FreshTake Grocery had its grand opening, Thursday morning, celebrating an entry into Augusta’s market nearly two years in the making.
The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony shortly after the store opened at 10 a.m. By then, a line of shoppers, many with carts in tow, had gathered along the walkway at the door, as the first 100 customers were slated to get $25 gift cards, while the first 200 were awarded reusable grocery bags full of prizes.
The long-anticipated experimental supermarket boasts several features, amenities and shops: from a sushi bar to a pizza counter, a Starbucks to a BBQ smokehouse, and “Jackson’s,” a beer and wine bar stocked with TVs along the wall.
The grocer’s soft opening on Jan. 20 had been hamstrung by construction delays, notes CEO Jackson Mitchell. Ground broke on the store in November of 2023, with a planned opening date for summer of 2024, and a full staff by early August.
“I’m proud that we were able to keep the staff on board and paid throughout that time,” said Mitchell, also noting that Hurricane Helene did slightly exacerbate the already-taxing delays. The store was able to offer aid to Golden Harvest Food Bank, however, one of its partners, to whom Mitchell presented a $1,000 donation, Thursday. “We wanted to do something productive in the community. So we were able to volunteer and help out Golden Harvest, and it worked out really well because there was a lot of need around the hurricane.”
FreshTake Grocery is located at 2907 Washington Road, Ste. 102.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
