Local Colorado grocers offer alternative for customers who don't want to cross King Soopers workers' picket lines
Colorado King Soopers employees voted to strike and are asking people not to cross their picket line. That may leave some wondering where they can shop for groceries.
Colorado has a plethora of locally owned grocery stores. Everything from mom-and-pop shops to international markets, to a local chain with 17 locations across the state.
Husain Abdulla owns Mecca Market in southeast Denver. It's an international market but that doesn't mean he doesn't sell things all people would like.
"Everything you need in your kitchen to make a delicious meal -- whether it's your vegetables, spices, poultry, meat, pasta, bread," Abdulla said.
He says with the strike going on at King Soopers, he's ready to serve people who want fair prices but don't want to cross the picket line.
"What you see in any grocery store you find it here. Actually, better," Abdulla said.
He isn't the only one trying to capture some of Kroger's customers. So is Colorado's only employee-owned supermarket chain.
Leevers Supermarkets is based out of Castle Rock. For 25 years the chain has been selling groceries in their stores across the state.
"We have 17 locations here in Colorado. We've got 14 Save-A-Lot locations as well as three other unique banners. We have our Hispanic Innovation Center that just opened on the east side of town, called Ahorra Mucho," said Leevers Supermarkets COO Jon Koontz.
He says being an independent grocer lets them do things the big chains can't.
"We're able to curate our product assortment to the uniqueness of our neighborhoods and the communities that we serve. We're very agile when it comes to our product offering and assortment and can cater very specifically to the local needs surrounding our stores," said Koontz.
That means they have specialty cuts of meat, a panaderia -- or bakery -- and a tamale bar with fresh and hot tamales ready to eat. And when it comes to staples, he says they compete with the national chains. He even boasts they have reasonably priced eggs.
"We want to have the highest quality product at the best possible prices in town," said Koontz.
Husain Abdulla doesn't have eggs or tamales, but he says he does have the products you need to try something new on your dinner plate: "We carry everything a traditional grocery store carries, plus more."
