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East Chattanooga ‘food desert’ gets new grocery oasis with IGA store opening

Photo by Dave Flessner / A new IGA grocery store opens Friday at 2300 Dodson Ave. near Glass Street. The store was formerly a Save A Lot and the building has previously housed a Sunnytown Supermarket and Red Food Store.
Photo by Dave Flessner / A new IGA grocery store opens Friday at 2300 Dodson Ave. near Glass Street. The store was formerly a Save A Lot and the building has previously housed a Sunnytown Supermarket and Red Food Store. Photo by Dave Flessner / A new IGA grocery store opens Friday at 2300 Dodson Ave. near Glass Street. The store was formerly a Save A Lot and the building has previously housed a Sunnytown Supermarket and Red Food Store.

By Dave Flessner 3 min read

Note: The supermarket reopened on Friday, Sept. 1.

An East Chattanooga grocery store that has struggled to survive under different owners and brands is reopening again next month as an IGA supermarket.

The 17,976-square-foot grocery store at 2300 Dodson Ave. near Glass Street first opened in 1954 as a Red Food Store and has opened and closed since under the Sunnytown Supermarket and Save A Lot brands.

Local businessman Chaudry Ali, who also owns Rogers Super Market on East Main Street, said he closed the Save A Lot store on the site seven months ago after operating the discount store for just over a year.

IGA offers more brand food items and should improve food and grocery options in East Chattanooga, Ali said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has labeled East Chattanooga a “food desert” because of the lack of readily accessible fresh fruits, vegetables and other grocery items for local residents.