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'Seeds Of Hope Blossoming': New Community Market In Southern Dallas Makes Fresh Food Accessible

Two men with Southpoint Community Market aprons pose in front of a checkout table.
Nitashia Johnson
Calvin Freeney and Perry Eckles work part-time at Southpoint Community Market.

鈥淚t鈥檚 gorgeous in here!鈥 Thana Simmons says as she walks into Southpoint Community Market. She鈥檚 one of the first customers. 鈥淥h my gosh 鈥 I was taken away when I first walked in.鈥

Simmons can鈥檛 stop smiling. Her friend Shanay Wise gives her a hug and says, 鈥淚鈥檓 just excited for it to be open, and see people are already purchasing!鈥

Cornerstone Church鈥檚 program director Donald Wesson is behind the stone white counter. There鈥檚 a short line. He smiles nervously as he greets customers.

Wesson has been working to create a community market in the Forest District for seven years. The closest grocery store is more than a mile away from the church. He says he feels like he鈥檚 one step closer to building a healthy community.

鈥淎 healthy neighborhood needs food access, job creation, and transportation,鈥 Wesson says. 鈥淲e have been working on different cogs on this wheel but this is a major one.鈥

There鈥檚 fresh fruit in baskets for 50 cents, avocados for a quarter and frozen veggies in the refrigerated section. Pasta sauce, bread, canned goods and paper products line the shelves in the 800 square foot space.

Bananas, oranges and apples sit on a shelf with signs indicating they cost 50 cents.
Nitashia Johnson
Bananas, oranges and other fresh fruits are sold for 50 cents at Southpoint Community Market. The market aims to make fresh food accessible to residents for an affordable price.

鈥淚t shows that our neighborhood is on the mend,鈥 Thana Simmons says. She is the executive director of Viola鈥檚 House, a home for teenage mothers, that鈥檚 just a few blocks from the market. 鈥淭hat we can offer quality products at a good price. The people of this neighborhood understand why it鈥檚 important to support a business like this. Because we want the neighborhood to be better.鈥

Southpoint鈥檚 design is purposely attractive鈥 a modern gold light fixture hangs over the stone counter. Black and white designer tiles artistically accent the walls.

鈥淥ur philosophy is that South Dallas deserves beautiful things and nice things,鈥 says Chris Simmons, Cornerstone Baptist Church鈥檚 pastor. He鈥檚 been a leader in the community for more than 30 years.

With the help of The Real Estate Council Foundation, Cornerstone has spearheaded development in this community. In the last couple of years, the church opened a laundromat, bike shop and a kitchen that serves free hot meals. Now, Southpoint offers more than just a place to buy food, but a place to gather.

An elegant coffee bar sits under a neon sign 鈥 FRESH.

鈥淲hat we try to do is listen to the community to see what they need,鈥 Simmons says.

Everything on the shelves was based on surveys and meetings with people in the community. There鈥檚 a suggestion box on the coffee bar for customers to have additional input.

鈥淲e focused on fresh nutrition that are hard to find and a price point that could be viable for our neighborhood,鈥 Wesson says.

Judge Mark Murrell, pastor at Victory Baptist Church, says a community market has been desperately needed in this neighborhood that鈥檚 adjacent to Fair Park. Census data shows that the average income in this zip code is $16,000 a year and most people don鈥檛 have cars.

鈥淭his really was a rundown shopping center and they have really turned it around,鈥 Murrell says. 鈥淛ust two days ago a major drug bust by the FBI shut down homes on MLK. Now look at the seeds of hope blossoming in our community in the same week. It鈥檚 a really wonderful great thing that鈥檚 happening here.鈥

Two women stand in an aisle, selecting groceries.
Nitashia Johnson
Two customers at Southpoint Community Market select their groceries. Products lining the shelves were chosen from surveys and conversations with community members.

Figuring out how to make Southpoint sustainable has been challenging, but Wesson says he found an unlikely source of inspiration: The upscale compact urban market Royal Blue Grocery. There鈥檚 one in Dallas鈥 Arts District and two more in Austin and San Antonio. Royal Blue offers fresh grab and go food and conventional grocery items. Wesson says he wants to tap food vendors in the South Dallas community to sell their eats at Southpoint.

鈥淚 think the biggest part is letting the community know how many food businesses are in the neighborhood,鈥 Wesson says.

Wesson is hoping these food entrepreneurs will lease space in the new community kitchen next door. The plan is those dollars would subsidize the grocery store.

鈥淧romoting small food businesses in our community to give them opportunity to get to commercial scale is important,鈥 says Wesson.鈥 Keeping a South Dallas dollar in South Dallas.鈥

Grocery stores have low profit margins and need volume to succeed. SMU Marketing Professor Ed Fox says he鈥檚 unsure that Southpoint鈥檚 business model will work, but if there鈥檚 philanthropic support things look much brighter for the market.

鈥淚f you can get donations and subsidies from other sources then this kind of a model becomes much more plausible, but if you want a self-sustaining operation the way it鈥檚 configured is likely to lose a lot of money selling groceries,鈥 says Fox.

Christina Hood.
Nitashia Johnson
Teacher Christina Hood, who lives across the street from the market, said she was eager to support the shop and reinvest in her community.

Cornerstone Church and The Real Estate Council Foundation plan to support Southpoint until it is self-sustaining, but neighbors say don鈥檛 underestimate the loyalty in this community. Teacher Christina Hood lives across the street from the market.

鈥淚鈥檓 reinvesting money back into the community that I live in and I鈥檓 supporting local businesses. It鈥檚 great. I鈥檓 excited about it.鈥

Hood grabs a sample cup of peach cobbler at the check-out counter 鈥 a home-made thank you for supporting more than just a grocery store, but a community鈥檚 hope for restoration.

This story is part of an ongoing series on food insecurity and challenges to economic mobility in South and West Dallas, reported through a partnership of the nonprofit Dallas Free Press and The Dallas Morning News, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network. Sujata Dand can be reached at Sdand2003@gmail.com.

Sujata Dand