Jan. 5, 2022

A reduced-price grocery store that opened less than a year ago has found such success that it’s closing the doors on South Carolyn Avenue and moving to a new location this weekend.

Kristin Johnson opened Fair Market on March 8, 2021, and will reopen Monday at 4510 E. 10th St., just east of Sycamore Avenue and directly behind the U.S. Bank branch. The new location will be about three times the current size, expanding to 5,600 square feet.

Perhaps most importantly, the new location has a dock, which will allow the easier unloading of deliveries.

“Where we are, things aren’t ideal for the business I’m doing,” Johnson said. “I hired people and had to ask them to do ridiculous things like unload part of a pallet in the truck and carry things inside. We needed to move to sustain our current building model.”

Another sign of growth: Fair Market expanded its hours of operation several times. Now, it’s open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Depending on traffic, the new location could lead to another extension, with Johnson envisioning 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Fair Market employs five people, with one full time and the rest part time. That, too, could increase in the future, Johnson said.

“With more square footage, it would seem I would need more workers,” she said. “I’m going to play around a little bit and keep track of what makes the most sense. It also will be a little bit dependent on the workforce. I’m just one more place that’s hiring.”

Fair Market’s goals are simple: to offer food and other items for a fraction of the price while reducing food waste and keeping items out of the landfill. Fair Market sells shelf-stable foods that grocery stores have returned to warehouses. Reasons for the return can include lack of interest in a product, a change in labels, banged-up packaging, approaching expiration dates or products tied to holidays that have passed.

Candy, often an impulse buy, is one of Fair Market’s most popular items, while boxes of cereal also go quickly. Fair Market also offers products such as aluminum foil for half the price available in a big-box store like Walmart, Johnson said.

Since its opening, Johnson has taken steps to educate people on the expiration dates they see on food.

“Perishable food has an expiration date, infant formula has an expiration date, baby food has an expiration date; after that, the rest of it is marketing,” Johnson said. “There’s no hard science that helps anybody determine that date. Dates really are about comfort level for the company, saying this is what we want you to experience.”

Fair Market serves as a good resource not only for people at lower income levels but those who want to prevent waste and keep items out of the landfill.

“Everything I sell in my store was going to be wasted in some fashion,” Johnson said. “If you have a heart for saving the planet or you’re about preventing waste, come here, and you can save money in the meantime.”

A native of Lester, Iowa, Johnson has commandeered her large family in the Lyon County area to help with the move Saturday. She and her husband, Dr. Greg Johnson, moved to Sioux Falls from Illinois more than two years ago when he accepted a position at the Good Samaritan Society’s headquarters.

She had shopped at reduced-price grocery stores in the past and was surprised that the concept wasn’t available in Sioux Falls.

“I like shopping, and I complained a lot that we don’t have one,” Johnson said. Her husband urged her to open such a store herself so he wouldn’t have to listen to her complaints, she joked.