LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
40
C
NEWS Volume 42, Number 26
EBRATING EL
Goodbye Ed Reyes
The Library’s Sheet Music Collection
5
13
YEARS
Since 1972
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
July 1, 2013
Arts District Grocery Store Opens This Week Urban Radish Scheduled to Debut on July 4
photo by Gary Leonard
Carolyn Paxton, co-owner of Urban Radish, prepares for the opening of the 8,200-square-foot grocery store on Mateo Street. She is being pushed by meat department manager Chad Christianson. by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR
A
side from the massive chipmunk mural on its eastern wall, there’s never been anything special about the 8,200-square-foot metal structure at 660 Mateo St. That will change on Thursday, July 4, when the building, basically a large shed, transforms into Urban Radish. All of a sudden it may be the most popular destination in the Arts District, as it becomes an upscale grocery store that focuses on farm-fresh produce, meat, artisan cheeses and prepared foods. “We thought that opening a store in the Arts District was going to be a great opportunity,” said Carolyn Paxton, a former sales and marketing executive in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. She is the co-owner of Urban Radish along with business partner Keri Aivazis. It’s an eagerly anticipated addition to a quickly changing neighborhood that has seen an influx of restaurants and cof-
fee shops. Yet until now, anyone needing a big grocery run had to trek to the Ralphs Fresh Fare, a car ride away in South Park. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Jonathan Jerald, an Arts District resident and secretary of the Los Angeles River Artists and Business Association. “It’s got nothing but unanimous support. It’s a much needed resource for our community.” Paxton, a Barker Block resident, spent about a year looking for the right location for Urban Radish. She decided to come out of retirement to open a grocery store after Aivazis approached her with the idea. When they came upon the Mateo Street shed they saw a lot of potential, even if it was basically a collection of metal sheets on a frame. The nine-month construction process added interior elements such as walls, lighting, a commercial kitchen, back offices, windows and a patio. Paxton said the project cost about $1.7
million. It will create 25 jobs. Paxton said the July 4 date is a “soft opening,” and warned that it could be pushed back. Although she said all permits have been secured, everything depends on making sure the software system for the cash registers works as planned. Early last week the market was mostly bereft of groceries, with a few items such as bottles of olive oil, chips, cookies and honey stacked on shiny metal shelves on a polished cement floor. Variety of Goods Although far smaller than a traditional full-size supermarket, which is about 35,000 square feet, Urban Radish has a variety of goods pitched to the fairly affluent Downtown loft resident. At one end of the store is a small section with dog food and other pet products, an important element considering the animal-loving neighborhood, Paxton said. see Groceries, page 11
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