Mexican grocery store with ice cream shop opening its first Johnson County location

El Mercado Fresco, a locally owned Mexican grocery store, will soon open in Olathe.

The new location will also have Fruitopia — a Mexican ice cream and paleta bar store — inside.

The 30,000-square foot grocery store at 808 Old Highway 56 will be El Mercado Fresco’s first Johnson County spot. Owner Eddie Musallet said the new store will open in four to six months.

El Mercado Fresco (Spanish for fresh market) sells Mexican products, baked goods, produce and more. It has five locations across Kansas City and Kansas City, Kansas. Frutopia’s offerings include sundaes, banana splits and ice cream bars.

“We have … all kinds of flavors,” Musallet said. Coffee, strawberries and cream, and horchata, to name a few.

Frutopia has locations at 3737 Independence Ave. and 631 Central Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas.

In Overland Park, Musallet is opening another grocery store, one with a sampling of products from around the world.

World Fresh Market is taking over the old Neighborhood Market Walmart at 10303 Metcalf Ave. (That grocery store will have a Frutopia inside as well.)

He expects World Fresh to open at the beginning of May.

“We’re gonna have Mediterranean, European, African, Indian, Pakistani,” he said. “So we’re gonna have a large seafood section, fresh bakery, fresh food, fresh meat. … Our produce section is going to be huge.”

The Overland Park location might be called World Fresh, but Musallet said he’s still going to hang up the Mercado flag he uses at his other locations.

“That’s my backbone,” he said.

Musallet is also opening Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market in the old Sun Fresh grocery store at 11212 Holmes Road (in the Red Bridge shopping center).

That grocery store is aiming for a late spring or early summer opening.