MOLLIE'S TO EXPAND INTERNATIONAL FOOD SECTION

BARBARA MURRAY

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Mollie Stone's Markets, based in Mill Valley, Calif., will present an international section that integrates shelf-stable, dairy and frozen products when it opens its seventh store here sometime in September.

David Bennett, co-owner of the specialty chain, says the unit here will be the largest so far, at 42,000 square feet. The lease was signed on the property, a former Petrini Market, on Feb. 16, and the store will undergo a remodel before it opens, Bennett told SN. Sixteen food retailers vie for business within a close radius in this affluent suburb near San Francisco.

Although Mollie's already integrates its kosher foods and its British foods in the same aisle in one store, Bennett said he is still inventing the melded international section he has in mind.

The person responsible for the section will be someone with a broad knowledge of ethnic foods, and should be able to keep the section full and current with new products. "By integrating the dairy and frozen with the dry, we will be able to provide a lot more service. We have all full-service delis, meat departments and bakeries, so this goes along with our culture," Bennett said.

Mollieland, a free child care center, will also be part of the new store, following the prototype that has operated for the past year and a half in the San Bruno store, he added. Mollie Stone's has units in Sausalito, Greenbrae, San Francisco in Pacific Heights, Palo Alto, Burlingame and San Bruno.