RICHMOND, Va. -- A community staple in Richmond's Southside is no longer open.
On Monday morning around 6 a.m., Richmond Police responded to King's Supermarket, located in the 2100 block of Keswick Avenue for a burglary alarm which is believed to have been triggered by flames and smoke in the building.
Richmond Fire quickly responded, fighting the flames for more than an hour.
First responders say no one was inside the building during the fire and no one was hurt. However, the community will be hurting from the loss of one of the only grocery stores for several miles.
"The biggest impact for the community is that this store, that everybody so amazingly loved, is going to be down for just a little bit," said Richmond Fire Battalion Chief Sekou Abdus-Sabur.
Owner John Jeong said the store serves roughly 1,000 customers a day, many of whom live within walking distance.
"This is the only supermarket, food service market. We have a meat department, a deli, produce," Jeong said. "I mean, I feel sorry for everything, for my community, for my customers. I don't know what they're going to do, probably they can go somewhere else, but I feel sorry for them."
Now, those thousands of shoppers will have to search for healthy food
The USDA labels the surrounding area as low-income, with low access to affordable, healthy foods. The closest stores with fresh produce are about five miles away.
"Sadly, many people’s lives will be affected by the fire as greater Manchester has quite a limited number of options for people that are looking to buy fresh produce and perishable items. People without cars are going to face the greatest burden because they may no longer be able to walk or take a short bus ride to shop for healthier food options," said John Jones, an assistant professor with VCU's Center for Environmental Studies.
That could cause health problems for the community now going without.
“Until the affected people can create some workarounds, or our public and business leaders can seek some, a little bit more permanent solutions, people are going to turn to eating highly processed foods that have longer shelf lives," Jones said.
Jones said as warmer weather approaches, some farms near Richmond will deliver fresh produce to the community through Community Supported Agriculture programs. A list of some participating farms can be found here.
The cause of the first is still under investigation. There is no timeline for when the store will reopen.
