Market Open Across From Emerson Park Light Rail Station In East St. Louis

St. Louis has had very little success with transit-oriented development since our original light rail line, MetroLink, opened in 1993. From the start the Emerson Park station in East St. Louis, which opened in May 2001, was different. The station includes some storefront space and around the station homes & apartments have been added over the years, a recent addition is Eco Jazz, see New Senior Housing A Bright Spot In East Saint Louis.

And a few months ago Jazz Ensemble Market opened for business:

Jazz Ensemble Market believes that food is the connection that brings us all together. When we sit at the dinner table, we share our moments with family, friends and food gives us opportunities to connect.

Serving the East St. Louis Community is our core business philosophy.  We are locally owned. Any purchase that is made in the store, stays in East St Louis. We are locally operated. All employees come from within East St. Louis. We are neighbors serving neighbors, the way it should be.

Our community involvement is vast. We are partnering with local vendors, local producers, local outreach groups to give each other a helping hand up. We are working with other local organizations to develop and implement solutions to their challenging problems.

Jazz Ensemble Market will never be on the side lines of the community.

For far too long East St. Louis has been a food insecure area, and we are the foundation to turn that around.

Let’s take a look…

The nearest larger grocery store is a Schnuck’s at 25th & State — a 1.5 mile/30 minute walk from the station.  The number of people walking to/from the market and station was encouraging. A seating area up front lets you enjoy your deli purchase while looking at the station, the free wi-fi let’s you stay connected.

This adds up to be a great subject for Good News Friday (#gnf)!

— Steve Patterson