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Mother’s Market to Open in Signal Hill
February 16, 2018The Long Beach Press-Telegram wrote an article about Mother’s Market & Kitchen opening this weekend in Signal Hill. Continue reading below for more details.
Long Beach Press-Telegram, Local News
By Andrew Edwards, Posted 2/15/2018
A grand opening for Mothers Market grocery in Signal Hill is set for Saturday morning.
A grand opening for the new Mother’s Market & Kitchen grocery in Signal Hill is scheduled for Saturday morning.
The new grocery, at 2475 Cherry Ave., replaces a former Fresh & Easy store and is Mother’s Market’s first Los Angeles County store. A ribbon cutting for the new store is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, with an event set to include live music, food tasting and samples scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mother’s Market’s management also plans to give a recyclable grocery bag and $50 gift card to the first 100 customers in attendance.
The grocer’s arrival to Signal Hill also signifies an early milestone in a broader effort to develop adjacent land near the crossing of Crescent Heights Street and Cherry Avenue.
Signal Hill Petroleum, an oil company that has its own real estate development operations, is planning additional retail and residential construction for the adjacent land. The company calls its project Heritage Square, and may soon formally request approval for their plans from Signal Hill’s city government.
“They’ve been showing me conceptual plans and I would expect that they would embark on the more formal planning process shortly,” Signal Hill Community Development Director Scott Charney said.
Plans taking shape
Signal Hill Petroleum’s vice president of community relations and real estate operations, Debra Montalvo Russell, also said she expects a submission will be soon delivered to city planners. The company is first waiting to receive feedback from neighbors, but development concepts that may involve 30,000 to 60,000 square feet of new commercial space and some 200 residential units, she said.
Signal Hill Petroleum may require a year and a half to two years’ worth of additional work to bring Heritage Square to completion. Russell did not reveal any prospective tenants by name, but did say the company is seeking food service operators.
“We’re to talking to some local and well-known coffee shops and restaurant groups,” she said.
New territory for Mother’s Market
Mother’s Market has seven stores in Orange County, and management plans to open to venture further into Los Angeles County by opening another grocery in Manhattan Beach some time this summer.
The Signal Hill store has some 100 employees, according to a company announcement. The store also has a juice bar and cafe.
Mother’s Market positions itself as a healthier alternative to mainstream grocers, with offerings for consumers adhering to specialized diets, such as vegan, gluten-free or low-salt regimens. Mother’s Market stores do sell animal protein, and the company first added beef to its offerings until last year.
The store the new grocery is replacing, Fresh & Easy, started as British-retailer Tesco PLC’s attempt to compete in the western United States’ grocery space. Fresh & Easy’s small format stores began to open in 2007, but despite capturing considerable media attention upon arrival, the South Bay-headquartered Fresh & Easy ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2013.
Yucaipa Cos., a Los Angeles investment firm, subsequently acquired Fresh & Easy. In October 2015, the company announced the decision to close all 97 Fresh & Easy stores that were then open in California, Arizona and Nevada.
New operators have since taken over several former Fresh & Easy stores in and around Long Beach. Grocery Outlet established a presence in former Fresh & Easy stores in Long Beach, Downey and Lakewood, and Island Pacific Seafood Market, which specializes in Filipino food, took over a former Fresh & Easy at 3300 Atlantic Ave. in Long Beach.