Royal Blue Grocery announced plans to open a new location on San Antonio’s Eastside this year. Royal Blue Grocery is a small, independent grocer with an urban twist operating in Austin and San Antonio. Often referred to as a bodega or corner store grocery, it specializes in grab-and-go snacks, an espresso bar, salads, sandwiches, pizza, groceries, beer, and wine. The new 3,500-square-foot location at Dignowity Hill will be the second Royal Blue Grocery in San Antonio. The first store opened in Austin in 2006 and there are now six locations in Downtown Austin. Each store caters to the community it serves with customized product assortments. “Royal Blue provides quality goods, excellent service, and a communal space where all are welcome,” said Co-Owner Chris Provost. “San Antonio’s east side was a great fit because the neighborhood doesn’t have a convenient grocery shop. In the back of the building will be a commissary kitchen where we will make salads, sandwiches, side dishes, and tacos.”
The new Royal Blue Grocery is planned for the heart of San Antonio’s Eastside Promise Zone. Promise Zones are high poverty communities where the federal government will partner with and invest in high-poverty urban, rural, and tribal communities to create jobs, increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, and reduce violent crime. In 2014, President Barack Obama designated San Antonio’s Eastside as one of the first five nationally recognized Promise Zones.
