Fresh Market Looks to Open Store in Avon

A vacant former Party City building in Nod Brook Plaza may become an organic grocery store.

The Fresh Market, a national grocery chain similar to Whole Foods, has submitted proposed site plans to the Avon Planning and Zoning Commission, according to Steven Kushner, director of planning and community development and zoning enforcement officer.

"They want to knock that building down," Kushner said of Fresh Market's proposal to construct a larger building from scratch. Referencing the conceptual drawing for a new Fresh Market, he added, "It's a nice, upscale looking building."

Fresh Market, which Ray and Beverly Berry founded in Greensboro, NC, in 1982, sells fresh food, from ground meat to baked goods. The stores are designed to emulate a European marketplace atmosphere, according to Fresh Market's Web site, including departments such as an "old-style butcher shop and fish market," a bakery and produce stands, as well as floral, beer and wine and dairy sections.

BRAVE Public Relations, which represents Fresh Market, told Patch on Dec. 3 that the company was not ready to release any information on a possible Avon store, but said the company may issue a press release within the next week.

Kushner said that the commission was impressed with the proposed architectural design for the project, but members are concerned about traffic flow.

"They really like the use and thought it fit the zone really well. They also like the architecture and see [Fresh Market] as a real asset to the community," Kushner said. "The question has to do with traffic circulation."

The conceptual drawing of Fresh Market also indicates an expansion of the parking lot and redesign of the entrance to the plaza.

"A grocery store will generate a high volume of traffic," Kushner said.

When drivers pull into Nod Brook Plaza, traffic generally follows the road to Marshall's and continues alongside the storefront. There is a less-known path into the parking lot that drivers can take, which is a sharp left on a narrow road, crossing oncoming traffic.

The new design would create more lanes and direct any traffic into Nod Brook Plaza either left into the main parking lot or right into an entrance for Fresh Market.  The redesign would also include a direct entrance to to the grocery store.

Kevin Cornell, owner of Nod Brook Plaza, hired two engineers to review the proposed site plans and a third engineer will evaluate the design, as well.

An Avon Fresh Market would not be the first site for the company in Connecticut. Its Westport  location was established in Oct. 2009. Fresh Market opened its 100th store in St. Petersburg, FL, on Oct. 14, 2010, and also has locations in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts. Maryland, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Kushner said that Planning and Zoning will revisit the conceptual architectural drawings on Dec. 14 and that it is possible the commission members will vote on the site plans.

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