Longtime East Chattanooga resident Wanda Brown said Thursday that she was looking forward to checking out for the first time a new Save A Lot grocery store that opened in the neighborhood.
“We have been needing one and it’s so convenient,” she said as she was walking into the store near the intersection of Dodson Avenue and Glass Street.
The store, opened by local businessman Chaudry Ali last Friday, meets a need in a part of Chattanooga that city officials labeled “a food desert.” For years, the neighborhood has lacked a full-service store selling food and vegetables.
“Grocery stores are tough,” said Jermaine Freeman, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Andy Berke. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t get those done.”
Barrisha Banforth, a shift leader at the store, said she thinks it will do well.