Last week, local grocer Double 8 Foods closed up shop. The family-owned company previously operated four stores, all located on the city’s near northside. The sudden and shocking news of the closing stunned longtime patrons, left employees jobless and garnered varying opinions from many on the true source of Double 8’s demise.
Residents of the communities affected – Mapleton-Fall Creek, Martindale-Brightwood, Butler-Tarkington, and the United Northwest Area to name a few – and particularly the elderly and immobile, were presented with the dilemma of accessing food in areas already plagued with having too few options.
“The neighborhoods deserve grocery stores and I hope very much something will come out of this,” said Isaiah Kuperstein, president of Double 8 Foods.
The business, which was formerly known as 7-11, has been owned-and-operated by Kuperstein’s family since 1957. In an interview with Amos Brown last week, he spoke about the legacy of his great uncle, 7-11 founder Zoltan Weisz.
“We very much believe we are a great family. We have had relationships with all of the people that have worked for us,” said Kuperstein during the broadcast. “We have done extraordinary things for our workers that you don’t report in the press. We don’t talk about it … Zoltan Weisz, who founded this company and created this wonderful grocery store, is the one who set the standards for this – it was his approach from the very beginning.”
Weisz, a Hungarian immigrant and Holocaust survivor, opened his first location on August 8, 1957 at the corner of 30th Street and North Sherman Drive. In 1971 at the height of popularity, 7-11 – which changed its name to Double 8 Foods in 2000 – operated six locations. Their last acquisition was a store located on Fairfield Avenue, near 34th Street and Central Avenue.
“We’re very proud of our history and our presence in the community. Many people don’t know we pioneered a lot of things in our neighborhoods,” said Kuperstein. “We were always in the forefront of the civil rights movement.”
In 1959, 7-11 became the first grocery store chain in the state of Indiana to hire an African-American manager. They were also one of the first to hire Black cashiers.
“We stayed in the neighborhoods, never abandoning them,” said Kuperstein. “In the 60s when people were fleeing the neighborhoods we stayed to bring fresh produce, meats, and grocery items to the community.”
Over the decades, Double 8 made attempts to remain relevant in an increasingly difficult economic climate. In 2010 the 46th street and College Avenue location was renovated, in keeping with the retro aesthetic of the building and area. There were also plans to feature a rain garden at the Fairfield location in partnership with IndyTilth and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
Despite their efforts, signs of trouble began taking form as far back as the 90s when the store located at 28th street and Capitol closed. Nearly two years ago the recently renovated 46th and College location closed. The property, which was home to a Kroger store up until 1932, was bought by an affiliate of PK Partners development firm in March 2015.
At that point, the company started to lose revenue having to eventually resort to survival mode.
“We were losing sales and revenues for the past three years and we hung in there. We wanted very much to not leave and abandon … there were many sleepless nights trying to make things work,” said Kuperstein, adding that in recent months losses reached double-digit proportions.
“When that starts to happen and you can’t pay your bills, there are very few options left and you can’t run it anymore.”
In an interview with the Recorder, Roger Allen, a supervisor at the Sherman Drive Double 8 location, said he was not forewarned of the closing. “I’ve got to try to find another job I guess,” Allen said. “That’s what I’ll have to do to keep paying the bills.”
Despite having the rug pulled out from under them, for lack of a softer sentiment, employees like Allen will receive support in the form of job counseling and guidance according to Double 8’s top brass.
When asked what the root causes were surrounding the collapse, Kuperstein shared there were several, including competition and people packing up and moving away from the community. As is the case with most startling news topics, people took to social media to voice their thoughts. Many, like Indianapolis resident Fred Carr, opined that cleanliness was a major issue. “This is a good thing. Sanitation was not priority,” he said.
“The people who say that are, in my opinion, largely ignorant of grocery store operations,” said Kuperstein. “I can tell you we receive fresh deliveries every day and every week. We are open 365 days a year. I can go in right now to a Kroger or Marsh or any grocer and find stuff that’s not good, that’s spoiled, and that’s out of date… we were very much in keeping with the quality of goods we sold.”
Others speculated the company had been bought and sold to a big conglomerate, who is still operating under the cover of anonymity. Kuperstein assures the two instances have nothing to do with the company’s current status.
“There is no such truth to that. We were trying very hard to find someone else to buy and operate the business but it did not work out,” he said of the bought-out rumors. Kuperstein did however state there is a chance the company could be acquired in the future. “I will not answer that definitively but there are possibilities like that. Those things do exist but we don’t know. It’s too early to tell. But I would say that it may still happen.”
Following the events of the closing, civic and community leaders gathered over the weekend to discuss how to address the needs of the neighborhoods left without a grocery store. One initiative that emerged is a shuttle service spearheaded by Pastor Shaune Shelby of Ebenezer Baptist Church. The service, a collaborative effort between Shelby, Pastor Charles Harrison of Barnes United Methodist Church, Pastor Mel Jackson of Christian Love Baptist Church and others will pick up residents from the Double 8 parking lot at 29th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Streets and transport them to a nearby Safeway and Walmart free of charge at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Ebenezer Baptist Church administrative assistant Sybil Satterfield shared with the Recorder that residents can come to the church office, located at 1901 N. Harding St., Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. to get information on food pantries and other food assistance programs.
Shelby said the shuttle service is the first step in a multi-pronged approach to address the issues surrounding food access.
“We (clergy) should be willing to reach out and immediately help those in need,” said Shelby. “It’s important they see us as a resource – not only during political seasons or evangelical efforts… the Bible tells us when you do this for the least of them, you do it unto me so for those of us of faith, this is a calling Christ puts on us to do. We can’t be big churches in these communities and not be compassionate for the people that are there.”
An online fundraiser, not directly associated with the shuttle efforts, on GoFundMe.com titled “Help Citizens in Indy’s Food Desert” has raised close to $500 since July 27 to help aid those groups who have stepped up to assist residents in need.
