On Thursday, December 5, 2019, Javon Nichols was one of ten local entrepreneurs to win a cash prize in Teamwork Englewood’s Annual Business Plan Competition. Less than a week later, the first order of Javon’s award-winning Egg Rolls, Etc products sold out within the first hour of the grand opening for South Shore’s long-awaited Local Market by Shop and Save at 2101 East 71st Street.
“We made a commitment to include the surrounding community from day one,” recalled Eva Jakubowski who owns Local Market with her husband Cezary. “At the heart of our investment in this store is a deep commitment to investing in the betterment of this community.”
That commitment to the community has been clearly evident in Local Market’s effort to aggressively identify local food and retail vendors and offering a chance to sell their products on the store’s shelves. So far, more than a dozen local vendors have had products sold in the store, with store management intentionally seeking more.
“Our team has an outreach strategy bringing us new local vendors that we meet with and review weekly,” said Mrs. Jakubowski. “We couldn’t be prouder or more supportive of vendors like Javon, whose Egg Rolls are selling at a rate of more than 100 an hour on our hot food bar, with another 400-500 selling in our frozen food section every two weeks.”
Perhaps nothing speaks better of Local Market’s commitment to the community surrounding the store than the fact that more than 160 of the 180 employees hired at the store since its opening live in the surrounding neighborhoods. “We’re proud to be able to offer opportunities to area residents to earn, grow and learn alongside us in this venture,” Mrs. Jakubowski said of the store’s workforce. Beyond that, the store’s hot food bar and the adjoining full-service drink bar have quickly become popular community gathering spots.
On Saturday, February 1, 2020, hundreds of shoppers and community residents stopped by for food, drinks, autographs and pictures during a Pre-Super Bowl Party featuring former NFL players living in the South Shore Community.
