Strip District grocer to deliver groceries

New service could ease shopping troubles in Hill, Downtown

While the Consol Energy Center is slated to open in August, plans for a Hill District grocery store that was supposed to be part of the project's development deal continue to be negotiated.

Meanwhile, Rosebud Fine Food Market, Downtown's first grocery store in 13 years, closed its doors April 1 after just two years in business.

The neighborhoods are very different, but they have a common problem: lack of easy access to healthful, affordable food.

Now, a new Web-based grocery and delivery service may provide a partial solution for both the Hill District and Downtown.

What else is available During the summer, the addition of farm stands and farmers markets provides more access to fresh foods in many neighborhoods. Here's what's available Downtown and in the Hill District: DOWNTOWN Citiparks market at the City-County Building, 400 Grant St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, through Nov. 19. Market Square farmers market in the redeveloped Market Square, Forbes Avenue and Market Place, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays, through Nov. 18. O'Toole Pediatric Fund WIC office farm stand, Third floor, Investment Building, 239 Fourth Ave., 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, through Oct. 19. Steel Plaza farm stand, U.S. Steel Tower on Grant Street at Sixth Avenue, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, through early fall. HILL DISTRICT Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank farm stand, Hill House, 1835 Centre Ave., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursdays, through Nov. 11.





Right by Nature, the Strip District-based grocery store that opened in late 2008, is scheduled today to launch a website that allows customers to shop online for 4,500 grocery items. Customers can order online at rightbynaturemarket.com and select call-ahead, curbside pick up. Starting June 21, Downtown and Hill District area residents will be able to request home delivery, which will cost $4.95 with a minimum order of $35.

The addition of home delivery stems from Right by Nature's recent merger with Good Apples, a virtual supermarket founded in 2005 that allowed corporate clients to shop online and then have groceries delivered to their offices. Right by Nature has continued this delivery service, and corporate clients will benefit from the expanded inventory, which has more than doubled since the businesses merged.

Right By Nature also has added mainstream brands and products with its organic and natural products, so shoppers can pick up Lay's potato chips along with organic broccoli.

"From my perspective it's all about convenience and really having what you want as a consumer," said Jason Brown, a managing partner at Concept Development in Redmond, Wash., which has overseen the merger and other changes at the store. "If we can fill that need for you, you'll shop with us more often and you'll expand what you buy."

Mr. Brown, a Squirrel Hill native, specializes in building businesses inside the natural products industry. "This is the first crossover business that I've done, where we're taking the best of organic and natural and commingling it with the best of mainstream grocery," he said.

Along with new options for delivery, Right by Nature also has been adding options to appeal to in-store shoppers, such as more frequent wine tastings in the store, a barbecue lunch Thursday through Saturday and in-store sushi from nearby Penn Avenue Fish Co.

While Web-based groceries and delivery services such as Peapod and FreshDirect have been successful in other cities, the idea hasn't gained much traction in Pittsburgh. But Right by Nature doesn't necessary see delivery as a cornerstone of its business, Mr. Brown said. It would be more of an amenity that would make grocery shopping easier and more flexible.

The store expects complimentary curbside pickup to be popular because people would be able to shop at home or at work at any time and then call ahead to have groceries delivered to their car. All types of payment, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), would be accepted for in-store purchase, while only credit or debit cards would be accepted for delivery.

Hill District residents and community groups for years have lobbied for a full-service grocery store in the neighborhood. A community benefits agreement signed in 2008 by neighborhood representatives, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and other officials included financing and other provisions for just that, but a search is still on for a store. In November 2009, Kuhn's Market withdrew plans to build a 40,000-square-foot full-service grocery on Centre Avenue. Hill District officials currently are talking to other potential operators for a store.

City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who represents the Hill District, said community members were working "day and night" on the issue and was optimistic that an agreement would be reached. But he also saw a grocery delivery service as a potential boon for the community, especially for its senior population.

Grocery delivery services are being explored in other parts of the country as a possible solution to food deserts, neighborhoods that lack easy access to healthful foods, but typically have plenty of fast-food outlets. The Virtual Supermarket Project, a city program in Baltimore, allows residents to visit two local libraries to place online orders for groceries, which are later delivered to the library. The pilot program, limited by time and staff constraints, has about a dozen participants.

"We probably have the manpower to only conduct 10 to 15 orders per ordering session and the van can only carry that many orders anyway," said Pooja Aggarwal, special assistant to the Baltimore Health Commissioner. Participants pay when they order and can use cash, check, credit card or SNAP benefits. Ms. Aggarwal hopes the program will be able to expand by making it possible for participants to place orders at any time the library is open, and to expand to more libraries or other sites that might pull in different demographics.

Whether in Baltimore or Pittsburgh, grocery delivery alone is unlikely to be a permanent solution to providing a steady flow of healthful foods to under-served neighborhoods. But new technologies and services may help fill the gaps until development catches up with demand.

China Millman: cmillman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1198. Follow her at http://twitter.com/chinamillman

First published on June 7, 2010 at 12:00 am