The Fresh Market is an American chain of
supermarkets
A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...
based in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
History
The Fresh Market was founded by Ray and Beverly Berry on March 5, 1982, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Berrys' idea was to develop a better
grocery store that brought back the feeling of open European-style markets.
Their first store in the West opened in October 2012 in
Roseville, California. However, in March 2014, the company announced that it was closing all three of its
Sacramento area stores including its Roseville store.
In 2012, Fresh Market acquired and remodeled four locations of longtime family-owned Houston grocer
Rice Epicurean Markets
Rice Epicurean Markets was an American niche grocery store chain based in Southwest Houston, Houston, Texas. There is now just one supermarket left of the chain. Prior to 2012 the company operated five Rice Epicurean Markets, which ranged in size ...
.
These locations were subsequently closed in May 2016 when Fresh Market shuttered its 13 locations in Texas, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.
After increasing the price of its
initial public offering from $18–20 to $22, Fresh Market raised $290 million, and on November 5, 2010, began trading on
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
using the symbol TFM.
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
, LLC (APO) acquired the stock of The Fresh Market, Inc. (TFM) ("The Fresh Market") on April 27, 2016. The Fresh Market then became a
privately held company and its stock was delisted on
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
.
In March 2022, Fresh Market filed an updated prospectus for its initial public offering, signaling the companies intent to return to a public company.
In May 2022 the Chilean retail company
Cencosud acquired 67 % stake in Fresh Market.
Trademark disputes
The Fresh Market has been in numerous trademark disputes relating to its commonplace name. In 2005, the company lost a trademark dispute with "Marsh Supermarkets" relating to the 'Fresh Market' trademark. The U.S. federal court in South Bend, Indiana stated “The Fresh Market trademark is descriptive and therefore weak and not entitled to broad sweeping protection." The Fresh Market was also in trademark disputes with “Fresh Market at Roth's" and in 2010 with a Utah-based company named "A Fresh Market". In the latter case, it was argued that the term "Fresh Market" was too generic to be trademarked.
In 2017 the company's name “The Fresh Market” was trademarked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Market
Companies based in Greensboro, North Carolina
Supermarkets of the United States
Retail companies established in 1982
2010 initial public offerings
Health food stores
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
1982 establishments in North Carolina
2016 mergers and acquisitions
Apollo Global Management companies