St. Louis Grocery Group Announces Grand Opening of GreenLeaf Market & ZOOM Convenience Store on April 13

St. Louis Grocery Group Announces Grand Opening of GreenLeaf Market & ZOOM Convenience Store on April 13

St. Louis Grocery Group announces its grand opening celebration for GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM Gulf Gas Station and Convenience Store, both located near the corner of Tucker and 13 Street on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The grand opening for the new, north St. Louis City grocery store and convenience store will feature free samples, family-friendly activities and drawings for free gas, car washes and food giveaways.

Locally-owned GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM will deliver a unique combination of farm-fresh quality foods, community and convenience for residents of north St. Louis City and surrounding areas. GreenLeaf Market is the first grocery store to be built in north St. Louis City since 1968 and is proudly owned by St. Louis Grocery Group, in partnership with Good Natured Family Farms, a cooperative alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.

“We value farm fresh and local nutritious, affordable food as the foundation for a strong community,” said Good Natured Family Farms co-owner, Diana Endicott.

As a locally-owned and operated grocer, GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM strive to support other local and regional businesses by working with family farms to deliver high-quality, fresh food and a wide range of unique products that you won’t find at other grocers in the area. GreenLeaf Market is also actively engaged in the neighborhood community, working with church and civic leaders to help ensure that area residents’ needs are being met. More than 72 new jobs will be created by GreenLeaf and ZOOM, which is just the beginning of a larger, longer-term plan to spur job growth and new development and help regenerate the economy of north St. Louis City.

GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM are located within the NorthSide Regeneration (NSR) development, a mixed-use community development – a self-sustaining neighborhood of people, cultures, economic opportunity, safety and education with the infrastructure and growth to support key, necessary services for the community. The original development encompasses over 1,500 acres and borders downtown St. Louis. Jobs have always been the primary motivator for NSR with a goal of more than 43,000 construction jobs and 22,000 permanent jobs generated by the development’s activity.

The 20,000-square-foot grocery store will feature a state-of-the-art kitchen and an experienced, on-site chef who will be focused on creating fresh, nutritious, affordable, fully-prepared grab-and-go food selections while cooking with farm-fresh ingredients. GreenLeaf Market will also be ramping up convenient curbside pick-up for online orders to better serve the needs of commuters and people working downtown. 

With an in-house bee colony, the market will deliver an educational experience for people of all ages.
“GreenLeaf Market will be partnering up with more local businesses to strengthen our community, while adopting new technology to create a truly one-of-a-kind grocery shopping experience. From the moment you enter GreenLeaf and experience the full-height mural depicting the near NorthSide, you know you are in a unique setting,” said Eyad Tammas of St. Louis Grocery Group.

Join the GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM Convenience Store grand opening event on Facebook: http://bit.ly/GLGO4-13 and follow GreenLeaf and ZOOM on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and details of this exciting community celebration. For more information about GreenLeaf and ZOOM, visit www.GreenLeafMarketStl.com and www.ZOOMStL.com.

ZOOM Solar-Powered Gulf Gas Station Convenience Store and Car Wash Opens in NorthSide Regeneration Development

ZOOM Solar-Powered Gulf Gas Station Convenience Store and Car Wash Opens in NorthSide Regeneration Development

It’s an exciting time in north St. Louis City. Along with the multibillion-dollar National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) project proceeding and new residential homes being built, St. Louis Grocery Group has opened the ZOOM Gulf gas station and C-Store at 1300 N. Tucker Blvd. An official grand opening celebration is scheduled for mid-April.

“NorthSide Regeneration’s vision is to create a healthier, more vibrant community in north St. Louis City,” said NorthSide Regeneration developer Paul McKee, Jr. “We have identified five economic and social deserts within this underserved area of St. Louis City that include health, food, jobs, digital divide and safety. Our proposed NorthSide Regeneration development is working to address these areas, with ZOOM being the first. ZOOM is powered by solar energy, plus it brings farm fresh healthy food options and more than a dozen full- and part-time jobs to the area. Additionally, ZOOM’s construction generated several construction jobs that exceeded the city’s minority participation requirements on the project in both contractors and boots on the ground working.”

In addition to the typical products sold at most convenience stores, ZOOM also offers farm fresh produce and local artisan products provided by St. Louis area entrepreneurs and Good Natured Family Farms, an alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Initial locally-sourced food offerings at ZOOM include a variety of jams, jellies and pickled items from Blackberry Hill Farms in Rich Hill, MO and honey from Hawley Honey Bee Farm in Iola, KS.

ZOOM also sells seasonal items and holiday gift baskets, plus healthy meals-on-the-go such as pizzas, sandwiches, salads and wraps made fresh in ZOOM’s GoCafé by Executive Chef Philip Kurrus and his staff. Chef Kurrus brings nearly 30 years of foodservice and hospitality experience to ZOOM. He previously served in a variety of positions ranging from Executive Chef to Kitchen Manager. Chef Kurrus earned his Associates in Culinary Arts degree from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT and interned under Todd English at Michaela’s in Cambridge, MA and with Marcel Keraval at Café de France in St. Louis, MO.

Another first for the St. Louis area, with the support of Ameren electric, ZOOM’s unconventional-looking canopy over its gas pumps supports a state-of-the-art, two-way solar panel system capable of producing 109,000 kWh of electricity annually – enough to power most of the gas station, convenience store and car wash.

Manufactured by Prism Solar Technologies, the glass-on-glass solar panels are capable of generating 35% more energy per watt than traditional modules through its use of advanced bifacial N-type silicon cell technology that can generate electricity on both its front and back surfaces. The panels also offer exceptional performance in low light conditions due to the additional energy produced by its back surface, which allows ZOOM to maximize its solar investment.

ZOOM’s high-tech solar panel system is expected to produce energy equivalent to 216,208 lifetime gallons of gasoline not consumed, 2,014 new trees planted each year, 722 lifetime tons of recycled waste and a lifetime of 438 cars taken off the road, all consistent with NorthSide Regeneration’s commitment to sustainability.

ZOOM is open Monday through Sunday, 5 a.m. to midnight. For more information, coupons and other news about ZOOM, visit www.zoomstl.com.

New GreenLeaf Market Set to Open in April

New GreenLeaf Market Set to Open in April

GreenLeaf Market will deliver a unique combination of farm fresh quality, community and convenience for residents of north St. Louis City, and beyond. GreenLeaf Market is the first grocery store to be built in north St. Louis City since 1968 and is proudly owned by St. Louis Grocery Group, in partnership with the Good Natured Family Farms cooperative alliance created by co-owner Diana Endicott.

We value farm fresh and local nutritious, affordable food as the foundation for a strong community,” said Endicott.
As a locally-owned and operated grocer, GreenLeaf Market strive to support other local and regional businesses by working with over 100 family farms to deliver high-quality, fresh food and a wide range of unique products that you won’t find at other grocers in the area. GreenLeaf Market is actively engaged in the neighborhood community, working with church and civic leaders to help ensure that residents’ needs are being met. More than 72 new jobs will be created by GreenLeaf, which is just the beginning of a larger, longer-term plan to spur job growth and new development and help regenerate the economy of the NorthSide.
The 20,000-square-foot store will feature a state-of-the-art kitchen and an experienced, on-site chef who will be focused on creating fresh, nutritious, affordable, fully-prepared grab-and-go food selections while cooking with farm fresh ingredients. GreenLeaf Market will also be ramping up convenient curbside pick-up for online orders to better serve the needs of commuters and people working downtown. 

With an in-house bee colony, the market will deliver an educational experience for people of all ages.

“GreenLeaf Market will be partnering up with more local businesses to strengthen our community, while adopting new technology to create a truly one-of-a-kind grocery shopping experience. From the moment you enter GreenLeaf and experience the full-height mural depicting the near NorthSide, you know you are in a unique setting,” said Eyad Tammas of St. Louis Grocery Group.

A grand opening for GreenLeaf is set for mid-April. Follow GreenLeaf on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news as details are finalized around this exciting community celebration.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Headquarters Coming to NorthSide Regeneration

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Headquarters Coming to NorthSide Regeneration

In fall 2012, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) began to search for a site for its new NGA West headquarters. Soliciting proposals from many potential locations, the search was narrowed down to six sites after two years. Among those sites was a 134-acre parcel within the NorthSide Regeneration boundary. This site distinguished itself from the others due to its large-scale, contiguous property assemblage and proximity to an urban downtown region replete with local businesses, transportation, neighborhoods and amenities. Subsequently, after further research and analysis, NGA selected the NorthSide Regeneration site, which was reduced to 99 acres at the northeast quadrant of Jefferson Boulevard and Cass Avenue. As a result of this site being selected, 3,100 NGA jobs will stay in Missouri and St. Louis, eventually increasing to more than double that in the ensuing years. The economic impact of winning and securing this project will be felt for many generations to come.

During the last two years, the site has been environmentally cleaned, prepared and turned over to the NGA, which is now moving forward with its $1.75 billion project with the announcement of its design-build contractor expected in spring 2019. Soon thereafter, construction of the facility will begin with an expected completion of all buildings by 2024. The NGA project is a most fitting anchor in the NorthSide Regeneration development and is emblematic of the transformation already visible in new commercial, retail and residential projects nearby. NorthSide Regeneration continues to be the catalyst for renewal, spurring new opportunities that reshape these long-neglected, blighted areas into the productive and sustainable communities of the future.