Bus line brings business to east side
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Indy Fresh Market opened in an area lacking another nearby grocery store. Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
A public transit project maligned as anti-business might be creating business opportunities.
Driving the news: Indy Fresh Market recently opened at 38th Street and Sheridan Avenue as part of a larger development project by medical device maker Cook Medical.
- The grocery store and future manufacturing center sit along the yet-to-open Purple Line.
Why it matters: Cook promises that Indy Fresh Market will be a solution to what many see as a grocery store shortage, but a less-discussed feature is the project's placement along Indianapolis' bus rapid transit project.
Catch up fast: The city's BRT project is scheduled to include three express bus lines along high-traffic routes.
- The north-south Red Line is already open.
- The Purple Line, which will travel along 38th Street between Meridian Street and Post Road, is scheduled to open next year.
- The east-west Blue Line is targeted for a 2027 opening.
Between the lines: Businesses along BRT routes have often complained that construction is ruinous for customer traffic.
- Irvington businesses including Smash'd Burger and Black Sheep Gifts told WISH-TV last week they expect impending construction on the Blue Line to hurt them.
The other side: A spokeswoman for transit service IndyGo told WISH-TV the "long-term benefits of the Blue Line will far outweigh any temporary angst."
The intrigue: Pete Yonkman, the president of Cook Medical, has said the Purple Line helped determine the site for Indy Fresh Market and his new manufacturing center.
- He's noted employees can use the Purple Line to get to work and customers can use it to shop at the store.
What they're saying: "A lot of other grocery stores are not on the bus line and here we are on the bus line," Marckus Williams, co-operator of Indy Fresh Market, told WFYI.
Meanwhile, farther east in Irvington, the Blue Line is expected to help drive redevelopment of a mostly vacant strip plaza on East Washington Street.
The bottom line: Existing businesses see BRT construction as painful, but developers see opportunities along the routes.