After months of talks to open a second location, The Common Market has purchased the old Safeway in Frederick and plans to open there next year.
The organic and natural foods grocer bought the building for $3.5 million and plans to house the store, offices and a warehouse in the 49,000-square-foot space, according to Bob Thompson, general manager of The Common Market.
The new store, at 927 W. Seventh St., will carry many of the same products as the Buckeystown Pike location, but there are plans to expand its amenities, including a cafe and a pet center with local and organic pet foods and other products.
“We’ll carry everything we do at the current location, plus more variety,” Thompson said. “We’re going to replicate what we do really well, in our new store, and then fold in the new things that we want to do in the weeks and months after the store is opened.”
Those new additions include a specialized organic bakery, pizza kitchen, burrito station, catering and a Click and Collect station — where customers can shop online and then pick up their groceries at the store.
The store is expected to open in late January 2020, Thompson said, and will create about 110 jobs. It’s currently in the permitting process with renovations slated to begin by late spring.
“We’re not going to be using the entire footprint,” he said. “A third of the location will be for offices and to build a warehouse. When we get done, the retail side will be about 27,000 square feet.”
Safeway bought the property from Hood College in 1985 for $1.2 million, according to state property records. As of 2017, the property’s value had increased to $5.8 million, according to state property records.
Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor believes the grocery store is a steppingstone for new retail businesses and job opportunities to come into the city.
“The Common Market’s news is good for the city in more comprehensive ways than just economic development, because this particular venture aligns with our sustainability plan, land use best practices and smart growth,” he said in a statement. “Plus it is economic development, as a business expansion, and job creation.”
Richard Griffin, director of economic development for the city of Frederick, said the store’s location will cater to walkers, bicyclists and bus routes.
“I think this second location will be great for The Common Market,” he said. “It’s reusing an old space in the city and it’s close to downtown.”
There’s also a niche The Common Market fills for customers downtown that sustain an organic food diet, he said, adding that the store is near Frederick Memorial Hospital and people who live and work downtown.
“There are a lot of grocery options in Frederick,” he said. “However, geographically having a grocery store downtown makes it far more likely that people will shorten their trip to get whole foods and groceries. The convenience of having a grocery store close to downtown is huge.”
For nearby residents, the store is filling a void that was left after Safeway closed in May. Gail Bradley, a coordinator for the Neighborhood Advisory Council for Area 7 — the location to which The Common Market is expanding — said Safeway had a lot of walk-in traffic.
“It was a community store,” she said. “It was a perfect pop-in store to pick something up. A lot of moms shopped there right before they picked up their kids from school to head home.”
Bradley said having a grocery store in that area “is very important” and will be welcomed by nearby residents.
“It’s surrounded by apartment buildings and a lot of the residents are seniors, there are many with handicaps who are physically challenged,” she said. “The need for a full grocery store has been felt since the Safeway moved out. It’ll be nice to have a store back in there.”