Vegan Grocery Store Breathes New Life into Arizona Town, Officials Say

The downtown district of Glendale, AZ is growing economically, which city officials credit to the rise of vegan businesses. Arizona’s first vegan grocery store, Veggie Rebelion, pioneered the city’s new vegan scene when it opened in the downtown area earlier this year, ushering in other vegan businesses such as newly opened Mexican eatery Mi Vegana Madre. “That’s what downtown needs to be successful, more customers and more traffic,” city councilman Jamie Aldama told local media outlet Arizona Central after revealing that residents are “flocking” to the new vegan businesses. Lori German, a city economic development businesswoman, supported Aldama’s sentiment. “Local merchants saw a true market they could tap into and that spurred interest and new offerings,” German said. “People bring people and that is our ultimate goal.” Award-winning vegan chef Jason Wyrick—owner of delivery company The Vegan Taste—plans to tap into the area’s vegan momentum to open local food truck Bonebreaker’s Vegan Smokehouse. “If all of us congregate in downtown Glendale,” Wyrick said, “we can create a vegan hot spot.”