A grocery store on the South Side that’s been in development for about four years is one of three Peoria businesses set to receive funding from a $10 million statewide grant program.
The CJ Harvest Supermarket is expected to open in the coming months at the former Aldi and Save-A-Lot location on Western Avenue, hoping to address a food desert in the 61605 ZIP code.
It is among 47 businesses across the state chosen for the Small Business Capital and Infrastructure Grant Program announced Friday by Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity [DCEO].
Along with the grocery store, Bright Kitchen Strategies and the Gilkesson Mortuary and Cremation Life Center were selected for the funding. All three Peoria businesses will receive $245,000.
“From corner stores to cafes to burgeoning manufacturers, small businesses are the job creators at the heart of the Illinois economy and are the pride of our communities,” Pritzker said during a media conference in Skokie to announce the funding.
“This round of grants will reach small businesses in communities across Illinois, supporting the hard work, creativity, and passion of entrepreneurs and their employees.”
This grant program aims to support small businesses owned by historically underrepresented groups as a way to help them create jobs and grow local economies.
Chuck Brown purchased the Western Avenue grocery store building in 2021 and has been working to get the market reopened. The project received $1.7 million in state funding last year.
Earlier this year, Brown told WCBU he planned to have the store open no later than September. But those plans have shifted because of supply chain and other challenges.
The South Side has been without a grocery store since 2018, when the Kroger on Harmon Highway closed. Earlier this year, Kroger closed its location on Sterling Avenue.
Bright Kitchen Strategies is a startup founded by Joshua Lanning that operates BrightSide Kitchen, BrightBelly Ramen and BrightBird Chicken Sandwich Shop.
James and Cynthia Gilkesson opened the Gilkesson Mortuary and Cremation Life Center earlier this year on West McClure Avenue.
