Meet the man who's overhauling Kansas City grocery store with failed past

本站添加: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Eight months of empty shelves and broken promises, a new grocery store is eight days from opening along Kansas City's Prospect Corridor. These are the empty shelves that greeted shoppers before it closed. The previous operator racked up more than $800,000 in annual losses and is now suing the city claiming it failed to deliver on promises of maintenance and security. The city has since handed the reins to a new operator. Opening day is eight days away. KCTV5's Betsy Webster got an early look inside.

[00:00:30]Welcome to the sneak peek. Anthony Estrada took us inside to show us the overhaul.

[00:00:36]Before the lights even went on, you could smell the fresh paint.

[00:00:39]>> And as we turn the corner, we took out a couple of grocery aisles here so you can actually see the meat department now.

[00:00:44]The first thing he did when I walked in the store was hand me a grocery cart. He said, "You got to check this out. Do you feel it? Isn't it smooth? It's so quiet." You see, for him, details matter. Everything he does is thought out. He took us to his favorite aisle filled with barbecue spices. All dry rubs, all type of dry rubs. I'm still >> with the charcoal.

[00:01:05]>> And ending with charcoal, exactly. No, they'll also have their own smoked meats by the deli. We're going to cut our own meat so we'll have meat cutters on staff. The city paid for the remodel.

[00:01:14]Below the new sign, another improvement, fresh asphalt and paint added just last week.

[00:01:20]The store sits at the corner of a busy bus stop. We know that transportation is a challenge in in some areas and it'd be great to go to one store and be able to purchase everything you need. The previous operator struggled with crime that drove customers away. So, how's he going to avoid that? Well, for one, a security kiosk at the entrance. That's different. They're going to It was a little different. They had a guard, I believe, but they didn't have a kiosk where he had access to cameras. So, now he's going to have access to cameras and be able to watch everyone in the store.

[00:01:48]The fresh food will fill these displays two to three days before opening.

[00:01:52]Volunteers joined new hires to stock the rest living up to the name United Market, which he's embracing with optimism.

[00:02:01]>> [laughter] >> You have to.

[00:02:03]There's only one way. If you're not going up, you're going down, right?

[00:02:07]Betsy Webster, KCTV5 News.