The Fresh Market re-opens four area stores at 10 a.m. today with an updated look, more grocery and household items, a revamped store layout, more fresh produce and a dedicated sampling station.
Customers will find such everyday items as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Duncan Hines cake mixes and Lysol All Purpose Cleaner.
Red “new item” tags identify the added products on the shelves, which share space with Fresh Market’s specialty brands.
While the look takes on a more colorful tone and the Old World vibe is lightened, the classical music stays, according to Store Manager Don Armstrong at the 13493 Atlantic Blvd. supermarket in Harbour Village near Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club.
The Greensboro, North Carolina-based company said it is updating its stores in response to consumers who asked for more shopping-list products as well as “Little Big Meals” and “Meals in Minutes.”
Those are designed as grab-and-go ready-to-cook meals and are positioned at the front of the store at the sampling station.
Armstrong said the station would offer samples of those meals several times a week.
He said the number of aisle shelves at his store has doubled, providing space to add health and wellness products and for baby foods and other new and expanded lines.
“It’s the most significant and impactful investment made to date in the stores,” Armstrong said.
Shelving space became available because the store converted almost all of its bulk items from bins into feeders, which are dispensers that allow customers to portion-control their purchases by a lever rather than a scoop.
Some candy jars remain.
There will be improved signage to guide customers to departments and to identify dietary and special products.
The store offers 400 produce items, more than 200 varieties of imported and domestic cheeses, 30 freshly baked breads and full-service meat and seafood departments.
The Fresh Market started in 1982 and operates more than 170 locations.
The stores closed early Tuesday night in preparation for today’s 10 a.m. grand re-opening, the start of four days of entertainment, cooking demonstrations, food sampling and gifts.
After this morning’s opening, Fresh Market operates daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The refreshed stores are in Jacksonville at Harbour Village, 12795 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin and 150 Riverside Ave. in Brooklyn Station on Riverside. The Ponte Vedra Beach location is 840 Florida A1A N.
The Fleming Island store in Clay County opened in June and wasn’t part of the refresh.
In October, Supermarket News reported The Fresh Market announced a new logo and expanded product offerings as its first major initiative after Apollo Global Management bought the supermarket group in March 2016.
Fresh Market told Supermarket News it would keep the “special” elements that defined it as a gourmet specialty chain.
The company said it will not be sharing the financials of the initiative. The city issued permits for each Jacksonville store to do a $75,000 shelving reconfiguration and lighting project.
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