Sidney Torres Is Turning Circle Food Store Into Yet Another Food Hall | Eater New Orleans

"I read that Circle Food Store, a historic 7th Ward grocery that opened in the 1930s and was the first African-American owned and operated grocery in New Orleans, closed last October amid financial struggles and was sold at an Orleans Parish Sheriff’s auction; developer Sidney Torres then bought it for $1.7 million and announced plans to turn the property into a food hall while hoping to keep the Circle Food name and to reopen this year. In recent years the store diversified its offerings to include excellent vegan and vegetarian food, but it flooded extensively after Hurricane Katrina, used a mix of public and private loans and tax credit funding to reopen in 2014, flooded again in August 2017, and ultimately closed facing massive debt and lawsuits from creditors. Torres said his model would be similar to St. Roch Market and would include a grocery element, but the proposed plan has prompted negative reaction on social media." - Clair Lorell