The Fresh Grocer is a supermarket chain based in

Drexel Hill Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, up from 28,043 at the 2010 census, and accounting for over a third of Upper Darby's population. G ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

that operates thirteen stores in the Greater

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

region of

. Founded in 1996 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, as an independent company, the company became a member of the

Wakefern Food Corporation Wakefern Food Corporation is an American company that was founded in 1946 and is based in Keasbey, New Jersey. It is the largest retailers' cooperative group of supermarkets and the fourth-largest cooperative of any kind in the United State ...

, a

retailers' cooperative A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. A ...

, in 2013.

History

The Fresh Grocer opened in 1996 in

. The Fresh Grocer has locations on Walnut Street and Broad Street in

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

. On August 1, 2013, The Fresh Grocer became a member of Wakefern. One of the stores was converted to the ShopRite name while the others retained the Fresh Grocer name. The Fresh Grocer Location in Wilmington, DE was closed on December 9, 2019.

Expansion

Wakefern members Patrick Burns and Jeff Brown will open four new Fresh Grocer stores in March 2016, all in former

Pathmark Pathmark is a supermarket brand owned by Allegiance Retail Services, a retailers’ cooperative based in Iselin, New Jersey, USA. Pathmark currently has one location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, which it has operated since 2019. From ...

stores that were purchased at auction. The stores will be opened in Wyncote,

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the List of United States cities b ...

, Brookhaven, and Monument Avenue in Philadelphia. Since 2001, the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

made efforts to remove The Fresh Grocer from its Walnut Street location. In 2017, The Fresh Grocer was asked to vacate the property after failing to renew its lease. The grocery store sued University of Pennsylvania maintaining its intention to stay at the location. In 2018, Governor of Pennsylvania,

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...

spoke at The Fresh Grocer regarding boost pay in Pennsylvania allowing "hundreds of thousands of additional salaried employees eligible for overtime pay". In 2019, Nicholas Markets, which previously operated as part of the

Foodtown Foodtown was a New Zealand supermarket chain owned by Progressive Enterprises. As with Woolworths, the Foodtown brand was phased out in the late 2000s, with all stores rebranded as Countdown by the end of 2011. Foodtown supermarkets were t ...

chain, joined the Wakefern cooperative, switching their stores to the Fresh Grocer banner, bringing the total stores under the banner to 13. In 2022, Gerrity's Supermarkets announced that they would be transitioning their 10 stores from the ShurSave banner to The Fresh Grocer banner, bringing the total stores under the banner to 23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Grocer Wakefern Food Corporation American companies established in 1996 Retail companies established in 1996 Companies based in Middlesex County, New Jersey Food and drink companies based in Philadelphia Retailers' cooperatives in the United States Supermarkets of the United States