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New South LA Market Gives Access To Fresh Foods, Creates Local Jobs

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A new full-service supermarket is now up and running in South Los Angeles, bringing fresh food and new jobs to the area.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Northgate Gonzalez market, 944 E. Slauson Ave., began at 10 a.m. Monday.

The 77,096-square-foot supermarket, which took 15 years to develop, is anchored to the Juanita Tate Marketplace outdoor retail center.

The market gives an economic boost to an area that "was kind of desolate, for want of a better word, and it was kind of the pits," according to a South LA resident at the grand opening.

"We focus a lot on fresh products and give the people the opportunity to eat healthier," the market's president Miguel Gonzalez said.

California FreshWorks Fund awarded Northgate Gonzalez a $50,000 grant and $5.5 million loan to provide healthier options and more jobs for the communities that need it most. The market will bring more than 100 new living wage jobs with benefits.

"The addition of the new market really just shows that developers have faith in the community," South LA resident David S. Robinson said.

FreshWorks is a key effort of The California Endowment's Health Happens Here campaign, which seeks to promote healthy neighborhoods through increased access to fresh foods and economic development.

Northgate Gonzalez has partnered with the Los Angeles and California FreshWorks to pursue an aggressive local hiring plan and a commitment to local, diverse and at-risk hiring, including working with Homeboy Industries, which serves high-risk, formerly gang-involved men and women.

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