One of Baltimore’s food deserts became less arid last week, when a new grocery store opened in the Mount Clare Junction Shopping Center.
Jumbo Fresh Supermarket is the name of the operation, which replaced the Price Rite market that closed at the end of 2022. Its closing left a large swath of Southwest Baltimore without a full service grocery store nearby.
Hundreds of shoppers came to check out the new store over the weekend, and many said they were impressed by what they saw. In addition to brand name products and fresh and organic produce, Jumbo Fresh carries spices and other items from a variety of cultures, including Asian, West African, Hispanic and Caribbean foods.
“I like it,” said Kentrina Jones, district sales manager for the Maryland Lottery and a watermelon artist. “It’s a nice addition to the neighborhood.”
“You ought to see this place,” said Beulah Henderson, a Franklin Square resident, talking to a friend on her cell phone as she pushed her cart around the store. “I’ll be here a lot.”
Marvin Tate, a community school coordinator at Hilton Elementary, said he likes the international mix of offerings in the store: “It goes with the diversity of residents in the area. I’m feeling it.”
Tate and other shoppers were intrigued by the 1963 red and green Chevrolet Corvair 95 pickup truck used by the store to display produce near the front entrance.
“That’s a showstopper right there,” Tate said, adding that it reminds him of the street Arab vendors who sell produce on city streets. “That needs to stay.”
Mount Clare Junction was planned and built during the tail end of William Donald Schaefer’s mayoral administration in the mid-1980s, on a former industrial site owned by the Koppers Company. At the time, it was hailed as a key to the revitalization of the surrounding communities, including Pigtown; Mount Clare; Barre Circle; Ridgely’s Delight; Hollins Market; Sowebo; Union Square; Franklin Square and Poppleton.
The grocery store anchor, at 1205 W. Pratt Street, opened as a branch of Safeway and Price Rite became the operator in 2012. The building’s original architect was Ayers Saint Gross, and its sloping roofline was inspired by the silhouette of Mississauga City Hall in Ontario, Canada.
Jumbo Fresh had a soft opening on Wednesday and is still finishing work on certain departments, such as the prepared foods counter. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The store is brightly-lit, with wide aisles, a deli section and a fresh seafood counter. A number of items were marked with reduced prices. On Sunday afternoon, four cash registers were in service, keeping lines down.
City Council member Phylicia Porter, the leaders of Pigtown Main Street Inc., and other city and state representatives worked to find a replacement when Price Rite closed abruptly in 2022.
“We re-opened a closed grocery store that impacted [more] than 7,000 residents in the Mount Clare Junction,” Porter wrote on Facebook. “After more than one year, four grocer groups turning us down, and raising more [than] $1.4M of City and State funds…we did it! My team is reimaging our model of grocery stores in Baltimore City. Nutritious food is so important to our communities.”
“When the market closed, over 100 residents became engaged to replace it,” Kim Lane, former executive director of Pigtown Main Street, wrote on Facebook. “This will always be one of the best things I ever worked on.”
They’ve really got it right this time! This store is a multi cultural melting pot. I am so intrigued with the cultural selection of fresh organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices available!
Great news! I work in a museum near there but was a resident, of the area, when Safeway was there. So people, lets make this work. Why do stores close? Crime. Crime IN and FROM the community. A bus load of miscreants, from Towson, does not show up and start robbing the store, patrons or employees. It is US. It is important that we all support an initiative to change this.
Something for everyone; ❤️❤️❤️!!!