WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- When Liz Stacy first moved to Manchester from Chelsea, practically her only option for household goods was the local Dollar General.
Buying fresh food and produce meant driving out of town to Adrian, Ann Arbor or other nearby communities.
But with the opening of Manchester Market, Stacy can now get her fresh produce without the drive.
“I think it’s great,” said Stacy, whose cart on Tuesday was filled with milk and fresh produce. “It’s just so convenient.”
Manchester’s primary supermarket, also called Manchester Market, closed in early 2019, leaving the area with a Dollar General – and no grocery store.
“If we wanted anything fresh…we had to go out of town,” said Pat Valliencourt, the village president.
The new Manchester Market, owned by Justin Dalenberg and Ken Heers, will celebrate its grand opening on Oct. 16. The market is a full-service grocery, featuring fresh produce, local meat and household goods like cleaning products and toilet paper.
The 17,000-square-foot market was originally meant to be just a meat processing plant and bakery, aimed at providing goods for the Grand River Brewery and Doll n’ Burgers in Jackson, which are owned by Dalenberg, and VERITAS seafood and steakhouse restaurant, which is owned by his wife.
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The village manager soon asked Dalenberg to consider including a grocery store in the facility, Dalenberg said. The first partner was Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café, a nonprofit selling local produce and farm goods. Others, including Super Perky Pantry and Iorio Gelato, soon followed.
“It wasn’t really a decision,” Dalenberg said. “It was more of a happening.”
Renovating the store cost $2.4 million, Dalenberg said.
“We realize this is more than just a community grocery store,” he added.
One of the market’s major features is its in-house butchery, which processes whole steers from the local Noggle Farms. The butchery is currently going through four to six steers per week, a number which butcher Afrim Ramaxihu expects to climb in the coming weeks.
“All of our steers are raised literally two-and-a half miles from here,” Ramaxihu said. “It’s as local as you get.”
The store also features pre-made meals cooked in-house by Emmanuel Saintin, a chef who previously worked at one of Dalenberg’s restaurants. Dishes served pre-packaged in the store include beef stroganoff, shepherd’s pie, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese, all made using ingredients found in the store. Saintin said the beef stock alone, which is made using bones from the steers butchered by Ramaxihu, takes three days to simmer.
“When we make shepherd’s pie, we just ground the meat in the morning,” Saintin said.
In addition to the butcher and pre-made meals, Manchester Market also has its own bakery.
“We don’t buy anything,” Dalenberg said of the store’s baked goods.
Valliencourt said the market helps to ensure elderly residents, who may be unable to drive long distances, also have access to fresh food.
“This filled a gaping hole,” she said, adding the area could have previously been considered a “food desert.”
There are plans to turn the market, which features a coffee shop and seating, into a community hub for both locals and residents from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
“It is definitely a destination point,” she said. “…We see this as a key to draw people in.”
Manchester Market, located at 455 West Main Street in Manchester, is open everyday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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