‘We’re excited to be again’: Beloved grocery retailer returns to Salt Lake Metropolis

SALT LAKE CITY — A beloved grocery retailer positioned inside considered one of Salt Lake Metropolis’s many more moderen mixed-used developments close to downtown is ready to reopen later this month after it closed slightly greater than a 12 months in the past.

Lee’s Market introduced Thursday that it’ll reopen its location on the 4th West Flats advanced, 255 N. 400 West, with a ceremony at 10 a.m. on April 11. The occasion will characteristic free treats and giveaways for patrons. A grand reopening “block social gathering” can also be slated for mid-Could.

“We missed Salt Lake Metropolis. We’re excited to be again and a part of the group,” stated Jonathan Badger, president and CEO of the grocery retailer chain, in an announcement.

The placement initially opened in early 2020, weeks earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic sparked shutdowns and well being precautions all through the state. It had continued by means of the pandemic, however closed in October 2022 as report inflation swept by means of the nation.

In a public letter on the time, Badger defined that “present financial and aggressive circumstances” created by the “lack of quantity coming into the shop from surrounding areas, the COVID-19 pandemic and public accessibility” led to the choice to close down the shop. He added that the “city retailer format” type of procuring was “not but conducive to the Salt Lake Metropolis space.”

The transfer caught many residents off-guard. One resident advised KSL.com on the time that she was “heartbroken” by the choice, solely studying concerning the closure when she arrived to seek out signage directing prospects to one of many chain’s different areas.

However the chain is keen to provide it one other go because the neighborhood continues to develop. Extra condo complexes and city homes have opened inside a couple of blocks of the shop’s location since October 2022, and extra are both underneath development or within the works.

Badger advised Axios in February that the corporate was working with metropolis officers to make a extra “viable retailer for the entire residents within the space” because it labored to reopen the shop.

The revamped retailer will characteristic “expanded variations of favourite departments,” equivalent to sushi, specialty cheeses and gourmand popcorn, in addition to meats, produce and varied native merchandise, retailer representatives stated. They are saying cafe seating may also return subsequent week, and there will probably be free parking for patrons on the terrace degree of the 4th West flats.

Its reopening will mark the eighth Lee’s Market for the reason that firm was based in 1981. It additionally has areas in Heber Metropolis, Herriman, Logan, North Ogden, North Salt Lake, Richmond and Smithfield, in line with the corporate.