Week of May 12, 2022
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An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 25
Grocery fills need for local shoppers
Immigrants attain U.S. citizenship 26 new citizens welcomed BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
the years. In their experience, customer service, cleanliness and a wide variety of products is what elevates one grocery store over another. Already thinking about expansion, the Warraichs would love to carry more dry goods as well as increase inventory in the butcher shop to include bison, elk and camel. But right now space is a limiting factor because the store maintains separate butchering areas for each type of meat it works with, Warraich said. Her daughter is allergic to chicken and so eliminating crosscontamination is a priority. With backgrounds in health care, food safety protocols are important to the store owners. But so are their interactions with the public. “Customer service is the key to
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, during a May 9 ceremony at Belleview Elementary School in Centennial, granted citizenship to 26 immigrants hailing from 20 countries. Residents currently live in a slew of communities in the Denver metro area and beyond including Aurora, Centennial, Commerce City, Elizabeth, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Parker and Sedalia. “It was probably the happiest moment of my life,” said Fadilayda Solakkaya, who immigrated from Turkey and now lives in Parker, and is excited to have a passport, vote in elections and help her community. Goran Vejvoda, originally from Yugoslavia, has lived in several countries and said being a U.S. citizen “is a privilege.” “How many places are there in the world where you can speak freely and vote freely and think freely,” Vejvoda said. New citizens, were joined by friends and family members as well as about 200 3rd, 4th and 5thgrade students. Also in attendance were county and regional leaders who shared their experiences of being an immigrant. “Welcome to the land of hope, the land of opportunity,” said Arapahoe County Assessor PK Kaiser, who was born in India
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Children sell cookies, lemonade and shaved ice as part of a fundraiser outside of Zari’s. The store often holds events for kids in the COURTESY OF ZARI’S GROCERY community on the weekends.
Zari’s carries halal products, other hard-to-find goods BY RACHEL LORENZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Zia and Shai Warraich want to bring the world to Colorado. In March, the new business owners opened Zari’s Grocery, a store specializing in international food and halal meat. Located two miles east of Interstate 25 on Arapahoe Road, the 1,500-square-foot establishment carries spices, snacks, meal kits and sweets from around the globe. The beef, chicken, lamb and goats butchered in the shop are halal, that is, prepared according to Islamic dietary laws. Zari’s Grocery offers oils, paneers, yogurts and fresh pro-
duce essential for Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern cuisines. “We want to bring that global home food taste here to the U.S.,” Shai Warraich told Colorado Community Media. A year and a half ago, the couple and their 7-year-old daughter Zari, for whom the store is named, relocated to Colorado for work. The idea to open a grocery store carrying international items came soon after when they struggled to find their favorite foods in the area. Warraich is a nurse practitioner and her husband is an information technology professional in the health care industry. The family has moved around the country for their careers, which has given them the opportunity to interact with different communities in multiple states — and the opportunity to shop at multiple international stores over
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
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