Specialty grocery store sets opening date for second Lexington location
The second Lexington Fresh Market location will open in time for Central Kentuckians to do their December holiday shopping and meal prepping.
The specialty grocery is set to open its 171st store in the Hamburg area Dec. 10 at 8 a.m.
Members of the store’s Ultimate Loyalty Experience, its rewards program, will get 20% off everything on opening day. Customers can sign up for the loyalty program prior to shopping Dec. 10 to get the discount at the store at 2321 Sir Barton Way in what was a Buy Buy Baby store.
At 9 a.m., the store’s management and staff will have a ribbon cutting ceremony and anticipate donating $2,000 to God’s Pantry Food Bank.
The grocery chain has a reputation for selling premium hand-trimmed meats and seafood, organic produce and other gourmet, imported items along with prepared meals and baked goods. The second location is approximately 34,400 square feet and is larger than the other Lexington store in Lansdowne Shoppes on Tates Creek Road.
On Dec. 13, the first 300 customers at the store’s grand opening celebration will receive a reusable bag and the first 100 guests will receive a free, full-sized bag of coffee. At 9 a.m., as part of the grand opening, a more than 80-pound Parmesan wheel will be cracked to give free samples to shoppers.
“I know there’s a real opportunity to give a different shopping experience to communities,” said Andy Strevig, the chain’s North Zone vice president. “So, we look for that, and we look at the success of stores we have and if there’s opportunity in those areas, and I think that’s really the prime reason we move into certain areas.”
A new store design and concept for The Fresh Market was introduced in 2022.
As part of the plan, the grocery chain proposed new stores, that renovations to existing locations provide a more simple layout for customers to find items, and that stores offer entirely new lines of products, too: That includes fresh vegetables in microwavable steamer bags, an in-store coffee shop and a variety of other exclusive items.
Strevig characterized the shopping experience as one with more meandering; shoppers are looking at specialty items and new product displays as well as picking up essentials.
“We elevate people’s every day eating with better, quality products, healthier products, things that you never find in a conventional location,” Strevig said. “And when they take that home and make it, it’s cheaper than them going to a restaurant, they made it themselves with the ingredients that they bought that they can’t find anywhere else. And that’s really the experience.”
The store layout, especially at the Hamburg location, has “evolved into sort of this kitchen concept,” Strevig said, describing a deli and hot bar in the middle that customers gravitate toward.
The second Fresh Market location is one of several grocery chains expanding in the Central Kentucky area.
The first Central Kentucky Publix opened in Lexington on March 5 in the Citation Point shopping center and the second opened on June 4. Another store is being built in the Chevy Chase neighborhood.
Kroger opened another Marketplace location Aug. 14 off Newtown Pike.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM.
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