By Jill Draper
The long-awaited new grocery store at Red Bridge Shopping Center will open its doors and welcome shoppers soon.
Farm Fresh Market, the store’s official name, announced on November 4 that they are preparing for a grand opening on December 11, 2024. They are now hiring for all positions.
“We’re not 100 percent sure, but that’s what we’re aiming for,” said Moe Muslet, operating partner for the store, located at Holmes and Red Bridge roads. He said hiring will begin soon for positions in every department and at every level, about 80 people in total.
The main focus will be fresh produce, meat and seafood “at amazing prices,” Muslet said, adding, “We’re super-excited to be in the Red Bridge area.” The store will include a full kitchen with a bakery, hot deli, pizza shop, salad bar and a Frutopia juice and smoothie bar.
It will be stocked with regular items plus a bit of Hispanic and Asian offerings. The bakery, for example, will sell decorated birthday cakes but also flan and tres leches cake. The meat counter will have an onsite butcher.
According to Brandon Buckley, a partner with Lane4 Property Group which owns the shopping center, the interior of the store will have a bright, airy look he describes as contemporary industrial. At 35,000 square feet, the footprint remains the same as when the former Sun Fresh market operated there, but a dropped ceiling now has been removed, LED lighting has been installed and the concrete floor has been grinded and polished.
The facade also has been updated with new paint and by raising the front entry with vertical beams and an overhang to give it a clean look and make it more visible from Holmes Road, Buckley said. “Together with the tenant, we’ve touched every inch of this space, including the parking lot. It’s really important for us to have this feel like a brand new grocery store.”
The store planned to open sooner, but an unexpected need to replace old water lines caused a four-month delay, said Buckley, who noted in the next week or two the front parking lot will be graded and paved with asphalt. Concrete curbs will be poured and islands will be landscaped.
“A lot of this work out front is going to come together very quickly,” he said, adding that Lane4 will coordinate a grand opening event with the store operators after products are set up and final permits are in place.
Farm Fresh Market is part of a family business that runs more than a half-dozen grocery stores in the Kansas City area, including Mercado Fresco on Longview Road and World Fresh Market at Metcalf and 103rd Street.
Note: This story has been updated from its October 24 publication date. The previous version indicated the business would open on Nov. 13 or Nov. 20.