INDIANAPOLIS — When you walk through the doors at Indy Fresh Market, you’re greeted with smiles.
There are workers donning bright orange shirts, a friendly hello.
Right off the entrance, shoppers are greeted with a vibrancy of color. Fruits, vegetables, aisles of produce and groceries.
It's a highly anticipated opening for the grocery store.
Neighbors tell WRTV it comes at a much needed time.
"So very excited. This was a food desert, and we love it. It's absolutely wonderful. It's just a blessing," neighbor Katie Johnson-Sargent said.
Indy Fresh Market is on the city's east side. It's off 38th and Sheridan, between Arlington and Shadeland Avenues.
It's an area of town that has been previously deemed a food desert, with no adequate access to fresh food.
"We have nothing on the east side. Just to see the people come in and everybody's wandering. They're wandering around because there's so much to see," neighbor Pauline Dillard said.
Inside the store odes to the namesake: an Indy skyline, and aisle markers labeled by streets on the east side.
The store is locally owned by two men who grew up in the neighborhood.
Indy Fresh Market is offering more than a place to get food, it's a place to build a sense of community.
"We just developed a relationship. We started tasting food, talking about her mom and my son, and all of the sudden it's like we've known each other forever," Johnson-Sargent said.
Neighbors say they have gratitude for a space that was desperately needed.
"It was dry. It was nothing around here. People were having to go afar, I even seen many people catch a bus carrying food, grocery bags. That's not good," Dillard said.
The market is still hiring, and just about every worker who's there is from the nearby neighborhood.
They also have lower prices for food. The owners say they're working hard to be as affordable as possible for everyone.
