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 Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, an increase over 28,043 in 2010, and accounting for over one-third of Upp ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

that operates twenty-four stores in the greater

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and the greater

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

areas of

, as well as one store in the greater

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

area, and northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Founded in 1996 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 States. ...

, a

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

, in 2013.

History

The Fresh Grocer opened in 1996 in

. The Fresh Grocer has locations on Chestnut 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, Philadelphia, Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as ...

. 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, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

closed on December 9, 2019.

Expansion

The chain opened 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 are in Wyncote,

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township had a total population of 85,681, making it the state's sixth-most populated mun ...

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

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2023. He previously served as chairman and CEO of his business, The Wolf Organization, and l ...

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 (now Woolworths New Zealand). As with Woolworths (New Zealand), Woolworths, the Foodtown brand was phased out in the late 2000s, with all stores rebranded as Countdo ...

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. Gerrity's Supermarkets completed this transition in late 2022. In 2024, The Fresh Grocer announced its entrance into New York through the opening of a new location in Oakdale at the Lighthouse Commons shopping center on

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Amityville, New York, Amityville–Copiague, New York, Copiague line, where ...

, formerly home to a Best Market. The store, owned and operated by the Thompson family, spans 26,000 square feet.

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 Cooperatives based in Pennsylvania