How Successful Was the Healthy Corner Store Program?

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

In my posts about the at least temporary demise of the Northside Food Market and all the problems they brought to the neighborhood, I expressed skepticism of the Healthy Corner Store Program.  I worried that it was nothing more than a farce (and one we taxpayers pay for, no less) that would allow problem businesses to temporarily endear themselves to the city without bringing about actual change.  So I resolved to visit each of the five north Minneapolis stores listed as participating.  The program was slated to run through June 30, 2011, so visiting on the last day or two of the initiative would presumably give me a sense of who followed this through all the way to the end.

My first stop was at the Glenwood Market at 1501 Glenwood Ave N, where I found...

Northside Food Market Closed for "Construction"

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

The recent tornado wasn't the only big gust of wind that came through NoMi in the month of May.  A short time earlier one could hear a collective sigh of relief from McKinley that the Northside Food Market, which has been a problem for years, is FINALLY closed.  The Northside Food Market is run by Supton LLC, and the contact people for the rental license at this address are Ahmed J Alnosawi and Hussain Zahid, 612-522-5962.  If you believe the handwritten sign, they're just closed for construction.  Oh, the closure has nothing to do with the condemnation notice from the city of Minneapolis.  On related notes, John Edwards stepped aside from politics to spend more time with his family, and Manny Ramirez retired from baseball due to "health reasons."

Local residents now use the famous word "quiet" to describe their street corner at 36th and Lyndale.  We hear this so often in NoMi.  A place is problematic for months or sometimes years and it just drives the neighborhood nuts.  Then when it finally gets shut down, people stop and listen to the sounds of silence.  I love hearing folks using "quiet" as a catch-all for "Thank GOD those drug-dealing thugs are off my block!"

Shutting down inconvenience stores is no small feat and we're definitely grateful for the work our elected officials and city employees put into accomplishing this task.  But in talking to some of the people most directly affected, the common sentiment is that this process took far too long. 

But if the Northside Food Market is "closed for construction," then it begs the question...