Lucky’s Market opens in Columbia

A new grocery store opened in a part of Columbia that has not had a store in more than two decades.

Lucky’s Market officially opened Wednesday on South Providence Road in the old Osco Drug building. The organic grocery store also has a liquor store and a cafe.

Store officials say 155 full-time workers will be employed at the store and all of the employees are from the Columbia area.

The owner of Lucky’s Market told ABC 17 News that business has exceeded his expectations and there is a high demand for a local, organic grocery store.

“There was no full service natural food store in Columbia, so I think that was what my wife and I got more excited about,” said Bo Sharon. “I think we can fill a need.”

Sharon said the location is also an advantage. The store is located between the University of Missouri campus and numerous residential neighborhoods. He said it also helped that there was an existing building in place.

“That’s the beauty of the location,” Sharon said. “Dependent on which way you look, you get a melting pot of diversity which is invigorating and exciting for us.”

Several shoppers say Lucky’s will quickly become their main grocery store.

“I think I’m going to come here a lot,” said shopper Laura Eggeman. “The other stores are nice too, but it takes me longer, so this is handy. My husband works at the university so when I pick him up, this is convenient.”

Even shoppers that do not live close to the store say the product and prices are good enough to make it their primary store.

“Produce at a good reasonable price is a good thing,” said Kyra Haynes. “Lots of stores around town — some of the more reputable name stores — they tend to jack up the price of fruit quite a bit.”

Lucky’s Market owners expect business to stay steady for awhile, especially as students continue to stagger back to Columbia from winter break.