Expanded Value Foods Opens in Brooklyn Center
A neighborhood grocery store is vital to every community. Especially if the type of food you’re looking for is slightly off the beaten path.
“Like cowskin, you can’t find this at Walmart or Cub Foods,” said Luk Manjaiteh, the manager of Value Foods in Brooklyn Center.
But Value Foods isn’t just a place to get items like cowskin or chicken feet. While the store certainly caters to the city’s ethnic community, staff members hope this place can be a resource for everyone.
“We’ll make sure we fulfill our promise to serve the community the best way possible,” said Abdou Jaiteh, the owner. “We want to bring in products that they will need, we want to make sure, it’s affordable, it’s competitive pricing.”
Value Foods is located in Brooklyn Center’s Humboldt Square shopping center. Technically speaking, they celebrated their grand opening on April 14, but the store is not exactly a new addition to the area.
For 10 years, Value Foods had a location in this same strip mall, but after taking over a site once occupied by Dollar Tree, the store has now tripled in size.
Value Foods is located at 6808 Humboldt Avenue North in Brooklyn Center.
“We figured that there’s a need for this kind of business in this community, so we decided we’ll expand and get a bigger location and cater to the community,” Jaiteh said.
With all the extra space, employees were still busy on Monday stocking shelves with fresh produce — something that’s in short supply in Brooklyn Center after the recent closure of Walmart.
“That hurt the community real bad when the Walmart closed,” said Didy Willis, a customer. “So hopefully this place will take over.”
Willis, and customers who spoke to CCX News, say they’re happy to have this store in Brooklyn Center.
“Love it.,” said Trapic Witteveen, a customer. “Easy access, you know what I mean. And it’s convenient for us.”
“So far so good,” said Elisha Smith, a customer. “It’s amazing.”
The hope is that other people looking for a new place to shop also feel the same way.
“This is a blessing,” said Willis. “We need this. The community needs this.”
Meanwhile, sometime later this year, Value Foods plans to open a restaurant in the vacant space right next to the grocery store.
A Value Foods employee stocked the shelves with fresh produce.
Related: Retail Expert: Replacing Brooklyn Center Walmart Will Be ‘A Tough Transition’
