By SHEILA BEACHUM BILBY
For Dawn Winans, the newly opened
Witherbee’s Market & Deli in downtown Flint is a great addition to the local urban landscape.
“I don’t think there is a grocery store like this in the city limits,” Winans said as she and three co-workers from nearby Kettering University enjoyed takeout lunches on the market’s outdoor patio, the noonday sun reflecting brilliantly off the store’s white exterior.
Witherbee’s - the first full-service grocery to open in downtown Flint in 30 years - is the result of a collaboration of private, public and philanthropic partners, including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Each viewed the project as an important piece in the ongoing renewal of downtown Flint, which is experiencing an upsurge in new and refurbished office space, residential and student housing, and restaurants.
Access to high-quality, fresh foods is key to the revitalization of urban neighborhoods. Photo provided by Witherbee’s |
“Every development is helping push the revival of downtown,” said David White, co-owner of Demeter’s Horn LLC, which is responsible for managing the 10,000-square-foot store, open seven days a week.
Indeed, the coordinated efforts that made Witherbee’s a reality reflect a growing understanding of the vital roles that such stores can play in supporting the redevelopment and revitalization of urban communities around the country.
Witherbee’s, whose location is central to five downtown neighborhoods, offers affordable, high quality groceries - including fresh meats, fruits and vegetables - to area residents, many of whom have low incomes, no cars and often rely on pricier convenience stores or gas stations for food.
“Our produce was the number one selling item in our store on opening day,” said Perry Compton, a co-owner. “It just goes to show that people want fresh food and if they have choices, they’ll make better choices.”
As longtime downtown residents, White and Compton had kicked around the idea of a local grocery for years. While larger grocery chains had given the concept a look, they quickly rejected it as incompatible with their big-store business models.
Three years ago, the Flint office of the national
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), with an interest in promoting urban groceries, took the long-nurtured idea to the
Flint Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Project (NIPP). Since 1977, NIPP has focused on housing to improve neighborhoods, but signed on after reviewing a LISC market study that looked at the feasibility of an urban grocery for the area.
In addition to groceries, Witherbee’s offers takeout lunches, which can be enjoyed on the store’s outdoor patio. Photo provided by Witherbee’s |
“We’re excited to see the impact that the store ultimately has on the neighborhoods,” said Judith Christenson, program director for NIPP, a nonprofit and key partner on the project. “This was a new venture for us and we are pleased it has been received so well.”
Witherbee’s would not have been doable without NIPP, said Michael Freeman, now program director for the Flint-based
Center for Community Progress. When he was at LISC, he helped coordinate the initial funding for the $1.8-million project. LISC provided a $900,000 construction loan to refurbish the 82-year-old building.
“We have all the convenience and the competitive pricing because the nonprofit was involved in the mix,” said Freeman, who lives in the neighborhood.
Compton and White stock and equip the store, and pay a monthly lease to NIPP, which owns the building with help from a $165,400 grant from Mott.
Supporters say the grassroots origins of Witherbee’s may be a tipping point for Flint.
“That’s where I think this downtown development has taken a different turn,” said Sue Peters, a LISC program officer. She notes that as new housing and businesses have drawn more people to the core-city area, the expansion of basic services – like Witherbee’s – has become a natural and important next step.
The market already is collecting kudos. It was selected as
Flint’s signature project for the Cities of Promise program under the
Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and in May won a governor’s state historic preservation award.
“If it is successful, we can pull the pieces out of it that are replicable, and we can take it to other cities in Michigan or other states,” Julie Hales Smith, Cities of Promise program manager. The state program provided a grant and tax credits totaling $385,000 to help fund Witherbee’s development.
Cade Surface, a 21-year-old communications major at the University of Michigan-Flint, also located downtown, predicts Witherbee’s will have a dramatic impact on local neighborhoods.
“Until now, it still hasn’t had all the qualities of a real community, a livable community,” said Surface, who lives in a nearby fraternity. “So this is a huge step in that direction.”