Turkish delight, frog legs, goat meat: New Johnson County grocery is full of surprises
How many languages are spoken in Overland Park’s new World Fresh Market on any given day?
You might lose track trying to count.
In one aisle, a family peruses products from India. In another, kids press against a glass case with cherry-topped Mexican cakes. One young mother rolls her cart up to a refrigerator with meat that’s halal, or acceptable according to Islam.
World Fresh Market, 10303 Metcalf Ave., is the brainchild of Eddie Musallet, a Kansas City-based businessman who owns several El Mercado Fresco Hispanic grocery stores in the Kansas City area.
But his new concept, which opened this month in a former Walmart Neighborhood Market, offers products for all cultures.
Walmart closed the under performing store last June. The 40,000-square-foot space had been open for 20 years and was less than two miles from another Walmart Neighborhood Market, 9000 Metcalf Ave.
While World Fresh also has an El Mercado Fresco sign out front, the store offers a range of Asian, Middle Eastern, European and American products (as well as Hispanic ones).
Early afternoon Wednesday, it’s unexpectedly busy. Perhaps because it’s a novelty for the Kansas City area. While there are a variety of self-described international markets, most cater to a specific region. Not so at World Fresh.
When customers walk through its sliding glass doors, they’re immediately greeted by the smell of fresh pan dulce, or Mexican pastries. The colorful rolls and doughnuts sit next to a grab-n-go cooler of American and international sodas. A taco stand neighbors a counter offering made-to-order Mediterranean food: falafel, shawarma, gyro and more.
The produce section offers the usual suspects, and then dozens of fruits and vegetables less common in the U.S.
Cherimoya, a sweet, heart-shaped fruit hailing from Central America, is one. Nagaimo, or Chinese yams, sit across from the Asian fruit longan.
The dry goods aisles are mostly divided into regions: including Asian, Central American, Middle Eastern and Eastern European.
Damya Blumhai, from Morocco, pushes two small children in her cart.
She’s grateful to have a space that sells her favorite products, like authentic Moroccan couscous, which can be hard to find in the Kansas City area.
“There are some small shops that bring some stuff, but not all,” Blumhai said.
Children pull plastic bags from a dispenser and fill them with halal gummy candies. One family picks out a platter of Turkish delight. A section of Asian noodles offers ramen, glass noodles, and more.
Another large portion of the store offers a variety of cuts of pork, chicken, lamb and beef. A whole baby goat sits in a case, selling for $6.99 a pound.
Nearby: a variety of frozen fish, as well as mussels, clams and frozen crab legs.
After shoppers are finished picking up their kimchi and frog legs, an in-store ice cream shop called Frutopia waits on the other side of the cash registers.
It sells scoops of ice cream, paletas (Mexican frozen treats) and smoothies.
Musallet also owns Frutopia, which has two locations at 631 Central Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, and 3737 Independence Ave.
