Hoopa’s New Grocery Store Now Open

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HOOPA, Ca. (KIEM) – It’s been a long time coming for the people of Hoopa.

“Time went by very fast,” said Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairman Ryan Jackson, “for a lot of people it was slow but two years has gone by and we’re opening so we’re happy about that.”

Before, those who lived in the area would travel almost two hours just to shop for groceries.

“People been having to shop out of the area and two years is a long time,” says Curtis Kane a Hoopa Local and the Logo Designer for the store. “People make grocery trips to eureka within the month.”

The Hoopa Valley Community opened the doors to its brand new shopping center. Now, people who live in that area will no longer have to travel great distances just for basic needs.

“I’m excited about the produce mainly being able to get to buy fresh fruits and fresh vegetables,” said local resident Raven Doolittle. “It’s been awhile and having to grow our own gets a little hard.”

With the new shopping center, it can help reduce the food desert problem.

“The food securities issues in Hoopa are what they are and what they’ve always been,” said Jackson.

“Having to leave to have to go out to the coast and go out to different areas is very difficult for a lot of people, so the shopping center opening up in proximity to a lot of people is very important.”

For a local like Curtis Kane, he gets to see the logo he designed displayed all over the store.

“It’s really nice to see my logo on the store, entrance, on the reusable bags, on everything on the employee shirts,” said Kane

But new grocery isn’t just a place to buy food. It’s also place to see familiar faces.

“We can come here and get the things we need and see community members,” said Virgil Doolittle.

The process to getting shopping center has been long and hard. But the end result was well worth the wait.

“We’ve never actually gone through the pain staking process of design, all the way through to completion and opening,” said Jackson, “it’s been a long process, it’s been very difficult at times but we’re here and we’re happy.”