Framingham licensing approves grocery chain's plans for new Route 9 store
FRAMINGHAM — A 160-store grocery chain is one step closer to opening on Route 9 after the city's licensing board approved a pair of applications last night.
The Fresh Market, which operates stores in 22 states, is seeking to open a 25,000-square-foot store at 84 Worcester Road. The grocery chain applied, and received approved for, a common victualler license, allowing the store to prepare and sell food, and a liquor license in order to sell liquor, beer and wine.
While store officials have largely been mum, The Fresh Market has been in the works in Framingham since 2022, when it attempted to buy a liquor license for $360,000, according to meeting documents.
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The Fresh Market's application includes a sample menu for grab-and-go hot food, barbecue, pizza, pre-made salads and coffee. Plans are set for seating areas for customers to eat purchased food, along with full prep kitchens, a meat and seafood prep area, a bakery and a full deli area.
The two licenses were approved by the licensing board at its meeting on Monday. The approvals now allow for the liquor license currently belonging to Route 9 Wine and Spirits (680 Worcester Road) to be transferred to The Fresh Market. The grocery store, whcih plans to sell alcohol, is set to acquire the liquor license for $450,000.
Fresh Market to open at former Bed, Bath & Beyond location
In an email to the Daily News, Patrice Molnar, a spokesperson for The Fresh Market, was unable to provide an opening date or confirm a location; however, the company is hiring for department managers for the upcoming Worcester Road store.
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The Fresh Market operates one other store in Massachusetts, in Hingham. A majority of its stores are in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
The new Worcester Road grocery store will be at the site of a former Bed Bath & Beyond. That store closed at the end of 2020, and the New Jersey-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last April.
Framingham store aligns with supermarket chain's growth plans
Chile-based Cencosud acquired The Fresh Market in 2022. Cencosud owns several other grocery and department store brands in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Peru.
In a news release last year, Cencosud CEO Matías Videla announced plans to open 22 new Fresh Market stores in the next two years, citing Fresh Market's profitability.
The Fresh Market is an upscale store that focuses on prepared meals and local produce. It would join several other similar chains in Framingham such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, as well as the newly opened Mom's Organic Market in Natick.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: The Fresh Market approved for Framingham food selling, liquor license
