ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A developing supermarket site that was once to be a Super Fresh store here may go to expanding natural/organic chain Ellwood Thompson's Local Market, according to published reports.
Super Fresh, a division of A&P, had signed a 20-year lease at the site, known as Rockville Town Square, but rejected the lease earlier this year as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. A local report this week said Ellwood Thompson's had met with Rockville officials about taking over the site but had not yet signed a lease. Ellwood Thompson's, based in Richmond, Va., has been eying expansion to the Washington area for several years. It announced but later withdrew from a lease to locate a site at the DCUSA development in Washington's Columbia Heights neighborhood.
In other developments, a Supervalu official confirmed to SN this week that a former Super Fresh store it bid for in Ellicott City, Md., would be converted to its Shoppers Food & Pharmacy brand. That transaction, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, was part of an auction netting a dozen Super Fresh store sales. As previously reported, ShopRite operator Village Super Market is taking over two Super Fresh locations as part of a 10-store joint venture with Mrs. Green's Management Corp. An attorney for the latter group told SN Tuesday that Mrs. Green's was expected to announce its plans for the sites shortly.
