Tulsa grocery store offers coffee, connection

BY MICHAEL MCNUTT Comments 1
Published: November 2, 2009

TULSA — It ain’t just groceries and coffee: It’s community.

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States work with farmers
Douglas Shinkle, with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said several states have offered incentives to get grocery stores back in city neighborhoods and rural towns. They include New York, Louisiana and Illinois.

Nine states have also passed legislation that provides money to help farmers markets install electronic terminals so they can accept debit cards from those receiving food stamps, he said. Those on food stamps often don’t have the cash to buy fresh produce and have to go to stores that accept their cards, he said.

Miriam Manon with The Food Trust, a nonprofit group in Pennsylvania, said that state has put up $30 million over a three-year period and private concerns provided $90 million for grants and loans for grocery stores to develop in underserved areas.

It has also worked with Philadelphia convenience stores to stock and promote fresh foods and to teach children to choose healthier snacks, Manon said. It’s also developed a network of farmers markets that helps farmers and provides healthy food for more than 125,000 people in the Philadelphia area; food stamps are accepted at the farmers markets, she said.

MICHAEL MCNUTT, CAPITOL BUREAU

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That’s one way Scott Smith describes his small grocery store, Blue Jackalope Grocery & Coffee.

Smith opened his 922-square-foot store about 16 months ago in Tulsa’s Crosbie Heights, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, just west of downtown. The neighborhood has diverse residents, from senior citizens to those on food stamps to those who work downtown.

The closest grocery store is three miles away, he said. Before his store opened, the only option for people without transportation was a convenience store about three-quarters of a mile away.

"I set out to open a store that was going to meet the essential shopping needs of 50 percent of the residents in the neighborhood,” Smith said. "People who work, have transportation, who shop at the supermarket anyway — they can come in during the week to pick up a loaf of bread, some pasta, some vegetables, milk, things like that.”

Store about ‘trust’

Smith, who lives in the neighborhood, said his store is a throwback to the small neighborhood grocery store.

"To me, the whole idea is to be able to be competitive as a small store with the supermarkets in price,” he said. "It’s a lower profit margin (for me). I’m pretty sure I’m going to be in this for a long time and it’s about building value and trust with my customers.”

In addition to groceries, he sells coffee and sandwiches; smoked ribs are the special on Sundays.

Smith said he encourages his customers to take part in conversations as they shop in the old store that was once a Church of Christ building. It took more than six months to renovate the building.

Smith offers fresh vegetables and fruits, which he buys locally in season.

Local products include tomatoes, lettuce, turnips, radishes, onions and okra.

He bought produce last summer from children who set up a community garden, Smith said. He also buys fresh produce from other community gardens and from farmers in and around Tulsa.

"Me, I would rather buy some produce that was grown here than something that got trucked in from California or Texas,” Smith said. "It’s ridiculous to me to go to a supermarket in the middle of summer and be buying tomatoes from Texas, Mexico, California, when we’ve got plenty of them around here.”

He said his store is helping change dietary habits of some of the residents in his neighborhood.

Before his store, many residents were unable to get to a store that offered nutritional foods, he said.

His small store is becoming a focal point of the community, he said.