When the Walgreens in Bayview Shopping Center closed in 2019, it left a big hole in the already under-resourced neighborhood. The location was slated to become a cannabis dispensary, but that plan was shot down by community members, who desperately wanted a grocery store in the area identified as a food desert.

 

Those folks are in luck. NBC Bay Area reports that a Lucky supermarket, which announced plans to move in last March, had its Grand Opening on Wednesday.

 

San Francisco Mayor London Breed was there for Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting and Grand Opening ceremony. "It's so important because this community has been like a food desert and it's been really challenging to get fresh produce and the things that people have been asking for many, many years into the Bayview," Breed said, according to NBC Bay Area.

 

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton was also there, and ready to celebrate. “This was a hard-fought battle for many years,” Walton, according to the SF Standard. “Our community was resilient, our office was resilient and we said we are not going to lose a pharmacy, lose a place that provided food and services to the community, and replace it with something that is not either similar or better.”

 

Though one curious footnote, related to a casualty of the Mohammed Nuru bribery scandal. The SF Standard adds that “ Former city administrator Naomi Kelly, who resigned last year amid a corruption probe, helped Lucky with community engagement and touted the location’s welcoming environment.” 

Hopefully no further scandal will emerge from Kelly’s involvement, or else the new Bayview Lucky supermarket may need a cleanup on Aisle Five.