Luna’s Groceries, a popular food retailer in Madison’s Allied-Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood, now has a second location on the South Side of Madison. Today will be the first official day that Luna’s Market will be open at its new location in the former Yue‐Wah Oriental Foods grocery space at the Village on Park Mall, which is three times as big as its original store.
“The community support has been great as we get ready to open this new space on the South Side,” Luna’s Groceries owner Mariam Nuñez tells Madison365. “It’s exciting, but it’s very humbling to see that support because I’m not from here. But I’ve been here for 20 years, and the care that people show to me and my business is incredible. I’m very blessed.”
Nuñez is, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, says that her heritage will be reflected strongly in the new store.
“My sister (Jenny Nuñez) and I will be putting up some of our own personal touches and decorations from our culture, like the Dominican flag and some paintings,” Nuñez says. “So when you go there, you’re going to feel like it’s a grocery store that is not just like any grocery store.”
Nuñez says the new grocery store will not only have unique foods and beverages from Latin America, but also many of the necessities people need in their daily lives. The aisles of the store will be labeled after different municipalities of the Dominican Republic.
“Most of those places, people have heard from them before. So I can’t wait to see how they react to it,” Nuñez says.
The first Luna’s opened in 2019 in the Allied Drive area and has been a success, really becoming part of that community. The new Luna’s Market is three times larger in square footage, but Nuñez says she is up to the task of not only being a needed grocery store for the area but a community hub in the heart of Madison’s South Side.
“We have to think about the people who are coming to this store in our new location because the demographic is totally different now than one in Luna’s [in the Allied Drive Neighborhood],” Nuñez says. “Nearby, we have a lot of Latinos living in this area and many African Americans, too, but also some Asians. So we have to make sure that we have food and products that appeal to everybody in this area.”
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
In the heart of South Madison, the most diverse part of the city, the new store will be surrounded by community places like the Urban League of Greater Madison, Access Community Health Center, Centro Hispano of Dane County, the Black Business Hub, Omega School, Madison College’s Goodman South campus, Mt. Zion and Fountain of Life churches, and the brand-new Center for Black Excellence and Culture which will have its official grand opening in May.
Nuñez says she also understands the unique history of being in the space that was the former Yue-Wah Foods, which closed after serving Madison’s South Side for close to 40 years, and the significance the store had in the neighborhood and its loyal customer base on Madison’s South Side.
“I do remember shopping at Yue-Wah because they were the only store in Madison that used to sell some of the meats and vegetables that I wanted,” Nuñez says. “And finding a plantain in Wisconsin used to be close to impossible back in the day.”
At one point, Nuñez told Madison365 that her goal was to open 10 Luna’s grocery stores. But at the end of a long process to open this second one, she may be inclined to temporarily pause that ambition.
“It’s a lot of work…. lots of work,” she laughs. ”But I do think the model that I have created can be a problem solver for many communities in the United States. You don’t need a whole 25,000-square-foot store to bring the items that people need every day, and having a grocery store in the neighborhood can help with a healthy diet for so many people. So you can make it with a 2,000-3,000 square foot space like [original] Luna’s, or you can make it with a 7,000-square-foot space, like [the new] Luna’s Market. People need to have good food in their neighborhood. That’s the goal.”
Nuñez hopes that with the new place, the cost of buying food, supplies, and merchandise will be lower for her bottom line and she can pass that on to her customers. “Now with the two stores, I’m going to be able to buy more and get a better deal from my distributors,” Nunez says.
Nunez says she’s planning on hosting a little grand opening party on Feb. 27, which is the Dominican Republic Independence Day, and then an official ribbon cutting in the spring or summer when it is warmer outside.
“I hope people can go to Luna’s Market for more than food; I want them to find community there,” Nuñez says. “I want to be able to do some of the events there as we do at Luna’s, like the Luna’s Block Party.
“I want people to have that community connection. I want to be able to meet the needs of the community as far as food and things they need that they can’t get at other places. I want them to be comfortable there. I want it to feel like community.”
Luna’s Market is located at 2328 S. Park St. in South Madison.
