Redner’s Fresh Market to open near Five Points in spring 2021

After more than a decade of searching, Redner’s Markets has finally found a home at The Vineyards development on Route 9, about a mile west of Five Points.

“We’ve been eyeing this area for a long time,” said President and CEO Ryan Redner, who will bring the company’s Redner’s Fresh Market concept to Lewes in spring 2021. “The demographics of the area really supported it. We finally struck the right deal with this group.”

The 49,000-square-foot Redner’s Fresh Market will be built near the corner of Route 9 and Nassau Commons Boulevard, on the eastern side of Fernmoor Homes’ large mixed-use community.

Jeffrey Fernbach, principal of Fernmoor Homes, said the location is key for residents of The Vineyards and everyone nearby.

“You won’t have to fight the traffic to get out to Route 1,” he said. “There are plenty of people living on the west side of Route 1 and this will be great for them.”

Fernbach said there is room for an additional 25,000 square feet of commercial space around Redner’s. Once Redner’s is under construction this summer, he said, a search will begin to fill additional retail units.

Fernbach does not expect access to the store to come directly from Route 1. He said the most likely entrances will be from The Vineyards’ main entrance and from Nassau Commons Boulevard.

The Lewes location will be Redner’s 45th store, but only the third of its fresh market concept. The first opened in April 2017 in Wyomissing, Pa., while the second in Audubon, Pa., opened in October. Redner said there are plans to convert existing Redner’s Markets into Redner’s Fresh Markets, but not before the Lewes store is complete.

Redner’s has been slowly moving into the Cape Region, with stores in Georgetown, Milford, Camden and Dover.

Gary Redner, chief operations officer, said his company’s fresh market stores offer much more than Redner’s other locations.

In produce, he said, there are more prepared cut fruit and cut vegetables, and fresh guacamole and salsa, among other things. He said there is also fresh-squeezed orange juice, grapefruit juice and lemonade, and kombucha is available on tap.

There is a more extensive bakery department, and the meat department offers a full-service case with gourmet burgers, sausages and other proteins. Redner’s Fresh Market will also have sushi and smoked wings, meat loaf and ribs.

“The whole atmosphere is a lot different than our other stores,” Gary Redner said.

The plan also includes fuel pumps to coincide with Redner’s rewards program.

Redner’s Markets is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020. Ryan Redner said his father cut the ribbon on the first two stores March 1, 1970. In addition to grocery stores, the company also operates 21 quick shops throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Fernmoor Homes is nearing completion of its apartment buildings along Route 1 and several single-family homes are under construction. The company recently completed its first condo building. When fully built out, The Vineyards will have more than 900 units, including a mix of single-family homes, apartments, condos, carriage houses and retail. The community will have two clubhouses and two pools along with several other amenities, such as a dog park, horseshoe pits, bocce courts, volleyball court, a fishing pier, kayaking in its pond and hiking trails.