Close to a hundred people gathered at the Stater Bros. market at Blaine and Iowa for its Grand Reopening ceremony. Greg McNiff, the company’s president and COO, welcomed the crowd, which included company executives, local Nonprofit staff, and Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez. He emphasized the importance of the location and shared his pride in the market’s role in the community. “We don’t just do business in the community. We are the community,” he said.
With the once adjacent Kmart lying in piles in the parking lot, Stater Brothers is now the sole anchor retailer at the location. It is also the only full-service grocery store in the area. The neighborhood, northwest of the UC Riverside campus, is one of the most densely populated in the city and is more reliant on pedestrian access than most of Riverside.
The renovation is more than an aesthetic upgrade, though the visual refresh does blend well with some of the newer apartments in the neighborhood. The upgraded store aligns with most new supermarkets in dedicating valuable floor space to freshly prepared deli selections and affordable take-home meals.
