Less than a week after the developer of the proposed Bridgeport Shop n’ Save announced that he anticipated work to begin within the next months, city officials confirmed Monday afternoon that a groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled.

 

Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr confirmed that a representative of the developers of the project - Teda J. Family Partnership – contacted her today to let her know they would be holding a groundbreaking for the event. She said city officials will help as needed with the groundbreaking.

 

The developers have set Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. as the groundbreaking date for the new grocery store that many in the community have eagerly awaited for since it was announced in 2013.

 

“This will be Bridgeport’s only grocery store and we’re excited for that reason among others,” said Kerr. “The city has obviously felt that there is a great need for a grocery store within the city limits since the closing of food Fresh.”

 

The announcement comes on the heels of Tom Jamieson of the Teda J. Family Partnership announcing that although a building or grading permit for the new grocery had yet to be acquired, the developers were advertising for a contractors to do the earth work. In fact, bids for the earth work are due this week, he said.

 

Although many were pleased to hear the news, some were still skeptical about the store’s arrival. The announcement was made in January of 2013 and, according to Jamieson, fell behind due to utility, right-of-way and additional property acquisition issues.

 

“On average, I get seven to 10 calls a week from people in the community regarding the status of the grocery store,” said Kerr. “When Connect-Bridgeport runs a story that calls triple and they range to everything from complaints to just telling me how excited they are.

 

“I have to tell them that, unfortunately, the city has no control over who opens a business within the city limits if they own the property (and it meets the proper zoning),” said Kerr. “The city has never been in the grocery store business, even though I personally would have liked that for my own personal convenience.”

 

The store will be situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and State Route 131 across from Oliverio’s Ristorante. The grocery store, once built, will be located next to the Domino’s Pizza on Main Street. That will be a big relief for those that have complained about having to head up to the traffic-congested areas leading to Kroger and Wal-Mart at Eastpointe and NewPointe, respectively.

 

“You don’t realize how convenient it is to have a grocery store chain within the city limits until you don’t have one,” said Kerr. “Residents that I’ve been talking to are anticipating the convenience, the newness and the feedback that they’ve heard that the Shop n’ Save stores are extremely clean as well. They’re bringing a needed commodity to the city.”

 

Food Fresh, situated in the Valley Hills Shopping Plaza, has been closed since early 2014. It was the last grocery store in the city limits.

 

The new grocery store will be part of a 35,000 square foot plaza. There will be two additional shops located in the plaza and Jamieson said there was good news there as well.

 

“I have both of the additional spaces under LOI (letter of intent) agreements,” said Jamieson last week. “We’re working out those details, but it appears we’ll be filling the entire plaza all at once.”

 

While Jamieson was confident that both businesses were secured, he said he was hesitant to discuss them since leasing issues are being ironed out. He also declined to identify the type of businesses that would be going in place.