LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kroger at 28th Street and Broadway in west Louisville reopened its doors at 8 a.m. Wednesday after dozens of people looted the store early Tuesday morning.
Crowds broke in the back door Tuesday and carried out armfuls and shopping karts full of merchandise out of the store. Many neighbors from the nearby community came out to help clean up the mess.
“I thought, 'What can I do?'” community organizer Alonzo Ramont said. “I can't scream. I can't yell. So I said, 'I can pick up trash.'”
The store stayed open until 4 p.m. Wednesday as it operates under limited hours. The pharmacy and fuel center will reopen at the end of the week. The store has not finalized operating hours for later in the week and will get back to normal hours as soon as possible.
Faith leaders organized a prayer service for change at 10 a.m. Wednesday. They said they will hold prayer in the Kroger parking lot at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. “until things change.”
Ramont and other faith leaders also helped set up a food pantry in the parking lot. He said he received so many donations that he couldn’t spend them all on cleaning supplies. So he bought food to give away to people in need.
Donors can bring food to the 28th Street and Broadway Kroger, including non-perishable food, water, diapers and milk.
“People have been donating items, coming down, just bringing items down, and it's morphed into a food pantry in three days, which was never the plan,” Ramont said.
The hours of the food pantry are between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Anyone in need can take a box of food for free.
“We need our community to see it's not just bad going on here,” Ramont said. “I don't want them to look at 28th and Broadway and just see the negative. I want them to see good things that are happening."
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