From his earliest days as CEO of the Erie Downtown Development Corp., bringing a grocery store to downtown Erie has been at the top of John Persinger’s to-do list. 

At noon Tuesday, the EDDC's plan to eliminate the food desert in a downtown Erie neighborhood became a reality as the Flagship City Public Market opened its doors. 

Related coverage:Vivian McCullum lived in an Erie food desert. Now she hopes to be part of the solution

The new market, located at 34 North Park Row, a few doors to the west of the new Flagship City Food Hall, is a combination of three vendors, including the Erie Food Co-Op, Gordon’s Butcher & Market, and Luminary Distilling. 

Staff from the Co-op and Gordon’s were scrambling Tuesday morning to prepare for a ribbon-cutting and public opening at noon. 

There was still work to be done. 

Related coverage:Erie Food Co-op, butcher, distillery to open in Flagship City Public Market by mid-March

Related coverage:After 3 years and millions of dollars, here are the vendors in Erie's food hall

At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, deliveries were still arriving. Employees were filling display cases and one by one price tags were being added to mountains of fresh produce on display. 

There was no shortage of fresh produce on display, including mountains of tomatoes, onions, ginger root, garlic bulbs and bags of cotton candy grapes. Produce prices appeared at first glance to be roughly in line with typical grocery store prices. Pineapples sold for $3.49, yellow onions for $1.49 a pound

It was the same story on the other shelves and coolers, where special buys were offset by some higher prices. One obvious example on the high end was a small jar of spaghetti sauce on sale for $9.99.

More:The new North Park Row?

Prices and inventory will both be a work in progress as customers provide the feedback needed to stock the right items at the right prices, said LeAnna Nieratko, general manager of the Erie Food Co-op on Erie's west side.

When it comes to prices, "There is room for improvement," she said. "Just like any store, we have a variety and we do have an everyday basic brand."

The mission of the Erie Food Co-op, originally formed to sell organic food, is now to provide fresh food at affordable prices, she said.

Vivian McCullum, the general manager for the new store, was happy with what she saw as she showed a visitor around the store, moving from the produce section to the bulk coffee beans display to a machine that lets customers grind their own peanut butter.

"This is better than anything I had envisioned," she said. "It exceeds every expectation."

In Gordon’s section of the market — identified by a MeatErie sign — steaks, roasts and boneless chicken breasts were added Tuesday morning to a cooler already lined with a selection of handmade sausages. Flavors included Polish, Italian, country and ghost pepper. 

“It’s really good, but it’s hot,” said Gordon’s manager Matt Zacour, of the ghost pepper variety. “It will make you sweat a little bit.” 

Zacour said he's hopeful that customers with a wide range of budgets and tastes will find something to like inside Gordon's section of the market, which he said offers both affordable cuts of meat as well as more expensive lamb chops and aged beef.

“I’m extremely excited,” he said. “We want to offer diversity. We want to offer variety.” 

Zacour, whose portion of the market also sells Boar’s Head deli meats and a wide range of Smith’s hot dogs and other products, said 19 people have been hired to man the market’s meat section identified with a sign that reads: “34 North Pork Row.” 

The new market represents the latest in a series of big splashes for the Erie Downtown Development Corp., which was formed in 2017 by Erie Insurance, nonprofits, businesses and other investors with the goal of transforming Erie's downtown core.

Persinger said Tuesday that he remembers being asked several years what the EDDC's vision of success would look like.

A grocery store would embody that success, he said.

The market, Persinger said, "proved we could get a building, renovate a building and attract tenants," he said. "Most importantly, it proves that we could solve an issue that has plagued downtown for decades. The market truly is a community effort. It's a day the whole community should be proud of." 

Contact Jim Martin at 814-881-5229 or jmartin@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNMartin.