Freshfields Farm, which converted a former Southside furniture store into a meat and produce market, opened in Jacksonville, Fla., last week.
The Jax Daily Record reports that the former Liberty Furniture store at Interstate 95 and University Boulevard underwent a partial demolition and reconstruction into a barn-looking building that will house fresh produce and meats, along with the Ice Cream Shoppe.
It sits at 5555 University Blvd. W.
Freshfields Farm is based in Orlando and Jacksonville is its second market.
Spokesman Derek Wagner said in a previous interview with the Record that the facility is unconventional.
“We’re using 5-inch thick insulated refrigeration panels in the new construction, so the new building will be incredibly efficient,” he said. “Our sales area will be cooled with refrigeration, as opposed to a conventional HVAC system, so it’ll be cooler but more humid than a standard grocery store. It’ll be an ideal environment for fresh produce and meats, which is all we’ll sell.”
Williams & Rowe Co. Inc. was the contractor for the $1.5 million renovation project. The building most recently housed Liberty Furniture and was a restaurant before that.
Construction plans showed Freshfields Farm as a 22,300-s.f. market on the 4.2-acre site.
University & Spring Park LLC, which was formed in April 2012, bought the property from Liberty Furniture Co. in May 2012 for about $1.48 million. Liberty bought it in 1997 for $1.5 million.
Partners in University & Spring Park LLC and in Freshfields Farm Inc. include David, Jacquelyn and Jordan DeLoach of Orlando. David DeLoach is the manager of Freshfields Jacksonville LLC.
According to freshfieldsfarm.com, the business began in 1973 in Orlando as a small meat market. It added a produce department in 1981 and then expanded again in 1983, 1999 and 2001.
It said it changed the name of the business in 2008 from “Momm’s Meats Popp’s Produce” to “Freshfields Farm.”
Wagner estimated employment would start at 60 at the Jacksonville market.
“We receive truckloads of fresh beef, chicken, pork, seafood and deli meats daily. Unlike conventional ‘super’ stores, nearly all of the meat we sell is hand-cut and packaged right here in our store the same day it’s received,” the website says.
The website says nearly all of the company’s produce comes directly from growers or the packaging plant.
