The long-awaited opening day for the new Pete’s Fresh Market finally arrived and it drew a large crowd of customers to Oak Park Avenue and Madison Street.
People lined up around the block early Wednesday morning, Aug. 19, to check out what it had to offer. Suzen Riley and Stephanie Townsend were two of the first people in line for the big day. Townsend said she arrived at around 7:40 a.m. for the 9 a.m. opening.
“We waited 10 years, we can wait 10 more minutes,” said Townsend just before the doors opened.
Riley said she was most excited for the special deals, and that Pete’s is a go-to store for her because it carries allergy-friendly food she can buy.
The grocery store handed out vouchers to the first 200 customers for a special “goodie bag” of Pete’s brand grocery items such as specialty popcorn made fresh in-store, tortilla chips and trail mix. There were additional deals on items throughout the store and a special giveaway that people can register for a chance to win a year of free groceries. The giveaway is open until Sept. 15.
This is the second Oak Park location for the largest family owned and operated grocery store chain in Illinois. The site has been in development since 2018 and construction began in 2021 facing multiple delays and roadblocks throughout the process.
“Everyday I told my husband, ‘when are they going to open?” said Mary Harbour, a resident of Oak Park and attendee of the grand opening. “I just can’t wait to get in there and run.”
Vanessa Dremonas, executive officer and daughter of Pete’s founder James Dremonas, said the store has had people “working around the clock for the last couple of weeks,” to get the location ready for the big day.
“We’re run by people who love the company and longstanding employees who have been with us for decades. There’s a lot of love and heart that comes into everything that we do, and that’s why it took this long,” said Dremonas.
The facility offers a huge variety of products from a bakery with specialty home-made treats, a popcorn station, butchers and even a fresh juice bar.
“Our goal is to always get it right about 90%, and then the other 10% is for the customers to tell us what they want,” said Dremonas. “We are very open to hearing feedback from customers.”