Adam Aridi had some onions and other produce tucked into the back of Save Way Market, but many shoppers overlooked them. Then the team from Eat Fresh, Live Well offered to help Adam sell more produce – and provide the south Toledo neighborhood with much needed access to healthy food.
Eat Fresh, Live Well supplied Adam’s store with a wooden stand to prominently display produce when Save Way became a Toledo healthy corner store in 2012. Colorful signs adorn the stand, the store’s entrance and the cooler door where some produce is kept. The team also has put produce advertisements on the front counter and given Adam other marketing assistance.
“People come here to buy other items, so we had to push the produce,” Adam explains.
Low-Income Neighborhoods
Cars are a luxury in the low-income south Toledo neighborhood where Adam’s store is located, and residents often either walk or take the bus to shop for groceries. More affluent neighborhoods have several shopping options, but for some Toledoans such as those living near Save Way, corner stores are the main source of groceries.
Adam says the Eat Fresh, Live Well team and improved fresh produce selection has helped increase Save Way’s sales, foot traffic and customer satisfaction. With the team’s help, Save Way also started offering healthy snacks and drinks, such as granola bars and bottled water.
Joining the initiative is a wise move for neighborhood stores like Save Way, Adam says. Lemons, tomatoes, bananas, apples and oranges are among top sellers, and there are times when Adam offers strawberries, cantaloupe and other produce.
“In this type of neighborhood, I think it’s important,” he says. “It helps the neighbors. It helps stores, too.”
Healthy Corner Stores
This map and list show stores that are part of Eat Fresh, Live Well’s healthy corner stores initiative, which started in 2012. To use the map, click on the green pins to see each store’s address.
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1jZJEKDuTUZ_hfgSZ0ZL7Zt5ohO8&w=800&h=600]
- Save Way Market, 1936 Broadway, Toledo, Ohio 43609
- Moe’s Market, 4401 Hill Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43615
- $1.50 Plus, 1312 Nebraska Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43607
- Madison Market, 901 Madison Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43604
- Tom’s Carry Out, 2861 Lagrange St., Toledo, Ohio 43608
- Gas and Shop, 3100 N. Detroit Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43610
- Mike’s Carry Out, 408 Cleveland St., Toledo, Ohio 43611
- Market on the Green, 1806 Madison Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43604
- Jennifer Snack, 601 Adams St., Toledo, Ohio 43604
- Olney Lakeside Market, 1950 N. Stadium Road, Oregon, Ohio 43616
- Up Market, 1941 Dorr St., Toledo, Ohio 43607
- Takacs Grocery & Meats, 1956 Genesee St., Toledo, Ohio 43605
- Andy’s Carry Out, 802 Western Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43609
- Citgo Convenience Express, 1708 E. Manhattan Blvd., Toledo, Ohio 43608
- Milo’s Food Mart, 4508 Lewis Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43612
- E-Z Mart, 1226 E. Broadway St., Toledo, Ohio 43605
- Berdan Mini Express, 1001 Berdan Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43612