More than five months after Edmondson Village and the surrounding West Baltimore neighborhoods lost the only supermarket within walking distance, a new grocer announced it is coming to Edmondson Square Shopping Center.

The Giant Food store that operated on Edmondson Avenue for more than two decades closed June 13, citing concerns over “meeting performance expectations” and “financial benchmarks,” per a previous statement by Jonathan Arons, the regional chain’s community manager. The store’s subsequent relocation about three miles south left District 8 neighborhoods — already struggling with food access — in a food desert, based on criteria set by Baltimore City’s Department of Planning, which mapped the metro’s healthy food priority areas in 2018.

But District 8 Councilmember Kristerfer Burnett said that will change in February, when small, family-run grocery chain LA Mart takes over the vacant market.

“It’s very exciting,” Burnett said of the development, which came together within his last few weeks in office. “We think this is going to be of huge help to our seniors and those with limited access to transportation.”

Although he did not participate in the monthslong recruitment of LA Mart, Burnett said he has spoken to the operator of the store, who lives locally, and is optimistic about the grocer flourishing in Edmondson Square.

The Edmondson Village neighborhood has been the site of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project, along with an influx of new housing units, which Burnett believes helped make the Edmondson Avenue spot more desirable to the incoming market. With the recent arrival of the Jumbo Fresh supermarket in Southwest Baltimore, he’s noticed a rise in the number of grocers willing to invest in the area.

Previous studies have tied the existence of fewer full-service grocers in majority Black neighborhoods when compared to non-Black areas to a broader pattern of disinvestment and devaluation across the country.

The new Edmondson Square grocery is as an international market, according to its website, and will have offerings similar to an H Mart, Burnett said. LA Mart promises a wide selection of produce ranging from Asian to Latin American, including pipián, a Mexican fruit, and Shanghai bok choy, and an array of fresh meats and fish. The business, which launched in 2004, has five stores, including three in Maryland and two in Virginia. Deals on produce and other specialty items are available in multiple languages, including Korean, Hindi and Vietnamese.

The LA Mart operator did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Edmondson Village Association President Monique Washington, who fought to keep the previous Giant supermarket chain from leaving the area, said the arrival of LA Mart was a surprise. She expected not to have a grocer within a quarter of a mile for at least another year.

“I love this,” she said of the international market promising to open in February. In its stead, community members have passed out produce from carts and occasionally cars in the square to help people struggling to access food. She hopes this grocer is an upgrade.

“I’m putting them on post,” Washington said. “We want to hold them to the same standards that they’ve set at every other store they’ve opened.” To Washington, that means meeting with the operator to understand how the community can help it succeed and, in turn, allowing community members to come together to complain if they see a drop in quality or cleanliness at the store.

In previous years, she said, communication between the community and its grocer was fragmented. Residents didn’t complain when they saw an issue, and the operator did not get the support from leaders that it needed.

“This is a partnership,” she said. “We’re going to push for the access to healthy foods and a quality store that we deserve.”