Food Fight in the South Loop?

Who would have thought that after all these years of going without a convenience store south of Roosevelt Rd., we’d get three all at once.

Green Leaf Market was first

About two months ago Green Leaf Market, a convenience store selling food, sandwiches, milk, and assorted sundries opened at 1619 S. Michigan and we rejoiced. Yesterday, another convenience store opened at 1720 S. Michigan, almost directly across the street and we were amazed. And if two convenience stores south of Roosevelt wasn’t enough, a third is opening “soon” in the Sky-55 building.

Friendly merchants

We stopped in to speak with Shazia Khan, one of the managers of Green Leaf Market. Soon they will be offering deli sandwiches, hot dogs, and some Indian food dishes. They also plan to stock Indian spices and food items, which should help distinguish themselves in the neighborhood. For what it’s worth, the folks working at Green’s are some of the nicest merchants around. That always counts for something in our book.

Will they all make it?

One has to wonder if all these markets will be able to survive, serving the same customer base. It kind of reminds us when there were no wine shops in the South Loop and then, seemingly overnight, we had four.

Sam’s Wines and Spirits closed last Sunday. Let’s hope these three stores can survive and thrive in our neighborhood.