Lucky’s Market to open June 17 in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - In less than one month, Boulder, Colo-based Lucky's Markey will open its first natural and organic grocery store in Iowa.

Officials with Lucky's Market announced in a Tuesday news release the new store, located at 1668 Sycamore Street in Iowa City Marketplace's former Von Maur space, would officially open June 17.

'We are proud to open our first Lucky's Market in Iowa and help make natural, organic and specialty foods more accessible and affordable to more people,” Lucky's Market co-founder Bo Sharon said in the release. 'Not only are we committed to providing top-quality food, we are also deeply committed to supporting our local communities through various giving programs and we look forward to being a positive part of the Iowa City community.”

The grand opening will include a bacon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. and a presentation of more than $20,000 in grants to support four local non-profit organizations.

Those grants will include donations to Table to Table, the Crisis Center of Johnson County, the Shelter House and Farm to Family, according to the release.

Other events planned for the store's opening include a health fair June 20, local food fair June 21 and Taste of Lucky's Market June 27. All events will include live music, entertainment and food samples.

Troy Bond, Iowa City native with 20 years of experience in natural foods, will be the new store's director.

'I'm happy to introduce Lucky's Market to Iowans who are seeking new, wholesome foods at great values,” Bond said in the release.

The roughly 37,000-square-foot store was first announced as the new anchor store in July 2014 and will employ about 150 people. The grocery will offer a variety of organic and gluten-free items, house-made deli items and meats, a bakery and juice bar, coffee bar and beer and wine selection.

Late last year the Iowa City Council approved a seven-year, $1.75 million tax increment finance rebate to the shopping center to help revitalize the area. A portion of those funds were used to prepare the mall for Lucky's Market, which drew criticism from the board of directors of New Pioneer Co-op.

That TIF is predicated on the shopping center ultimately bringing its taxable valuation up from its current $10.2 million to $16 million.