Albertsons to convert 3 acquired Fresh Market sites to Tom Thumb

Albertsons Cos. said late Wednesday that it has acquired three former Fresh Market stores in the Dallas area and will reopen them under its Tom Thumb banner by year-end.

The stores, which Fresh Market closed in May, are located in the Turtle Creek and Lakewood districts in Dallas, with one in Fort Worth's University District. The Fresh Market entered the Dallas region in 2014. Its stores were around 20,000 square feet — a size the Tom Thumb brand has experience operating, officials said.

“Tom Thumb has had great success with smaller format stores in its 68 years serving Dallas/Fort Worth, and we look forward to serving our customers in these new neighborhoods,” Dennis Bassler, president of Albertsons Cos.' Southern Division, based in Fort Worth, said in a statement.

The converted Fresh Market stores will showcase amenities of other Tom Thumb stores, such as a sushi bar, pizza bar and gourmet bakeries, with additional fresh items added in the produce and deli areas. New Starbucks coffee bars will be added to the Oak Lawn and Fort Worth locations.

The three new stores are part of an expanding profile for the upscale Tom Thumb brand, which was acquired by Albertsons as part of the Safeway merger last year. Plans call for new urban locations in Dallas and Forth Worth, as well as at least one conversion of an Albertsons store to Tom Thumb now underway in Wylie, Texas.

“We are in a fortunate and unique position to be able to select from two exceptional store banners for the communities we serve in North Texas. For the Wyle community, we think our Tom Thumb store is the best fit,” Bassler said. “We know that the strength of our stores lies in the quality of our employees. While the name on the outside of the store will change, the same store team that customers have grown to love will still be serving our store and we will be providing new offerings to our customers, like expanded organics, natural and local products.”

Albertsons said it planned grand reopening events for the Wylie store next month.

Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 105 stores in North Texas, including 48 stores under the Albertsons banner and 57 stores under the Tom Thumb banner. Albertsons ' United Supermarkets division separately operates six Market Street stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.