Our LNPK Grocery Open House was a success! We want to give thanks to everyone who stopped in to support the grocery store and help shape what will be going on the shelves!
Along with all the great suggestions, we got some questions as well. The biggest being: “When are you opening?” In order to open, we have to be granted some final permits and certifications: An Operational Permit and a Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Duluth, and a Retail Food Handler license from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Each of these could require some final changes before we open.
Another big question we have been receiving has been “Will you accept EBT (SNAP/WIC) at the store?” The answer is Yes.
We want to make sure that LNPK Grocery is accessible to all our customers in the Lincoln Park community and beyond. We are working hard to obtain SNAP and WIC authorizations for our store so that EBT users will be able to shop at our store. For those unfamiliar, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a modernized version of the former federal Food Stamp Program. SNAP seeks to benefit low-income individuals and families by giving them funds to purchase groceries. SNAP offers a flexible budget for most grocery items, while the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program is designed to act as a nutritional specialist. WIC is a stricter program as it requires stores to carry more nutrient-rich foods for its users. Here is more information for both the SNAP and WIC programs.
To allow for SNAP and WIC to be accepted at LNPK Grocery, we are currently navigating the authorization process. We have submitted our SNAP application, and it is currently under review. WIC is a little different, as we cannot submit an application until we have been accepted for SNAP.
While we wait on these items to get approved and finalized, we are welcoming to the store one of our distributors to develop a final plan for product placement in the store. After this collaborative process, we will have a better understanding of what our shelves will look like as we wait for our permits and certifications, and we will be one more step closer to opening.
Stay tuned for more updates on LNPK Grocery. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for our newsletter!