After the closure of its primary grocery store, many Swannanoa residents were left looking for other options.
The Swannanoa Ingles has been closed for nearly a year after Tropical Storm Helene devastated the region in September 2024.
After months of being closed, Ingles confirmed to Buncombe County and the Citizen Times in July a store will reopen in Swannanoa, though a timeline was not given.
In the meantime, a new independent grocery store is slated to open this fall in Swannanoa’s Beacon Village.
The grocery store, The Rite Buy Grocery, is owned by Diana Rhodes and Justin Rhodes.
Diana Rhodes said the new store will look to fill a gap left by not having a grocery store in Swannanoa.
“A grocery store is vital to any community,” Rhodes said. “Not everyone has a vehicle or can drive to go get groceries in a nearby town like Black Mountain or going up to Riceville, and so being able to have a local resource … that’s really important and that’s why putting our grocery store essentially in the center of Swannanoa in old downtown Beacon was really important.”
She said The Rite Buy Grocery came out of the need she saw after Helene.
“With our major chain grocery store closed, it just became really obvious to me that we need more options in the Valley,” Rhodes said.
She said while there are “really great nonprofit organizations” like Bounty & Soul, Valley Hope Foundation and Swannanoa Communities Together providing free food to the Swannanoa Valley community, Rhodes felt that there are also needed to be an option to buy food as well.
Rhodes said while she and her husband are opening the store for the community, it’s also, in part, for her, too.
“It’s kind of for myself, too,” Rhodes said. “I live in Swannanoa, and when you just need that one lemon for a recipe, it’s not a whole lot of fun to drive 20 minutes in either direction.”
The store, which will be located at 106 Alexander Place in Beacon Village in Swannanoa, will be less than 1,200 square feet, according to Rhodes. She said the focus will be on “fresh foods that are hard to get in the Valley right now.” This will include produce, meat, dairy and bulk food such as nuts, grains and baking flours. She said there will be some pantry staples and “hopefully” a small selection of beer and wine, but the initial focus will be on fresh food and produce.
Rhodes said that, even for a small store, opening has been “a massive undertaking.” In what was once a metal storage building, the Rhodes are outfitting it to have electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and to make it useable as a store.
Rhodes said they are also working to make relationships with farmers, producers and food vendors to stock the store.
The Rite Buy Grocery is anticipated to open this fall.
“My hope is that we can provide healthy and not just healthy, but provide food to the community for a variety of different diets,” Rhodes said. “And just continue to be a resource for farmers as well as the community.”
Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
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