Klein's ShopRite To Meet With Community On New Store

Following an announcement in January about a new Klein's Shop Rite opening in the Perring Crossing Shopping Center, representatives from the Forest Hill-based grocer and other partners will meet with community members later this month.

The meeting, scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 27 at Halstead Academy (1111 Halstead Road, Parkville, MD 21234), will give community members an opportunity to offer input about what the store will carry and see concept drawings of the store and it's departments.

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"Basically we like to come in and meet with different community people to get feedback on what’s important to them as far as the offerings of what we have in the supermarket," said Sandy Brown, a spokeswoman for the non-profit UpLift Solutions—a firm working with on community outreach and programming.

"For example, we opened a store near Philadelphia about three years ago and we had some members of a West African community come in and say they were having trouble finding specialty products in the area, so we made sure to stock those," Brown said.

In addition the meeting will give job seekers a chance to learn about the hiring process and offer a networking opportunity for the store to find those people most in need of employment.

"We look for support from the community in the way of hiring. If, for example, there are pastors who know people who need jobs, we like to partner with them because we really like to hire local community members," Brown said.

A hiring center for the store is set to open on site, 2401 Cleanleigh Drive, next month and remain in place until the store opens in the spring.

Are you planning to attend the community meeting later this month? What does this store need to offer to become "your" grocery store? Tell us in the comments.