Business & Tech

Photo Gallery: Fresh Market Comes To Town

Doors opened at Branch Road store Wednesday; festivities continue through Saturday

After months of construction, Fresh Market opened its doors to shoppers Wednesday.

The 23,300 square foot store will offer produce, seafood, meats, deli and pastry items, along with wine, beer, prepared and "takeaway" foods, flowers and special gourmet treats. It will offer 30 different baked breads daily, and 14 different varieties of pies.

Store officials said employees are trained in specific areas to answer questions and offer tastes of products, cutting up a peach or slicing some pastries if it makes customers feel better about their purchase.

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"This is about the experience," a store manager named Andy said.

The store features products from around the world – like cream from England and a wide array of Asian products – but is also establishing relationships with local growers, it said. During the weekend of August 26 and 27, the store will have a Summer Harvest event to sample produce, meats, cheeses, prepared foods and other products, an event it hopes to hold monthly.

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The company says it will bring about 90 jobs for the area. Apryl Yates, a Maryland resident and former writer/editor, took a job at the store because she dreams about being an assistant to a chef or Food Network Star, but doesn't have the food knowledge.

"They taught us about the different foods, the grains. It's a learning experience," she said.

Lillian McEnany said that she had heard about the store and wanted to see if it lived up to its reputation.

Some residents were upset about the store's arrival earlier this year, when its non-compete clause . After an outpouring of support for Norms, the store said it

Some shoppers Wednesday said they were interested to see how the market fares with the many other stores that already exist in town; others said it was nice to have another grocery option.

Rose Berger said she had first seen the store in Indianapolis, and was glad that it came to town. She said she would shop particularly for the store's meat collection.

"It's nice to have one in our neighborhood now," she said.

Samples were also a draw for Berger, who brought along five-year-old Deven for the opening. Deven eyed a sample table with fresh apple smoked bacon before employee Pat Gleason assured him he could take a second sample. 

"This is good bacon," Deven said.


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