GREENSBORO -- After many years, a grocery store is back in a Northeast Greensboro neighborhood.

The Renaissance Community Co-op unlocked its doors this weekend for a soft opening. It’s inside a former Winn-Dixie that closed in 1998 and eventually lead to the Phillips Avenue and Woodbriar Aveune area of town becoming a food desert.

The co-operative is owned by more than 900 people who wanted to address the food insecurity.

"Everybody comes together, chip in and everything stays within your community,” said board chair of the Renaissance Community Co-op, John Jones.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture identified 24 food deserts in Guilford County, 17 of which are in Greensboro. Food desert is a term used by the USDA to describe a usually impoverished area where 1/3 of the residents live more than a mile from a grocery store.

“In a two mile radius there are 37,000 people who did not have access to fresh foods, right here, two mile radius from this epicenter,” the general manager of the store, Michael Valente said.

Now thousands near the Phillips Avenue neighborhood have fresh fruits and vegetables available at a nearby market.

"They don't have to eat oodles of noodles, they can eat fresh cabbage, fresh collards,” Jones said.

The grocery store is open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.   

The Renaissance Community Co-op will host an official grand opening, Saturday November 5 at 10 a.m.

To learn more about the co-op and become an owner, click here