South End Grocery Now Open

December 27, 2022

The South End Grocery is Located at 106 South Pearl Street

The South End Grocery Coalition led by BlueLight Development Group and The African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region invited the Capital Region community to the grand opening of The South End Grocery on Tuesday. The opening marked one year after successfully purchasing the 106 South Pearl Street (former McDonald’s) property for the project.

Downtown’s first Black-owned and charity-controlled grocery, The South End Grocery is officially open and offering fresh produce, deli and fish products, dry and nonperishable goods, beverages, frozen goods and merchandise from local farmers and restaurants to area residents.

“The South End food desert is over,” said Travon T. Jackson, president of BlueLight Development Group and executive director of the African American Cultural Center of the Capital Region. “With the fortitude of our partners, BlueLight has successfully set forth the first charitable partnership of its type in Albany – a Black-owned, farm-to-store affordable grocery subsidized by syndicated philanthropy. Thank you to our endowment partners and all our supporters for bringing us this far.”