Source: Pierre-Yves Babelon / Getty
It’s no secret that many predominately Black, low-income neighborhoods are void of affordable, fresh, and healthy food options—but Compton’s Grocery Outlet is pushing to change that.
“The majority of it took me having experience,” Kia Patterson, owner of Grocery Outlet, said in a video shared on the store’s Facebook page. “It wasn’t primarily money. It took a lot of having a good background and experience as well.”
Patterson honed her grocery business expertise while working at Smart & Final, a warehouse-style food and supply chain based in California. Since then, she’s founded Grocery Outlet, which has already been open for three months as of press time—and she’s only 36.
“Our customers love to save money on high-quality, wholesome food. Saving our customers money is what we do best,” the store’s company statement reads.
“Grocery Outlet buyers are experts at buying product opportunistically; that is, product outside the normal retail channel, i.e. packaging changes, product overruns, and surplus inventories, to bring the best bargains back to our stores.”
It’s the nation’s largest extreme value grocery retailer that sells brand-name, fresh, and organic items for 40 to 70 percent less than retail prices. Affordable? And Black-owned? We see you, Kia.
“I need your support,” Patterson continues in the video. “I need to stay in business. This story is really good for the community. The most important thing is we sell a lot of organic products at a bargain, 60 percent less than anywhere else.”
Visit Grocery Outlet’s website to learn more.