Food Town opens new location
Written by Duane Ramsey | | news@toledofreepress.comFood Town supermarkets returned to Toledo with the opening of its newest store April 1 in the Kenwood Shopping Center on West Central Avenue.
Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner welcomed the return of Food Town to Toledo at a press conference in the new store on March 31.
The new store opened in a former Food Town supermarket.
Sam Jabro, who owns the Food Town stores in Lambertville and Temperance, said he had been looking for the right opportunity to open a medium-sized store in Toledo. He is looking at other locations in the area for additional stores.
Sam Jabro and Carty Finkbeiner
“We got a lot of requests from people who wanted Food Town to come back to Toledo,” Jabro said.
The 20,000-square-foot store will employ about 50 people in both full- and part-time positions, according to Mark Katafiasz, director of operations who will manage the store.
“We want the store to be small enough to know our customers yet large enough to serve them,” said Katafiasz, who worked as district manager during his 25 years with the former Seaway Food Town.
City of Toledo Department of Development worked with Jabro to find and secure the right location for the store. Food Town received a 10-year tax abatement that includes a 10 percent payroll tax rebate and a 30 percent job-creation tax credit, according to Ryan Reiter of the Toledo Department of Development.
Jabro bought the Lambertville Food Town store in August 2003 from Spartan Stores Inc. The grocery wholesaler based in Grand Rapids, Mich., bought the Seaway Food Town chain and later closed the Food Town supermarkets in Toledo.
Jabro later reopened a former Food Town store in Temperance due to high demand in that community.
Jabro said Food Town is not affiliated with Spartan Stores but purchases products from the company as an independent supplier. Spartan Stores operates distribution and warehouse facilities in the Toledo area.
