Dozens of residents joined elected officials to celebrate as the Patel family — longtime owners of Downtown Discount Drugs — cut the ribbon Sept. 17 on City Center Market, downtown Rockford's very own grocery store.

Owned and operated by pharmacists Rajesh Patel and his son, Ashay Patel, the family-owned grocery store has been a dream for years. There was a Rockford Register Star newspaper clipping on display in which Rajesh Patel was talking in 1995 about his hopes of opening a grocery at the location.

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