Peoria County government and the city of Peoria are poised to chip in $600,000 to get a new grocery store launched in the city's South Side food desert.
Chuck Brown owns the former Aldi store at 210 S. Western Ave. and has worked for several years to start up a new grocery store with fresh foods for the South Side, which hasn't had a full-service supermarket since Kroger closed its store in the Madison Park Shopping Center on Harmon Highway in 2018.
Brown's Harvest Supermarket is receiving a little under $1.7 million through the Illinois Grocery Initiative, a state grant program. But that grant also requires the awardee to provide a local match. That money is reimbursable, but Brown's start-up has limited access to the capital needed to provide that initial match.
That's where local government plans to step in. Peoria County is aiming to provide $400,000 through two avenues: a $200,000 grant from the county's remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds; and a $200,000, 10-year, 4.75% interest loan from the County State Capital Improvement Fund, otherwise known as the Keystone fund.
That special economic development fund was established with the funds Keystone Steel and Wire repaid after state lawmakers saved the company from financial collapse in 2002 with some $10 million in grants.
The remaining money is anticipated to come from the city of Peoria. Harvest Supermarket lies within a tax-increment financing (TIF) District. The city would provide money now, and repay itself with TIF proceeds over time.
Peoria County Board chairman James Dillion said the county has heard several pitches for grocery stores on the South Side since Kroger closed, but Brown's was the only one with a solid business model behind it.
Brown himself faced rejection when he first approached the county for a $1 million loan in 2021, but he's since partnered with the Value-Added Sustainable Development Center at Western Illinois University's Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs to hone the concept and business plan.
Harvest Supermarket will stock 1,300-1,600 items. That's a lot less than the average 40,000 to 50,000 that a typical Kroger might sell, but it also reduces the inventory needs. The store is expected to have about 14 full-time equivalent employees.
"It's just going to be much more than a grocery store," Dillon said. "It's going to be a community anchor. And for that, we're grateful."
The Peoria County Board's executive committee approved the grant and loan unanimously this week. All three local government components of the $600,000 match still need final approval from the full Peoria County Board and the Peoria City Council, respectively.
