South Dallas community members can now pick up grocery deliveries — without the fees — at the Bonton Wellness Center.
It’s the third location for Grocery Connect, a program started by Bonton Farms partnering with Kroger. The program axes delivery fees for grocery pickup, and concierges walk community members through online ordering and clipping coupons before they pick up groceries.
Pickups for the wellness center will happen on Tuesdays from 3 to 6 p.m., and orders may be placed as late as noon that day. The effort aims to address food insecurity and access issues in the area, with two other pickup locations at the Dallas Bethlehem Center and the Innercity Community Development Corporation.
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The opening celebration for the Bonton Wellness Center location took place as visitors picked up orders or signed up for delivery Tuesday.
Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua said the expansion marked a win for the area, which he represents. Bazaldua said while it may seem like an incremental change, the effort could address food deserts with a “true solution that doesn’t require a traditional grocery store model.”
“It’s also providing family stability,” Bazaldua said. “It’s providing education excellence. It’s providing equal opportunity for those who live in the southern part of our city.”
The groceries come from Kroger’s fulfillment center in southern Dallas. The facility opened in 2022; however, there is not a Kroger store in the area.
South Dallas, like other areas in southern Dallas, has faced ongoing challenges with food access. The area sees few grocery stores. A Fiesta on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is roughly 3 miles away from the wellness center at 6407 Carlton Garrett St., making for an eight-minute drive or more than a 20-minute bus trip.
“We really want to strive to have food live its biggest purpose, which is really to nourish us as human beings,” said Brandon McBurney, a Kroger Delivery digital business lead. “If we’re nourished, then we can thrive, right? And everybody needs to thrive.”
Mark Jones, the president and CEO at nonprofit Bonton Farms, said the program was for the entire community, including people moving to Bonton, with more than 100 new homes permitted in the area.
“This program is for everybody,” Jones said. “You can have a car, not have a car, don’t want to use your car, don’t drive your car. It doesn’t matter … Bonton is changing.”
Kristen Sloan, a program manager with Grocery Connect, has been a part of the effort since its start. With three younger kids, she said she uses the pickups to avoid wrangling them at the store and answering their calls of “I want this.”
“I will order my groceries any day to not have to take my kids to the store,” Sloan said. “That’s pure convenience right there … I can shop in peace.”
The program’s website at groceryconnect.org and Instagram shows how those interested can participate.
Free Kroger delivery in South Dallas expands to Bonton Wellness Center
