Detroit's Green Grocer Program returns with 18 stores funded and a path for more

Detroit's Green Grocer Program is back, and it has already started putting money into the hands of store owners who are adding fresh food to neighborhoods that have gone without.

The first awardee under the restored program was Kandies Mini Mart, a sandwich shop and catering business in the Dexter-Linwood neighborhood. Owner Jacquisha Blackwell used a $25,000 grant to add a full grocery section to her operation at 2470 Collingwood St., turning an existing food business into a food access point for the surrounding block.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is running the program in partnership with the city, offering cash grants of up to $25,000 per store. A third round of applications ran from January through mid-March. As of spring 2026, the program backs 18 stores across Detroit, with more expected to open in the months ahead.

The context for the program's return is not subtle. Food insecurity affects close to 69 percent of Detroit residents. Between 2017 and 2022, the city lost 10 full-line grocery stores, leaving many neighborhoods without a reliable place to buy produce, meat, or dairy. What filled those gaps in many areas was a corner store stocked with snacks but not staples.

The Green Grocer Program launched in 2010 as a direct response to that problem, supporting independent grocers through grants, loans, technical assistance, and tax incentives over seven years. When it ended in 2017, no comparable city program replaced it.

The relaunched version funds three types of stores: small specialty formats between 1,500 and 5,000 square feet that commit to making fresh food at least 15 percent of their selling space, mixed-market community stores from 3,000 to 15,000 square feet, and new construction projects over 10,000 square feet. Grant money can go toward equipment, renovations, inventory, technology, and market research assistance.

To be eligible, a business must be a registered for-profit entity in good standing with the state and the city, with a Detroit business address.

If you run a small food business in Detroit and want to be positioned for a future round, the key preparation steps are the same as for most city programs: keep your business registration and blight clearances current, and watch for announcements at degc.org. The program has committed to assisting at least eight small grocery stores over two years, alongside loans to four additional locations, and early results suggest it is moving in that direction.

For residents, the 18 stores now in the program's network represent real gains in neighborhoods that have been without a real grocery option for years. The model favors walkable, neighborhood-scale stores over regional chains, which means the stores in this network are more likely to be in your zip code than on the edge of the city.

Eighteen stores is not enough to close the gap entirely. But it is a return to an approach that worked here before, with specific funding and accountability behind it this time.