Needler’s Fresh Market is expected to open late summer or early fall in the Brookshire Village Shoppes in Carmel.
Needler’s will be in the space last occupied by O’Malia’s Food Market, 4762 E. 126th St. The grocer was purchased by Marsh in 2001 and closed in 2017.
Developer KennMar brought the shopping center in September 2019 for $6.4million.
“They’re taking between 27,000 and 28,000 square feet,” KennMar President and CEO Brent Benge said of Needler’s. “They’re going to put a lot of money inside and we’re going to put a lot of money dividing it up and redeveloping the exterior as well.”
Benge estimated Needler’s and KennMar will spend $5 million to $6 million between them to update the space.
“The inside is in pretty bad shape, so we have quite a bit to get done,” he said. “We have quite a bit of transformation from what it is now.”
The plan is to start by the end of March, Benge said.
Benge said the plan was to get a grocer for the anchor of the east Carmel center.
“It needs it,” Benge said. “It is a perfect fit. I think as a developer we have a responsibility to have something that not only has to make financial sense but also has to make social sense. This fits the area well and serves a need that people have been looking for. So we’re excited to get it across the finish line.”
Benge said the existing businesses plan to stay open. Needler’s will occupy 85 percent of the former O’Malia space. KennMar plans to lease the remaining space.
Benge said he talked to other grocers but liked what Needler’s had to offer.
“Their downtown development looks really nice,” he said.
Needler’s previously went into a former Marsh store in Lockerbie in downtown Indianapolis.
