KANSAS CITY, MO – From the early 1990s until last year, a Sun Fresh grocery store was the anchor of the Red Bridge Shopping Center in south Kansas City.

Its surprising departure last January left a grocery void at a time when the shopping center was otherwise on the rebound with new tenants like Barrio Mexican Kitchen + Bar and Crows Coffee.

Soon, though, a new grocery store will take over the 35,000-square-foot space Sun Fresh left behind. Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market will start construction later this month, aiming for an opening this spring or early summer, according to LANE4 Property Group, which owns the shopping center.

“Grocery stores are often the heartbeat of a community and since purchasing the center in 2015 we’ve prioritized having a quality grocer at the center,” said LANE4 partner Brandon Buckley. “We feel we found the perfect fit for Red Bridge, and one that will serve the community for years to come.”

The new store, at 11212 Holmes Road, will have a bakery, deli, liquor section and a Fruitopia counter for fruit-flavored drinks. It is owned by the same group that operates El Mercado Fresco, a locally owned Hispanic grocery chain with four locations. Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market, which will not lean into Hispanic products the way its other stores do, is a new concept for the group.

The group will also open an international grocery store in a former Walmart Neighborhood Market at 10303 Metcalf Ave. in Overland Park this spring.

Among the renovations planned are a new roof, a patio, parking lot improvements and new landscaping. According to a release, the store is expected to create 80 new jobs with an average wage of $15 per hour.

More info on Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market can be found at kcfarmfresh.com

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