‘We are excited to be back’: Beloved grocery store returns to Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — A beloved grocery store located within one of Salt Lake City’s many newer mixed-used developments near downtown is set to reopen later this month after it closed a little more than a year ago.

Lee’s Marketplace announced Thursday that it will reopen its location at the 4th West Apartments complex, 255 N. 400 West, with a ceremony at 10 a.m. on April 11. The event will feature free treats and giveaways for customers. A grand reopening “block party” is also slated for mid-May.

“We missed Salt Lake City. We are excited to be back and part of the community,” said Jonathan Badger, president and CEO of the grocery store chain, in a statement.

The location initially opened in early 2020, weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic sparked shutdowns and health precautions throughout the state. It had continued through the pandemic, but closed in October 2022 as record inflation swept through the country.

In a public letter at the time, Badger explained that “current economic and competitive circumstances” created by the “lack of volume coming into the store from surrounding areas, the COVID-19 pandemic and public accessibility” led to the decision to shut down the store. He added that the “urban store format” style of shopping was “not yet conducive to the Salt Lake City area.”

The move caught many residents off-guard. One resident told KSL.com at the time that she was “heartbroken” by the decision, only learning about the closure when she arrived to find signage directing customers to one of the chain’s other locations.

But the chain is willing to give it another go as the neighborhood continues to grow. More apartment complexes and town houses have opened within a few blocks of the store’s location since October 2022, and more are either under construction or in the works.

Badger told Axios in February that the company was working with city officials to make a more “viable store for all of the residents in the area” as it worked to reopen the store.

The revamped store will feature “expanded versions of favorite departments,” such as sushi, specialty cheeses and gourmet popcorn, as well as meats, produce and various local products, store representatives said. They say cafe seating will also return next week, and there will be free parking for customers on the terrace level of the 4th West apartments.

Read the rest of the story from KSL.com here.