Last month, the Mayor’s office for Planning and Economic Development awarded several local businesses with financial grants to assist with their business needs (like signage, etc). One of the winners was Good Food Markets LLC, located at 2006 Rhode Island Ave NE. I had a chance to catch up with one of the partners of Good Food Markets, Kris Garin, and as you will see, we should all be excited about them joining our community!

Good Food Markets will be an oasis in a relative food desert on that end of Brookland and for the Woodridge community, providing produce and some other perishable foods at competitive prices as larger grocery stores. One thing they do want to get across to the neighborhood is that they are there to serve everyone in the community, so there isn’t a sole focus on their produce or perishables being organic or locally sourced (although local will definitely be their first choice), as they want to make sure the price points are within the scope of everyone’s budget.  As for other items, such as meat, they do plan to have a limited selection but the community feedback and response will drive the selection. With their small footprint (1,000 square feet), they need to ensure that they have what the community will buy.

In addition to their grocery selection, Good Food Markets will also sell prepared meals that are cooked offsite, fresh, by one of their partners. These meals will be prepared with fresh, top quality ingredients, and can feed a family or an individual. The price point for a family meal will be, as Kris mentioned, around the same price point as a Popeye’s Family meal, which will hopefully entice people to eat a freshly cooked, healthy meal instead of fast food. The menu will be chosen based on feedback from the community, so the more you let them know what you want the better the selection will be! The Market also plans to sell prepared lunches that folks could pick up on their way into work in the morning and will be cheaper or at the same price as lunches that are bought downtown. The owners are also hoping to roll out a system where people can pre-order their prepared meals for pickup and offer a delivery service for convenience at a later date.

The location is in the middle of the Main Street portion of Rhode Island Ave NE, taking over an old Soul Food restaurant (see below). This location was chosen as their first location due to complaints they kept hearing from area residents concerning their lack of access to fresh food nearby. Kris, who once lived in New York City, wants to bring the small market concept that addresses specific needs of a neighborhood, that is so popular in the Big Apple, back in style throughout the District.

They are currently in the construction phase of their build out but are making progress every day, and have a target time frame to open some time soon after Labor Day. Their hours of operation, which will depend on the feedback from the community, will start out being from late morning to early evening hours. They promised to let The Insider know when they have pictures to share, and more news about their selection and opening date, so stay tuned!

TL/DR: Good Food Markets will bring fresh produce and prepared meals to Rhode Island Avenue NE starting after Labor Day. #GoodWard5News