New Village Beach Market grocery store and cafe opens in downtown Fort Pierce

Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·2 min read

A new grocery store and cafe has opened in downtown Fort Pierce.

Village Beach Market opened Wednesday in the historic building at 111 Orange Ave., said owner Jason Keen, who runs the business with his wife, Vanessa. It's on the first floor of The One Eleven Building, which opened as the St. Lucie Bank in 1922, with the main entrance on Orange Avenue.

Scenes from the newly-opened Village Beach Market on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at The One Eleven Building, 111 Orange Ave., in downtown Fort Pierce. The 8,000-square-foot space is part grocery store and part restaurant with about 30 seats and is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Scenes from the newly-opened Village Beach Market on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at The One Eleven Building, 111 Orange Ave., in downtown Fort Pierce. The 8,000-square-foot space is part grocery store and part restaurant with about 30 seats and is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Keen had expected to open by the end of July, but that was pushed back mainly because of equipment and delivery delays.

"It was just a soft opening, so that our team could get adjusted to the new environment and systems," Keen said.

Keen is expanding his family's longtime grocery store business that's on the barrier island in Vero Beach. They started Village Beach Market in 1980, and he took over after his father, Jerry, died in 2019.

Employee Alisha Esch makes tacos for a customer in the newly-opened Village Beach Market on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at The One Eleven Building, 111 Orange Ave., in downtown Fort Pierce. The 8,000-square-foot space is part grocery store and part restaurant with about 30 seats and is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The new location is where the former Fort Pierce Trader’s Market closed in February 2022 after just seven months.

The 8,000-square-foot space is part grocery store and part restaurant with about 30 seats, Keen said, but he expects most of the business to be done on the cafe side.

New restaurant: Vero Beach grocery store expands to downtown Fort Pierce with deli and restaurant

It's open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He offers takeout options with prepared soups, salads, sandwiches and entrees available for grab-and-go.

The deli offers fresh juices like mango, ginger pear and strawberry watermelon; build-your-own tacos like Moe’s or Chipotle; fresh subs like Jersey Mike’s; and fresh salads like Panera. It also has fresh pizzas, hamburgers, ice cream and milkshakes. Other features include a crushed ice machine, a cheese and charcuterie case and Beluga caviar.

A customer takes a sample of birthday cake in the newly-opened Village Beach Market on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at The One Eleven Building, 111 Orange Ave., in downtown Fort Pierce. The 8,000-square-foot space is part grocery store and part restaurant with about 30 seats and is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Village Beach Market grocery store, cafe opens in downtown Fort Pierce