PHOTO GALLERY: The Fresh Market Unveils Latest Store in Suburban Chicago
The Fresh Market welcomed shoppers to its seventh store in the Chicago area on Feb. 26. Located in Northbrook, Ill., in a shopping center just two doors down from a Trader Joe’s, the store attracted a large opening day crowd eager to check out the array of fresh, ready-to-eat, specialty and everyday essential items.
Progressive Grocer visited the store for the grand opening event and overheard one shopper tell an associate, “I’ve never seen anything like this!” Other customers walked in and smiled and slowed their pace as they heard two young violinists play a Mozart song in the produce section. Associates at the door handed out long-stemmed roses to guests, also earning enthusiastic responses.
“It’s been very good. We’ve had a lot of people call us over the past week, excited about the opening,” store manager Kaley Joiner told Progressive Grocer. “We got a lot of comments like, ‘Now I don’t have to drive to the location in Lake Forest or Wilmette.’”
The Fresh Market in Northbrook is designed around fresh assortments, to be sure. After browsing through floral and produce areas, customers come across an expansive prepared foods and foodservice-at-retail space with a plethora of offerings. “We have a back-of-the-house kitchen, that includes a smoker,” Joyner said, pointing to a counter with smoked brisket and pulled pork. “We also have a coffee bar.”
The Northbrook outpost is The Fresh Market’s 168th location, but won’t be the newest one in Chicagoland for long. The specialty grocer is preparing another site in north suburban Algonquin that will open in a few weeks. The additions follow two other recent Chicagoland openings in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood and in west suburban Naperville.
Carol Bartolo, VP of BRR Architecture and recently featured on Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery podcast, worked on the design of this store. BRR was the project’s architect of record.
Greensboro, N.C.-based The Fresh Market operates 168 stores in 22 states. The grocer is No. 71 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. The Fresh Market was one of the recipients of PG’s inaugural Innovation Awards in the Mid-Tier (50-299 stores) category. The award was presented at the publication’s 2024 GroceryTech event in Dallas.
