WOODLAWN — Fresh juice is coming to commuters at the Green Line Cottage Grove stop.
Donald Grayson will open Liquids 1, a juice bar on the northbound platform in mid-July offering five rotating varieties of juice and vegan snacks.
“I really wanted to make something so people could get their nutrients and vitamins,” Grayson said. “It’s really hard to find cold-pressed juice on the South Side.”
Grayson said he would rotate the juices depending on what organic fruits and vegetables were available fresh and locally either at the neighborhood’s farmers market or from nearby farms.
He said a mix of lemon, apple and cucumber juice would be right for the summer.
“It’s kind of tart but not too much, it’s really right there and a really refreshing drink,” Grayson said.
Juicing may sound like an unlikely fit for Woodlawn, but this will be Grayson’s second juicing business on the South Side.
As a student in the now-defunct School of Entrepreneurship at South Shore High School, Grayson ran a juice and smoothie stand to make extra money. Since graduating four years ago, he has filled the intervening time with courses on business and entrepreneurship at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas.
Now graduated, Grayson has returned to Woodlawn and is returning to the business that was so successful in high school.
“Juicing has become really big for me and I’ve always been told to find your passion and you’ll never feel like you worked a day in your life,” Grayson said.
The Martin Luther King Drive station on the Green Line is also getting a new business.
Woodlawn residents Chris Montgomery and Cedric Harris will open Chris & Cedric Newsstand at the King Drive stop.
“We’re pleased to partner with local businesses that can provide our customers with a more convenient and pleasant commute,” CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. said. “In addition to increasing CTA revenue, these local businesses will provide added amenities to Green Line customers and benefit the local community.”
Juice 1 fills a concession stand that has been vacant since 2013 and Chris & Cedric Newsstand will fill a space vacant since 1994.
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