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Food

Market Share: Grocery Shopping at the Market at Eastpoint

9:21 AM EDT on July 7, 2021

As many locals know—and, honestly, probably don’t care—Northeast Oklahoma City has been without a simple grocery store ever since the lamentable Smart Saver shuttered their doors a few years ago, leaving that area’s patrons and their basic needs high and dry.

That's why there was a lot of hype and fanfare when The Market at Eastpoint, 1708 NE 23rd, opened back in April, providing a tiny grocery oasis to OKC's most neglected food desert:

Eastside residents will enjoy shopping in the first modern grocery opened in decades as RestoreOKC and Homeland Stores open the doors Wednesday at the Market at EastPoint.

The 6,800-square-foot grocery at 1708 NE 23 is about a third the size of the renovated Homeland at NW 18 and Classen Boulevard, but its shelves offer the same mix of produce, dairy, meats, canned, frozen and refrigerated foods, as well as shelf staples and house goods found at larger stores.

The produce, however, will include a seasonal supply of fruits and vegetables grown at the nearby RestoreOKC urban farm, as well as other grocery items sold with deep discounts provided through corporate suppliers with food desert assistance programs.

Always looking for a new place to gather my groceries, I stopped by last week to check it out:

Painted with lush murals on the side of the building that immediately give the grocery store an artistic ambiance, though much smaller than I truthfully imagined, the Market manages to get the job done, with numerous needed items including a large selection of fruits and vegetables that I was very happy to purchase some of, all at highly comparable prices.

Walking down the next few aisles—I believe there is only three—I went by a coffee stand, which, sadly, was closed at the moment—maybe next time. Still, from the racks of cereal, canned goods and cleaning supplies, it seems as though many of the area’s needs are conveniently met, much like shopping at a 7-Eleven super-center.

The meat selection was solid with a few local eats—like Schwab’s—and other products that I noticed immediately, stuffing a few slabs in my basket. Although, looking over the slim selection frozen foods and such, I came to the rationale that the Market would be a great place to pick up the sheer necessities of life, which, while important, still leaves the amount of variety somewhat lacking.

And I feel that’s what hurts the place, more than anything else. The people of NE 23rd, no matter who they are, deserve far more than what the store actually offers. Fortunately, a big and new Homeland is currently under construction at 36th and Lincoln.

In general though, the store gets its necessary job done and I think I personally will start spending my own grocery dollars there, as little as it is. I’d much rather my scant monies go to help build and retain a real community rather than line the greasy pockets of the Wal-Mart fat-cats down the street from my house—that store’s the worst.

In addition to the fruits, vegetables, and a couple of tubes of some Schwab’s bologna, I gathered a few other needed items into my basket and stood in the checkout line. If the stand in the back was open, I thought, I probably would have got a cup of coffee and maybe a sandwich.

Hopefully, it’ll be open the next time I’m back, which’ll be very soon.

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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.

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