OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – First Alert 6 has been following food deserts in North Omaha, where it’s hard to find fresh produce and other healthy foods.
There’s a neighborhood along North 16th Street that’s been missing a grocery store longer than people who live in the Florence area.
Recently, a Hy-Vee grocery store closed its doors in the Florence neighborhood. It came as a shock to many who live in the area, leaving them without a convenient way to shop.
Chubb Foods on North 16th and Locust has been closed for about a year.
When the doors were open, Chubb Foods attracted many customers from the surrounding area. Now those customers are without their neighborhood grocery store.
“We need another grocery store bad. Close around here. All of them closing. I don’t know why because every time I went to Chubb’s there would be a lot of people in there,” said Samuel McLaurin, an area resident.
McLaurin used to shop at Chubb Foods because it was within walking distance. Now he has to travel to another store.
“Go to Phil’s grocery store up there on Ames, reporter ask how do you get there… I catch the bus. See the bus stop right there,” he said.
“I miss it a lot, yeah, and I got a friend come by a lot of times and take me to the store,” he said.
Chubb Foods officials tell us they do plan to reopen the store. About a year ago there had been rumors that the store would shut down for good.
First Alert 6 talked to store manager Anne Gordon last year and she shut those rumors down.
“When people don’t know an answer to something, they talk and one person talks to the next. Chubb’s is not closing, not shutting down. If anything, you’ll see some redevelopment in the year 2025,” said Anne Gordon.
“I might just put a gas station out there,” she said.
Until then, Samuel will have to wait for a ride to get groceries, and he’s tired of doing that.
“Yeah it is a whole lot, because if that store was still open I wouldn’t have to go through all that mess.”
Chubb Foods officials tell First Alert 6 they hope to start renovating the store sometime before the end of the year.
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