Fresh Seasons Market closes as deal to sell business falls through

Posted: Fri, Oct 23, 2009 : 1:30 p.m.

Topics: Business Review , Neighborhoods , News , Shopping

Fresh Seasons Market, a 15-year specialty grocer on the west side of Ann Arbor, closed Thursday after a deal with a potential buyer fell through.

The store will reopen on a limited basis Saturday to sell-off remaining inventory, co-owner Lynda Stahl said.

"The economy has really not been our friend," Stahl said. "Competition has come in, and specialty food stores - they're not so special anymore. .... Now everybody has them."

Stahl and her husband, Ben, tried to sell the business so they could retire. A buyer was lined up, she said, but multiple circumstances - including the pending end of the store's lease at 2281 W. Liberty - made a transition difficult.

They explored finding a new location, but a deal wasn't reached in time.

"When our lease ended (this month), there wasn't a workalble solution," Stahl said. "... We decided to close the doors."

The decision was difficult, Stahl said, especially after they'd sought a buyer and worked with the potential purchaser for several months.

"We didn't want to just close up and leave," Stahl said. "... Our customers had become our friends."

Fresh Seasons once employed up to 45 people, but more recently had a staff of 15, Stahl said.

Stahl, reached at the store today as she prepared for the wind down, said she wants to thank her customers.

"When we first opened the store, I used to think that the people who'd come in were our company, our guests," she said. "I still feel that way.

"We're going to miss them terribly."

Paula Gardner is Business Director for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at (734) 623-2586 or by email.