to the former Certified location on Jackson Street. The deal stirred objections from local grocers in the same area whose stores, like El Guero, focused on a Hispanic market.
Several grocers targeting Hispanic customers are located on Collins and Cass streets.
Even with the incentives granted in 2019, El Guero, which redeveloped the site, did not open until 2024.
The former Certified store on Richards Street, located in District 5, became a drug rehabilitation center.
Ibarra said she is looking for a store to serve that area of the city.
“They’re in a food desert,” she said.
If so, Joliet may be able to tap into a $26 million state program aimed at supporting grocery stores in areas that meet the definition of a food desert.
Whether there are enough customers to support a store on the southeast side has been an issue.
Ibarra said that what the southeast side may lack in rooftops, it makes up for in traffic counts.
The southeast side has been the major area of warehouse development in Joliet. Ibarra said those warehouse workers are potential customers for a grocery store.
“All they have right now in that area is the little gas stations,” she said.
Two fuel centers for cars and trucks at Illinois Route 53 and Laraway Road have hot food and cold prepared food for meals. So does a Love’s travel center that opened this year at the Briggs Street interchange with I-80.
Southeast Joliet residents who want a mainstream supermarket often travel to New Lenox or Lockport to shop, Ibarra said.
Local state legislators in the last two weeks have announced new funding available to open grocery stores and prevent stores from closing in areas considered food deserts.
The New Stores in Food Deserts Program provides funding for construction and renovation to open stores as well as money for operation costs in the first two years of business.
The funding is part of a $26 million Illinois Grocery Initiative that has been in place since 2024, according to a news release from state Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet.
“The Illinois Grocery Initiative is an impactful program that ensures our communities have access to fresh and healthy foods,” Ventura stated in the release.
The program has distributed $19 million in state funds since 2024, including nearly $17 million to build eight new grocery stores and $2 million to upgrade equipment at 14 stores.
The state is accepting applications for the New Stores in Food Deserts program until Dec. 9.
Applications for the Grocery Rescue and Equipment Upgrades programs, which support existing stores, are taken on a rolling basis, according to the release.
Dining and Cooking