PITTSBURGH — A five-year food desert in the Hill District has finally come to an end. Customers lined up bright and early Thursday morning as Salem’s Market opened its doors in the Centre Heldman plaza.
“It’s a wonderful day for the Hill District and for the city,” said Thelma Lovette-Morris, who lives in the neighborhood.
It’s the first grocery store to open in the neighborhood in years, offering locally grown fresh produce and meats along with international imports.
“Where your heart is, is where you find productivity and success, and that’s what they do here,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “We make it a city for everybody, and this is just another step in that.”
“Our model has always been, ‘We’re the closest thing to back home, no matter where you’re from,” said owner Abdullah Salem, whose father opened the first market in Oakland in the 1980s. He taught his son how to butcher and run a business.
They now have stores in the Strip District and on Carnegie Mellon’s campus. This newest location is located right along a bus line.
“There are people who don’t drive and have a hard time getting to the grocery store, so it really is a blessing to have this store here,” said Joann Lewis, the first customer to walk through the doors.
Lovette-Morris called it an investment in the community, something she knows a thing or two about. The Thelma Lovette YMCA is named after her mother.
“I got up extra early to make sure I was here because I know my mother would have wanted me to be here for the opening of this market,” Lovette-Morris said.
The market is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday was a soft opening, so some parts of the store are still under construction. Salem said they’re planning to have those sections ready to go in the coming weeks.
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