In southern Dallas, the stage is set for the grand opening of Joe V's off West Wheatland Road.
Red signage, shiny grocery carts, and orange cones for crowd control surround the new grocery store set to open to the public Wednesday morning at 7.
Althea Wiltz lives in the area and got a peek at the fresh produce and assortment of products aimed at tackling the food desert she has lived in for years.
"I was just checking stuff out," Wiltz said. "I love it!"
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Wiltz said she usually has to drive further from home to find fresh and affordable produce.
"The prices (here) are so awesome," Wiltz said. "I'm looking at those watermelons and thinking I can't carry six. But I'll try."
Eagerly, she watched as executives from H-E-B, along with city and county leaders, celebrated Joe V's official arrival with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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"The community needs something; now they can shop and eat when they leave the church, leave work, leave home," Tennell Atkins, City of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem, said.
Joe V's is under the umbrella of H-E-B. While a smaller store, it offers customers the same quality products found at H-E-B.
“We spend years actually studying the neighborhoods and the customers,” Roxanne Orsak said.
Orsak is the Chief Operating Officer for H-E-B and President of Joe V’s.
“Joe V and I have sat in customers’ homes. We've had dinner with them. We've gone to community events. And then we also do a ton of focus groups, and customers tell us what it is that they want in a great grocery store… We take all that information with our customer insights, and we put it together, and that's how we craft the store.”
Orsak said fresh and affordable is the goal.
While Wiltz and other customers will have to wait until Wednesday, starting at 7 a.m., to fill their carts, she said she is satisfied with what she has seen.
"How long is this going to last? I want to take advantage of it," Wiltz said. "It's always awesome that we have a community that cares about others. That's a privilege."
