Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Urban Grocers Coming to State/Polk?

A reader writes:
I just noticed a sign for "urban grocery" next to the Ace hardware on State/Polk. A cousin to "urban pantry"? Any info?
We went by and shot the picture above and highly doubt that they are related, but to be honest we don't really know. It would seem silly to us to open another local grocery store with a similar name so close to the original store.

Anyway, anyone have any scoop on this place?

(Hat tip: JG!)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard there is another convenience store opening about 200 yards away at the corner of 8th stree (xsport building).

Mr Downtown said...

EveryBlock recently showed the building permit for a convenience store at this location.

Mr Downtown said...

EveryBlock recently showed the building permit for a convenience store here.

Josh said...

Did a little detective work on Crain's and found this:
2011/09/25 Urban Grocers Syed Naveed Ali 1st, Chicago, IL 60628, USA Cook

And then found this in an old Tribune story:

"On the meter-lined 5000 block of North Sheridan, where Supermart Grocery sits, manager Syed Ali said about 30 customers complained to him Thursday about the meters. He said the meters, which are a cause of frustration for customers, have been hurting business.

“They cannot park, so they come in a hurry,” Ali said. “They’re all very angry, saying all kinds of bad words.”"

Conjecture based on these - it's an independent grocery store opening up, run by somebody who previously managed a similar store in Uptown.

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if I missed a post and I am sure many of us are already aware, but surprised if SLOOPIN did not mention it, but there is a new grocery store - Mariano's Fresh Market coming to 16th and Clark. With this said, I just wanted to send out a "please continue to support" our convenience stores as they are the ones who invested alot of money into their beautiful stores to adhere to our taste and make it easy for us when we need something: Sky Grocers, Urban Pantry, Urban Grocers, Green Leaf, Lakeside Grocers and South Loop Market - THANK YOU.

aplove said...

Appreciatethe kind words about supporting small business. just to answer the first question urban pantry is not related to urban grocerat all.
I believe they just took our name .. lol. its all good and good luck to all.

message by owner of Urban Pantry