Luna’s Groceries, a popular local grocery store in the Allied‐Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood, will be celebrating its annual Luna’s Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 24, 1-9 p.m. Luna’s Groceries has been providing healthy and diverse food options while becoming a community resource hub for its neighborhood residents since it opened in 2019.
Luna’s owner Mariam Nunez is excited to celebrate and give back to the community that has supported the grocery store for the past five years.
“This is my way to say, ‘thank you’ to the Allied neighborhood for all the support that they give Luna’s every year,” Nunez tells Madison365.
The 2024 Luna’s Block Party will have delicious food, music and dancing, games, prizes, children’s activities, raffle prizes, giveaways, and more..
“We’re going to have some of the local, popular Latino bands at the party. We’re going to have La Combi. We’re gonna have Xplosion from Milwaukee. We’re gonna have a few DJs, and a mariachi band,” Nunez says. “In addition to that, we’re going to have food trucks, and the mayor of Madison and the mayor of Fitchburg will come and speak at the event.”
Luna’s Groceries has been such a successful endeavor on Madison’s Southwest Side that they are getting ready to open a second location in South Madison at the former Yue‐Wah grocery space at the Village on Park Mall. Nunez hopes to bring that same high‐quality food products and community service to South Madison.
“We are in the process of designing the store on Park Street. The city has not officially given us the building yet, but we are in the middle of the design process,” Nunez says. “So we are hoping that in January of 2025 that we will be open there.
“It’s a great location. We love it there,” she continues. “I’m so excited about being in that location. We’re going to have a commercial kitchen inside of the store and we will be preparing hot meals.”
The Community Development Authority (CDA) of the City of Madison has been working closely with the City’s Economic Development Division (EDD) to execute a lease with Luna’s Groceries to open a store.
“For me, these stores have a lot of significance, because when I started Luna’s, I asked my sister to come and work with me, and she left her 11-year job at a company to come and work with me, and now with a new store, she will be a co-owner,” Nunez says.
“She chose to help me with my dream and now I’ll be able to help her fulfill hers, too.”
Saturday’s Luna’s Block Party will also be a great chance to meet many of Luna’s Groceries current employees and supporters.
“We are going to have a lot of children’s activities. We’re going to have a bouncy house. Every year we have a Madison Reading project and they have their books,” Nunez says. “We always still need volunteers, and they can reach out to me. We always need people to help set up and to help clean up afterward.”
To volunteer, e-mail [email protected] or call (608) 698-6107.
Nunez adds that one of the things she really loves about Luna’s Block Party is the music.
“The live music is just so great. You can come and dance bachata, salsa, merengue, and it’s good quality music. It’s just such a great neighborhood feel,” Nunez says. “It’s like a reunion every year, because I get to see people that I don’t see otherwise, and they come and hang out at the block party. It’s a fun time. I love it.”
