The Fresh Market Company

After returning from a trip to Europe, Ray Berry and his wife Beverly were inspired to bring the charm and essence of an open, European-style food market to America. They wanted to offer a more intimate and personalized shopping experience than the warehouse-type supermarkets popular at the time.

On March 5, 1982, the first The Fresh Market store opened in Greensboro on Lawndale Drive, where a store still stands today. Everything about this small, boutique specialty grocery store was designed to enhance the food shopping experience. Our stores differentiated themselves from conventional supermarkets with a farmer’s market atmosphere, complete with locally-grown produce, bins of freshly roasted coffee, an old-world style butcher shop and fish market, an in-store bakery, fresh cheeses and cured meats, and floral stands.