A new grocery store is set to open in Kansas City's Waldo neighborhood later this month, bringing an industrial-sized smoker, a full-service deli, and a walkup window to a location immediately south of the current McGonigle's Market. Fareway Meat & Grocery, the Iowa-based chain, will hold a grand opening celebration on August 25 for its store of 10,500 square feet at 1307 W. 79th St.
According to The Kansas City Star, the new location will be unlike any other Fareway in the company's lineup. Elias Johnson said the store will be “one of its kind” within the Fareway brand, noting it will be the chain's first location with both a fryer and a walkup window. Shoppers can expect wings, fries, sandwiches, deli slices, and barbecue prepared fresh and made to order the day it's sold, per the same report.
A Butcher Counter Built to Impress
Johnson also said the meat counter will be the “crown jewel” of the store, according to the Star's reporting. The case will stock everything from shrimp, king crab, lobster tails, and salmon to lamb chops, bison sirloin, ribeye, and wagyu, alongside the produce, dairy, dry goods, household items, spices, and kitchen supplies typical of a full grocery store. The new store will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Fareway was launched by founder Paul S. Beckwith on May 12, 1938, in Boone, Iowa, as noted by Fareway's corporate history.
The address itself carries decades of local weight. McGonigle's Market was a longtime presence at the corner of 79th Street and Ward Parkway, according to Produce Business. Hoodline previously ranked it Kansas City's top grocer.
From McGonigle's to Fareway
Fareway officially acquired the assets of McGonigle's Food Store in February 2020, marking the Iowa grocer's first expansion into the Kansas City metro and into Missouri, according to Supermarket News. Former owner Mike McGonigle pursued the redevelopment because the 1940s-era building was undersized for modern operations and out of compliance with Kansas City's boulevard and parkway design standards, the trade outlet reported at the time.
Per the Star's reporting, Fareway plans to demolish the old McGonigle's KC BBQ building and shift its operations into the new grocery store once it opens. The company has not yet determined what will ultimately become of the original site, according to the same report. The redevelopment is structured as a two-phase project, with the grocery store representing Phase One; Phase Two, scheduled for 2027, calls for a separate 10,000-square-foot multi-tenant commercial building to rise on the corner after the original McGonigle structure comes down, according to the Martin City Telegraph.
Part of a Broader Kansas City Push
The Waldo opening adds to a growing list of Fareway locations across the metro. The chain also runs a full-scale store at 8606 NE 85th St. in the Northland, a smaller meat market at 13430 W. 151st St. in Olathe, and opened a location in Basehor, Kansas, late in 2025, according to the Star. Fareway has said it plans to open several more stores across the Kansas City metro in the years ahead.
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, its Food Environment Atlas provides a web-based mapping tool with data on access to grocery stores across the United States.
Founded 88 years ago out of its original location in Boone, Iowa, Fareway now operates more than 140 locations across seven Midwestern states — Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, and South Dakota — employing over 13,000 workers, per the Martin City Telegraph. The company relocated its corporate headquarters from Boone to Johnston, Iowa, in 2024, according to Supermarket News.
