Tom Thumb to build Fort Worth urban format

Rendering of Centergy Retail's Left Bank project, which will include the first urban format Tom Thumb.

Albertsons Cos.' Tom Thumb banner will build what it is calling its first urban format to anchor a high-profile new development to be built in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

Developers broke ground on the Left Bank project last week, which is located on West 7th Street on the bank of the Trinity River in Fort Worth, and will include a line of high-end retailers, including the new Tom Thumb store, as well as 600 residential units. Tom Thumb said its store would open late this year or early 2017.

The development follows the announcement earlier this year that Tom Thumb would build a 60,000-square-foot unit in Dallas as part of a new high-rise residential building across from the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks' NBA arena, set for a 2017 opening. The two stores would be the first new locations for Tom Thumb, a former Safeway banner acquired by Albertsons last year, since 2013.

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“This is going to be great for the Fort Worth community … but it’s also going to be really great for our company," Albertsons Southern Division President Dennis Bassler said at a groundbreaking event for the Left Bank project last week, the Fort Worth Telegram newspaper reported. "I can’t remember the last time we built in Fort Worth.”

According to Albertsons, the Fort Worth store will include expanded service bakery, natural/organic, deli/foodservice, wine, meat/seafood, produce and floral departments, a pharmacy, a Starbucks cafe, and specialty shops featuring area sports teams.

Fort Worth is the fastest-growing U.S. city with population of more than 500,000, developer Centergy Retail said, with 42.3% growth between 2000 and 2013.