EMILY'S SET TO ADD TWO HYBRID UNITS IN EARLY 1998

ROSEANNE HARPER

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The owners of Emily's Market, a hybrid grocery-restaurant concept, will open two more sites near their headquarters here in the first quarter of next year, officials said.

The owners have leased a former Perkin's Restaurant in Tempe, Ariz., adjacent to Arizona State University, to house the next Emily's. They're also currently negotiating to lease another former restaurant site in downtown Phoenix.

Mark Cain, Emily's president, said the proximity to the state university campus was a driving factor in the site selection for the second Emily's Market.

"It's related to the disposable income that students have. It represents a growth opportunity for us," Cain said. He added that selling to a market that's largely made up of students is also expected to distribute sales more evenly through the day and evening.

He said the Tempe site offers other advantages, such as its former existence as a restaurant.

"That should make remodeling a little faster and easier."

Both the Tempe and downtown Phoenix sites offer better density of population than the initial site here, Cain said. The Tempe site will be approximately the same size as the current Emily's, about 5,000 square feet.

The first Emily's in Chandler, Ariz., owned and operated by Circle K Corp., Phoenix, was closed in late 1996 when The Meal Market, an investment group, bought the concept. The group, headed by Cain and Gary Pryor, former executives at Circle K, opened a new incarnation of Emily's here last May 16.