As of 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, East Lansing is home to a new organic grocery store — Fresh Thyme Farmers Market.
Located at 940 Trowbridge Road, west of Harrison, the new Fresh Thyme is part of a chain that seeks to bring affordable fresh foods to the Midwest region. The East Lansing location is the first of its kind in Michigan and the 14th opening overall. The site was previously a Goodrich’s Shop-Rite store that closed in July 2014.
The store's grand opening saw a large response from the community, with free gift bags full of produce and other groceries for the first 250 customers all given out before noon. East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett attended as well to officiate a ribbon cutting and community donation check presentation.
Ribbon cutting and community donation check presentations at #ELansing #FreshThyme #GrandOpening pic.twitter.com/GN5d8gzT9F
— Fresh Thyme (@FreshThymeFM) April 29, 2015
"It's a remarkable transformation that would not have occurred without significant investment by the private sector and the City's willingness to use targeted economic development tools to support necessary public infrastructure improvements and closing the gap between green field development elsewhere and redevelopment in East Lansing," Triplett wrote on his Facebook page. "By any measure, this was a win for our community."
The store will continue to have vendor demonstrations and free samples throughout the week and a Bell's Brewery tasting on Saturday with live music and children's entertainment.
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