Restaurateur Debuts Retail Banner in Chicago Food Desert

SN STAFF

CHICAGO — Quentin Love, creator of the Quench chain of restaurants, is planning a grand opening Aug. 26 of a new retail store called Fresh Family Foods in an underserved part of this city.

Love is partnering with LaDonna Redmond, an advocate of expanding healthy food choices in minority communities, in the venture, located on Chicago’s South Side across from Chicago State University. The store will be the only African-American-owned grocery store in Illinois, according to the partners.

The store will be a “boutique-style grocery” offering fresh produce, a juice and coffee bar, hot prepared foods and the full Quench restaurant menu. It will not offer alcohol or cigarettes.

"Our vision for Fresh Family Foods was to be an alternative to stores in minority communities that have traditionally charged two or three times the price for stale food and unattractive produce," Love said in a prepared statement.