Grocery serving Springfield residents in former food desert holds grand opening

Cashiers and other employees at Groceryland prepare the store earlier this month. The grocery is located at the former Kroger building on South Limestone Street. Hasan Karim/Staff

Cashiers and other employees at Groceryland prepare the store earlier this month. The grocery is located at the former Kroger building on South Limestone Street. Hasan Karim/Staff

A new grocery on the southside of Springfield, which ended the area being classified as a food desert, is hosting a grand opening ceremony today that will see Gov. Mike DeWine in attendance.

Groceryland, which opened its doors to customers earlier this month, will start the celebrations at 9:30 a.m. and will handing out gift cards as well as free deli and bakery samples. Live music will also be featured.

The store is located at the former Kroger location at 1822 South Limestone St. The closing of that Kroger in March 2020 lead to the southside being classified as a food desert, an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. That classification impacted an estimated 22,000 people.

Lack of access to affordable and healthy foods will no longer be the case in the area as Groceryland seeks to offer fresh produce, meat, baked goods and other products commonly found in grocery stores at affordable prices.

Kroger donated the building to the Clark County Landbank to be used for a future grocery store. Groceryland later purchased the property for around $769,000.

It was announced in May that Groceryland would take the former Kroger’s place. The new grocery in the area is owned by local physician Dr. Vipul Patel and the business’s president is Ravindra Patel. They have a grocery store in New Lebanon as well as another called Warsaw Shopwise in Warsaw, Ohio.

Groceryland employs approximately 65 people at the Springfield location and is looking to hire more.

The grocery is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., 7 days a week.

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