Customers at Chatham's new grocery store will immediately be greeted with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and fresh-baked bread when they walk through its sliding doors in February.
Mercato Fresh will open at 8 a.m. on Thursday, February 13. A grand opening celebration with municipal officials will be held the following day.
Co-owners Johnathan Reaume and Marc Romualdi first announced the new store in July 2019. They both come from food-related backgrounds in Windsor, as Reaume is the owner of Toscana Restaurant and Romualdi is the owner of Mr. Meat Market.
Mercato Fresh is located at the corner of Keil Drive North and Grand Avenue West in Chatham, beside Planet Fitness. The 15,000 square foot facility will include a bakery, a deli counter, Tiki Ted Sushi, gourmet hot foods, and fresh meat.
"Everything comes fresh daily, it's doesn't go to a secondary warehouse and then to the store. So our customers are saving two to three days on products they would otherwise get somewhere else because we skip the middle-man," said Romualdi. "We're dealing with as many local suppliers as possible -- especially in the produce and grocery section."
The hype surrounding Mercato Fresh has been building -- as seen through social media. Romualdi said they'll be using their social media platforms to let residents know about special sales, in addition to traditional advertising.
"So far the response has been absolutely amazing," said Romualdi. "Chatham seems to be really embracing us and we're very appreciative."
In the less than two years it took to build Chatham's new store, requests have already been made to have a Mercato Fresh location in other nearby communities.
"We're proud to say this store is born in Chatham essentially," said Romualdi. "We're looking at developing 10 more of these locations throughout southern Ontario. We have been getting requests throughout Windsor and various markets."
Mercato Fresh in Chatham on January 27, 2020 (Photo by Allanah Wills)
The aim is to have all 10 stores operational within the next five years.
Romualdi said the two co-owners worked with the Rosati Group on the design and construction process and describes the overall project as "great!"
"My unbiased opinion is that this is probably one of the nicest stores I've ever seen," he said. "We're very excited to be a part of Chatham. We're very community-oriented, we want to be good corporate stewards in Chatham."
Store hours at Mercato Fresh will be from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.