Food Giant Store to Open in Birmingham, Ala., Food Desert

A 2019 study released by the city of Birmingham, Ala., reported that nearly 70% of Birmingham residents were living in places without ready access to healthful food options. Birmingham's mayor, Randall Woodfin, is looking to change that.

On March 29, Woodfin announced an incentive package to bring a Food Giant grocery store to an area he described as a food desert.

The mayor, along with the Birmingham City Council, approved an incentive agreement that would make way for a new grocery store on the west side of Birmingham. Woodfin announced in a statement that a new Food Giant location will open at 2220 Bessemer Road in a building that once housed a Winn-Dixie supermarket in the Five Points West area.

The city will offer $640,000 in incentives to Food Giant's parent company, Albertville, Ala.-based Mitchell Grocery Corp., the mayor’s office said in a statement. The agreement includes a 10-year revenue-sharing plan with a $1 million cap. Mitchell Grocery said it expects to open the location by Dec. 1.

“Citizens in that area deserve more healthy food options,” Woodfin said in the announcement. “One of the No. 1 issues I have wanted to address across the entire municipality is solving for food deserts, and the West side has been a priority.”

The new store will be 25,000 square feet—half the size of the old Winn-Dixie because “today’s market size is different from yesterday,” Cornell Wesley, director of the city's department of innovation and economic opportunity, said in a statement. The building's large size was impeding the city’s ability to recruit new tenants, Wesley said. “You cannot control loss in a 50,000-square-foot building, which affects turnover and the margin of profitability,” he added.

Wesley called developer Mitchell Retail Properties a "very experienced provider with an excellent reputation for operating amazing, clean stores."

The mayor’s office announced that the incentive agreement is being financed from a $2 million spending plan earmarked for grocery-store recruitment. The city refinanced its bond debt with the Commercial Development Authority (CDA), which yielded approximately $12.9 million in recovered funds. The monies are to be used to stimulate economic development in the city and will fund several projects.

"The community has cried for amenities such as fresh fruit and vegetables, a hot table, floral, [and] bakery as well as a vibrant meat department with options," Woodfin said. "We are delighted to say that we have accomplished and been able to answer all those expectations." He added: "This is Round 1. Happy to say that Ensley, Pratt, Titusville, you are all up next."