New grocery in South Memphis will save people from long bus rides — and shortened lives

Tonyaa Weathersbee | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Cash Saver in South Memphis: Shoppers sing praises Linda Bachus White talks about the importance of the new Cash Saver grocery store opening in South Memphis.

After seeing all the grins, the hugs and the high-fives that Memphis grocer Rick James was getting at Southgate Shopping Center this past week, it would be tempting to call him "Mr. Cash Saver."

But for the South Memphis denizens and others who were applauding him for opening a Cash Saver in the spot abandoned by Kroger earlier this year, he's really "Mr. Life Saver."

Cash Saver will bring fresh fruits and vegetables to a place where people struggle disproportionately with heart disease, stroke and diabetes. All are maladies tied to people having too few places to shop for healthy foods.

And that's why, when it was James' turn to speak at the Cash Saver ribbon-cutting ceremony, he had to do it over the cheers of people like Gilda Williams, who shouted, "There he is! The one and only Rick James!"

Her enthusiasm could almost make a person think the king of punk-funk, Rick James, had risen from the dead.

James had to speak over the praises of Linda Bachus White, who sported a hot-pink poster which read, "Welcome Saviors to Southgate," around her neck.

But James didn't mind the disruptions. He relished them.

"I've been in the business for 40 years, and you always kind of dream of the day when you'll build one (a supermarket) from the ground up, and put your own spin on it," he said.

"But this has been the most rewarding experience, to be able to restore this community with a full-service grocery store."

The store means a lot to people like Williams, especially since relatives had to rely on her to drive them to supermarkets farther away when Kroger closed.

"We were commuting back and forth," Williams said. "It took a toll because you're working around your schedule and their schedule, and sometimes that was tough."

James, in fact, said he knows of people who had to travel five hours round-trip on the bus to reach a full-service supermarket after Kroger closed.

"You're talking about going to the bus stop, then two transfers to get to the store, shop, go back to bus stop, and get two transfers to go back home," he said.

"Then if you're not going to invest those five hours, what you then do is walk down to a convenience store, and that's fine. But your options are limited as far as nutritional foods go."

For Bachus White, Cash Saver is an improvement.

"I've been at the Cash Savers in Midtown, and the one thing I like about them is that they sell a variety of foods ..." she said. "I love fruits. They got peaches this week for 98 cents a pound, and watermelons are $1.98 apiece ... I'm so glad to have it closer to me, because I used to have to go 8 miles to get to the one in Midtown. This one is just a mile and a half from my house."

The joy of people like Bachus White is what really thrills James.

"That look on people's faces when they walk into the store, and to realize that particular burden has been lifted, and they have a store of their own again, that's rewarding to me," he said.

James, however, said his success in bringing the store to the new location also rested on the efforts of others. Belz Enterprises, which owns the property, was able to secure a 15-year PILOT (payment of lieu of taxes) incentive to redevelop the shopping center. That happened with the support of Mayor Jim Strickland, City Councilman Edmund Ford Jr., Roshun Austin of The Works, Inc.,and other community partners.

James also said Belz Enterprises was instrumental in securing the equipment in the supermarket once Kroger left.

"What Belz did probably saved the day," James said. "If there was no equipment, it would likely be a mattress store, or cut up into three or four cell phone stores."

But in an area where more than 90 percent of the people are African-American, and 52 percent live below poverty level, and 32 percent are unemployed, Cash Savers can do more than save the day.

By offering quick access to healthy foods, it can save lives because right now, African-Americans in Shelby County die twice as often as whites from diseases linked to lack of access to nutritious foods.

That's why so many people celebrated James not just as someone who spared them from the inconvenience of hours-long bus rides to scavenge for nutritious foods, but from an even bigger one.

Death.