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.