Look inside South Bend’s newest grocery store ‘East Race Market'

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Downtown South Bend is gaining a new spot for groceries in the highly anticipated East Race Market, which will finally open its doors near the corner of Lasalle and Sycamore Street after years of delays.

ABC57’s Jackie Bauer “checked it out” before they open their doors on Wednesday at 9 a.m., with a grand opening celebration on Thursday. Tenants at 300 E. Lasalle told us they were especially excited for the convenience of the new East Race Market, located on the first floor of their building.

Developer David Matthews with Matthews LLC took ABC57 for a stroll around the new aisles before opening day. Crews were hard at work stocking the shelves and freezers with products of all kinds, including gluten free, organic, fresh and pharmaceutical items, as well as meats and cheeses.

The store includes private labels and national brands, partnering with a wholesaler out of Wisconsin to bring competitive prices to their independent shop.

"We have a partner who has a 112,000-item selection to choose from so it helps us have competitive prices with Meijer, Martin's, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes, so we are really excited to open this new grocery store,” said Matthews.

Matthews says the marker is the next piece of the puzzle in hopes to make the East Bank Neighborhood a walkable, vibrant urban community.

The store has been a long time coming, first proposed in 2015, then slated to open December 2022 after two extensions of the deadline on the project.

They will start with around 4,000 products, with space to triple that. They’ll take customer feedback on what people want to see more of in the store.