Grand opening, grand closing

The Fresh Market closed its three Sacramento-area stores on Wednesday, March 12. Two of the stores, one on Fair Oaks Boulevard and one on Laguna Boulevard in Elk Grove, were open for just six months, while the Roseville location on Douglas Boulevard lasted about a year-and-a-half. The publicly traded company offered upscale grocery items, including 200 cheeses, local goods and even an olive bar—not too different from its national competitor Whole Foods Market. Last week, Fresh Market CEO Craig Carlock told investors, “We decided we should just leave Sacramento, operate our stores that are successful in Palo Alto and Santa Barbara, and continue looking in Orange County, L.A. County, San Diego County, the Bay Area—those kinds of places.” It's not a huge loss. Sacramento still has plenty of better, local grocers to keep kitchen pantries stocked: Corti Brothers, Nugget Markets, Raley's, Bel Air and all the mom-and-pop grocers on Stockton Boulevard in south Sac.