Fair Market Grocery Initiative

Location: 2511 S. Minnesota Ave. in Sioux Falls

Fair Market is an initiative of Empower Sioux Falls seeking to meet the needs of individuals and families in Sioux Falls. Fair Market offers long-life grocery items at a discounted price. Many of these items have been returned to grocery warehouses due to damaged packaging, low sales volume, rebranding, or nearing expiration dates. Fair Market, which is open to the public, offers the following items:

DISCOUNTED ITEMS:
Discounted items include grocery and non-grocery items that are near-dated, post-dated, discontinued, label changes, overstocked, or excess inventory. Most discounted items are generally priced at approximately 50 percent of other stores. All discounted items are inspected for damage that would make the product unsafe.

Are foods safe if they are past the date on their package? The dates are not safety dates, except when used on infant formula. The dates tell a store how long to display a product for the best flavor or quality.  Visit USDA.gov to learn more about what the dates mean and which ones you must watch for regarding food safety.

ESSENTIAL ITEMS:
Essential items are basic foods that are common components of meals, including milk, eggs, noodles, rice, flour, soups, canned fruit, peanut butter, tortilla shells, etc. These items are not discounted in price. Instead, we sell them at cost, as we do not seek to profit from these items. At different times of the year, Fair Market offers locally grown produce, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, lettuce, corn, etc.

HISTORY OF FAIR MARKET
Kristin and Greg Johnson opened Fair Market, LLC. in March 2021 at a location on South Carolyn Ave. In January 2022, Fair Market moved into a larger location near the intersection of E. 10th Street and Sycamore Ave.

Empower Sioux Falls acquired Fair Market, LLC. in July 2022. Empower Sioux Falls kept the Fair Market name for its new grocery initiative and hired Kristin Johnson to stay onboard as the executive director.

In December 2022, a second location was opened on N. Kiwanis Ave. Fair Market operated in two locations for two years, until the stores merged at the current Minnesota Ave. location in December 2024.