News Briefs

A new independent grocer is providing relief to a food desert in a community about 165 miles south of Chicago and 90 miles west of Indianapolis. Filling a shuttered Save A Lot site, GW’s Tiger Market opened this month in Paris, Ill.

Spanning about 5,700 square feet, GW’s Tiger Market at 302 W. Jasper Street is owned by area residents Kodie Girton and Randy Winkler. According to social media information, the store carries a variety of fresh and frozen products, along with locally-sourced goods like farm fresh eggs.

[Read more: "Chicago Indie Grocer Wins $50K to Fight Food Deserts"]

The owners, who have run a meat processing business called GW's Edgar County Locker for years, specialize in meats. Locally produced meats, such as bison, are available at the new grocery store, too.

Girton and Winkler told a local media outlet that the timing was right for a needed business in the community. "We only have Walmart here, and there are no other grocery stores within 30 miles of us. Everybody has to travel during the winter, and it's not that safe. We just felt like we needed another option here, and we've heard it a lot in the community. With us owning a butcher shop here in town, it seemed to make more sense for us to expand and help the community the best we could,” the owners said.

GW's Tiger Market is open seven days a week.