No one would have pegged the Cross siblings as grocers. As children, they were picky eaters. As adults, they are not foodie types. Both Alphonzo, 37, and Alison, 36, were entrenched in other careers. But last year, after much plotting and planning, they uprooted their lives in the Bay area and moved to Atlanta to open the Boxcar Grocer.
The grocery store and cafe, located in a modern space in Castleberry Hill, specializes in healthy, organic foods. Stainless steel shelves display everything from personal care products to packaged foods. Many national brands are represented, as are local vendors including juices from Arden's Garden, dairy products by AtlantaFresh Artisan Creamery, Zocalo Salsas and organic dog biscuits from Big Daddy's Biscuits. The store also carries produce from local farms, including Truly Living Well Center and Metro Atlanta Urban Farm in College Park.
"We wanted to create something in an urban setting that appeals to people like us and that would form some tie to the land," said Alison Cross.
The store is the newest addition to a growing field of neighborhood markets in the metro area that might be described as scaled down versions of a Whole Foods Market with the personality of a corner store. Inman Park hosts Savi Urban Market, Old Fourth Ward is home to Market Across the Street, and the Mercantile is rooted in Candler Park, to name a few.
Though each store has a unique spin on the urban market concept, they have similar goals of providing neighborhoods with healthy foods, promoting local farmers and businesses, and creating a space where community members can bond.
"People are looking for more community based food systems," said Barbara Petit, director of Atlanta Local Food Initiative, a coalition of organizations creating sustainable food sources in the metro area. "Many of these small markets have a lot of local and organic vendors. People see this as enriching their lives and also enriching our local economy."
Kelly Stuart, 29, and Wyatt Durrette, 37, drive to Midtown to shop at Whole Foods. With the Boxcar Grocer just a few blocks from home, they've found another option. Now they can get fresh veggies, sandwiches for lunch and household cleaning products without getting in the car.
"We try to eat organic," said Durrette, " [Boxcar] has a little bit of everything. These are the kinds of places that help create neighborhoods."
Independent organic markets are not new. A few have been around the metro area for decades, but there has been a boom in the last five years, Petit said. "People are doing a lot of experimentation and we are going to see lots of different models in play," she said. "Each community will support exactly what it wants."
Early in the process, the Crosses asked residents what they wanted from a neighborhood store. Convenience and quality, as well as a mix of products including organic produce, meats and prepared foods were the answers. To help meet those needs, the siblings installed six wooden booths in the back of the store to host local vendors. But the idea was so unique, confusion arose with the state department of agriculture about how to permit the individual vendors.
"Hot dogs on a stand is one thing, raw food is another," said Alison Cross, who is working with theto obtain a variance that would allow them to host food vendors.
Similar snags confronted Janea Boyles and Samantha Enzmann in 2008 when they opened the Mercantile. They initially planned a gourmet neighborhood market similar to Dean & Deluca in New York, but when the economy crashed, their neighbors in Candler Park weren't so interested in luxury food items. They also planned to stock produce from local farmers, but discovered that many residents relied on farmers' markets for such items.
In response, they shifted their focus to prepared foods -- soups, salads, chicken, family meals -- all created by Enzmann, a chef. They also wanted to sell wine, but getting an alcohol license meant they would be defined as a package store. Since they had more to offer than alcohol, they decided the designation didn't fit. Boyles worked with the city council and collected 900 signatures of support from the community to be recognized as a specialty food shop.
"It was my big minute before the city council," Boyles said. "I had the opportunity to say, ‘If I was a Publix or a Kroger, I wouldn't be standing here.' Every neighborhood needs its own market ... and what is good for one of us is good for all of us."
Darin Givens, 43, a web developer who lives downtown in the Fairlie-Poplar district, has visited many of independent markets including Savi Urban Market in Inman Park and the Boxcar Grocer and says they have changed the way his family shops. "We are able to use these small urban markets in a way that it has been done for a long time in [other] places," he said. "We buy groceries more often and buy smaller amounts of groceries."
Givens, who grew up in Marietta and blogs about urban living at atlurbanist.tumblr.com, said the appeal goes beyond food.
"There is a level of service that you get from one of the intown markets that is completely different from what you can expect from a big chain," he said. "I don't know if it is true, but if just feels like my money is staying local if I am buying from a local place."
The Boxcar Grocer
249 Peters St. SW.
404-883-3608. wwwboxcargrocer.com
The Market Across the Street
670 Highland Ave. NE
404-781-2345. www.acrossthestreetatlanta.com
The Mercantile
1660 DeKalb Ave., Ste. 150
404-378-0096. www.themercantileatl.com
Savi Urban Market
287 Elizabeth St. NE
404 -523-3131. www.saviurbanmarket.com
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