Grocery Outlet enters Carroll County market with Freedom Village lease

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Grocery Outlet, a retailer of name-brand consumables and fresh products with more than 450 stores in eight states, opened its first location in the Carroll County marketplace Thursday.

Independent owners and operators and Sykesville residents Gregory and Amber Phelps signed a lease with Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) for 22,069 square feet of space within Freedom Village, a nearly 130,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center at 6300 Georgetown Blvd. in Eldersburg.

Baltimore-based CRC is a vertically-integrated real estate investment and management company active in 11 states with more than $3.7 billion Assets Under Management. This marks Grocery Outlet’s sixth location in Maryland, joining stores in Catonsville, Edgewood, Glen Burnie, Hagerstown and Salisbury. CRC Commercial Leasing Manager Cherene Keenan represented the landlord in this lease transaction.

Based in Emeryville, California and part of the Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. and founded by Jim Reed in 1946, Grocery Outlet targets bargain-minded shoppers by offering a treasure hunt shopping experience in a small-box format. Each store contains sections for fresh meat, fruits, vegetables, and frozen foods, together with a deli and vegan food area, stocked with brand name product offerings. The concept maintains its low prices by employing an opportunistic buying approach that focuses on the purchase of excess inventory, packaging changes, and manufacturing overruns.

Situated near the intersection of MD Route 26 (Liberty Road) and Georgetown Boulevard, Freedom Village is also anchored by Goodwill Industries and Centers for Advanced Orthopedics and features more than 20 stores, including Rite Aid, Panera Bread and Celebree School. Nearly 45,000 people reside withing a five-mile radius of the center, including approximately 15,000 households with an average household income exceeding $125,000.

Nearly 30,000 vehicles pass the site daily. The Grocery Outlet lease elevates occupancy of the Freedom Village center to approximately 97%.