How important are grocery stores to urban areas? Brokers today will tell you that the most successful retail strip centers are those anchored by grocery stores.
After all, people still have to shop for groceries even if the economy is struggling.
This is why the Green Grocer Project run by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is so important. The project’s goal is to improve the quality of the grocery sector in Detroit by helping the stores’ owners provide healthy and affordable food.
The Green Grocer Project also hopes to make Detroit grocery stores look more appealing. And this is where the project’s new facade-improvement program comes in. Project officials are now accepting applications for grocers for 50/50 matching grants up to $50,000. Grocers can then use the grants to improve the exteriors of their grocery stores.
“Detroit’s grocers have been freshening up the interiors of their stores and bringing in fresh new products, and they’ve told us their priority now is putting a fresh look on their facades,” said Mimi Pledl, program manager for the Green Grocer Project, in a written statement. “Investments in exterior improvements can increase a store’s value to the community and attract more customers.”
Grocers can use the matching-grant dollars to add new signs and windws, create window displays, spruce up their landscaping or repair damaged exterior materials.
Not only do exterior improvements make a grocery store look better. The Green Grocer Project says that they also enhance the security of these stores through welcoming and safe entrances, improved lighting and open parking areas.
