After months of work, the shelves were finally being stocked, the meats were being cut and final touches were being placed on Oak Park’s newest grocery store: Pete’s Fresh Market.
Employees spent the final hours ahead of the Sept. 2 opening making sure Pete’s Fresh Market, 259 Lake St., would be ready for its new community and its first customers.
The 46,000 square-foot building housed a Dominick’s until the grocery chain pulled out of the Chicago market at the end of 2013. Pete’s purchased the site in early 2014.
“We redesigned the whole building,” said Vanessa Dremonas of Pete’s on Sept. 1. “Gutted the entire store.”
Dremonas cited the extensive redesign as key reasons why the store has taken so long to open.
“Every single Pete’s Fresh Market is custom-designed to their community,” Dremonas said. “We do our homework before we open. We want residents to know we don’t just turn the key and let them in.”
Among the new features is a variety of wood detailing throughout the store, some of which was imported from Italy, according to Adi Selfollari of Architectural Wood Expressions.
“The store is designed to be sensitive to the area,” Selfollari said. “We have Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie-inspired designs, but it’s much more modern.”
Inside, customers will find a two-level bakery, a taqueria, gelato bar, sushi bar, juice bar, coffee house, self-serve salad station and a grill.
The store will also have eating areas both inside and outside. The eating area includes a fireplace visible both inside and outside the building near the entrance to the Lotus Cafe.
Stephanie Dremonas, one of the store’s owners, rolled up her sleeves and was busy filling the bakery shelves with produce ahead of the grand opening.
“All the perishables are going up, the meats are all being hand-cut and the salads are being made,” Stephanie Dremonas said. “I think the customers have high expectations of us and we want to meet those expectations.”
Oak Park’s Pete’s Fresh Market store is the chain’s 12th location. While it’s one of their smaller stores, the owners say it has everything a Pete’s customer would expect.
“It carries as much variety as our other stores do,” Stephanie Dremonas said. “They’ll get great quality at fair prices, fresh products and a neighborhood store.”
Twitter: @steveschering