HEALTHY CORNER STORE INITIATIVE
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Shakey Jakes is one of the neighborhood businesses participating in Wichita’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative, a city-funded program administered by Wichita State University that helps neighborhood markets expand access to fresh produce and other healthy foods in areas with few nearby grocery stores. For Shakey Jakes, however, serving as a neighborhood grocery store didn’t begin with the initiative — it has been part of the store’s mission for more than a decade.
Long before Wichita launched its Healthy Corner Store Initiative, Shakey Jakes was already working to bring fresh food to northeast Wichita.
Owned by Dr. Sandra Watie and her husband, Jake Watie, the store has become a grocery stop, community gathering place and neighborhood resource for residents on Wichita’s northeast side.
“We’ve been here since 2014,” Watie said. “This is our village, and we have to protect the village.”
Located at 17th Street and Poplar, the store fills an important gap for residents who have limited access to full-service grocery stores. Customers can purchase fresh and frozen vegetables, meats and grocery staples without traveling across town.
“There’s really no grocery stores within eight miles,” Watie said. “People either have to spend their money on an Uber or Lyft, catch a bus, or they can walk here and get their meats, vegetables and grocery items.”
“We’ve been here since 2014. This is our village, and we have to protect the village.”
Sandra Watie
One thing that sets Shakey Jakes apart is its selection of meats. Residents can stop in for frozen chicken for Sunday dinner, a pound of hamburger for a favorite recipe, dinner patties and other staples that make it possible to prepare a meal close to home.
Many of the store’s customers are seniors, families without reliable transportation and residents managing health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
The Healthy Corner Store Initiative has helped introduce new customers to the store through produce incentives and promotions.
“The $5 coupons generated a lot more customers that didn’t know we were here,” Watie said.
Still, Watie believes neighborhood stores need continued support, including improved refrigeration, signage and other infrastructure investments that make it easier to offer fresh foods.
Each year, the Waties host community cookouts and outreach events as a way of giving back to the neighborhood they serve.
For them, the store is more than a business.
“The Lord put us on this corner for a reason,” Watie said.
As Wichita works to improve food access, Shakey Jakes remains an example of a neighborhood store that was doing the work long before the initiative arrived.
