New Manchester Market opens today!

The Armstrongs of Manchester are some of the first shoppers in the newly opened Manchester Market.

Submitted with jubilation by the team at Manchester Market

It is with great excitement and pride that the team at the new Manchester Market announces a "soft" opening at 7 am Monday, Sept. 20 with a Grand Opening celebration set for Oct. 16.

As the various partners have been working hard to interview and train staff, shelve and price new inventory, approve and publish documents and promotions, etc. we decided a two-tiered opening would be best for everyone. The "soft" opening is only being advertised locally, here and on social media. Since we've passed all of our hurdles, we thought it best to be open in some capacity to provide the community with a wider array of goods and more local offerings, rather than simply remain closed. This will give us an opportunity to gauge staffing, stocking, and pricing needs, reevaluate store hours, and more precisely adjust the Market to community demand.

During this period, we ask for your patience! All of the equipment, staff, and procedures are new. Each department is eagerly seeking, hiring, and training a large — and mostly local — work force. Despite the speed and heightened emotion of opening such a long-awaited project, the mood in the store has been very festive, and we are all working around each other gracefully and purposefully.

As many readers are likely aware, while there are four business partners operating in the store, we have two distinct checkout systems. Anything purchased at the café or from Acorn must be paid for at the Acorn café or checkout desk. Anything purchased from the Super Perky Pantry or from Grand River Butcher or Bakery must be paid for at the Super Perky Pantry checkout. We recommend starting your shopping experience with this in mind, as we would love to avoid confusion.

From Sept. 20 to the Grand Opening we will be streamlining operations, creating solutions as challenges arise, and reconfiguring the store with your help. We will be hyper-focused on getting the market you've all waited for in the best shape it can be. If it is at all unclear, let us introduce the partners.

Acorn Farmers' Market & Cafe is a store inside a store featuring fresh local offerings

Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café is a non-profit selling local produce, frozen meats from local farmers, honey, maple syrup, and many other Michigan Made products. Acorn has a café with seating, a great selection of beverages, prepared foods made at Grand River Bakery, plus other local businesses, and will have hand-dipped gelato made in the store by Iorio Gelato.

Super Perky Pantry is a traditional grocery store with a wide variety of wonderful items, and Grand River Butchery is operating a state-of-the art butchery and meat counter inside. Packaged gelato made in-house by Iorio Gelato is available, and Grand River Bakery has a processing facility. Between the Grand River's hot food preparation and bakery operations, the store smells lovely!

Grand River Bakery and Butchery will be preparing bakery items for Super Perky Pantry and Acorn, along with fresh cut meat to be sold at Super Perky Pantry. Behind the scenes, their production is not just for the Manchester Market but for many restaurants, including Grand River Brewery in Jackson and Doll n’ Burgers in Tecumseh and Jackson.

Iorio Gelato is making their famous gelato (from Italian family recipes) right at Manchester Market where it will be sold hand-dipped at Acorn and packaged at Super Perky Pantry. Gelato made in Manchester will also be distributed to other stores in Michigan.

Our Grand Opening October 16 will be when we'll happily extend an invitation to surrounding communities. It will be the official celebration of a marketplace that so many people have spent so much time and effort to open. We will have music, food trucks, games, and more, and will announce more details as we get closer. We hope you mark your calendar to attend what will truly be a rare event, a combination of business launch and block party! We made it, Manchester!

We very much look forward to seeing your faces in this completely renovated and unique new building, and thank you to everyone for shopping with us and helping us to spread the word. We are finished updating everyone with "soon." Soon is NOW.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.