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EASTCHESTER, N.Y. There's a new place in town where you can find everything from soup to nuts literally. The Fresh Market opened for business last week, ending months of speculation of what would move into the spot formerly held by Old Navy on the Eastchester/Scarsdale border.
The Fresh Market is a 21,700 square foot mecca packed with fresh produce, in-store ground beef, turkey and chicken and a fresh sushi department, just to name a few.
Store Manager Charlie Gattuso said the store is a European concept, where none of the meat or fish is prepackaged but cut to order.
"In these tough economic times, we find that more people will try to prepare good quality food at home rather than go out to eat," Gattuso said. "And good quality food is what you will find here."
The Fresh Market was created by Ray and Beverly Barry in 1982 and has grown to 111 stores. The company went public a year ago.
The store is the 112th store in the chain that is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. There is only one other Fresh Market in all of New York State, located just outside of Albany.
Gattuso said that The Fresh Market has 400 different varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, with about half of them organically grown. He said he is not worried about nearby competitors in Eastchester, such as The Food Emporium, Mrs. Greens or Trader Joe's.
"Our market surveys found this area underserved by the niche The Fresh Market fills: a high-end, European style market with local, regional, exotic foods and food you cannot find in other stores," Gattuso said. "And we want our customers to sample our food, so we serve up samples all day long."
Gattuso said that providing excellent customer service is also a feature of The Fresh Market.
"We know people are busy, so we have a wide variety of heat-and-serve dinners, fresh and nutritious with cooking directions, so all you have to do is heat and eat," Gattuso said. "We will even carry the bags out to the car for you."
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