NEWS & UPDATES
December 10, 2022
Hello Community,
We are overjoyed to announce that our Market will finally be opening its doors next week after a long year of construction and passing all necessary inspections. Although there are still a few administrative tasks to complete, such as obtaining our business and beer/wine licenses, we are confident that we will be able to do so quickly.
Our initial store hours will be 7:30am to 9pm daily, with the exception of Mondays when we will be closed. We are working on our holiday hours and will announce it once it has been finalized. We will be closely monitoring customer traffic to optimize our hours and ensure that we are open when you need us. Our new team has been working tirelessly to get oriented with the store and the POS system, to be ready when we open our doors. As with any new business, there may be some bumps along the way, but our goal is to continuously improve and provide the best possible experience for our customers.
We have been working closely with our distributor to ensure that our shelves are fully stocked with a wide range of products, including fresh fruits and vegetables. We will be receiving multiple shipments each week to ensure that our shelves are always well-stocked. While we have done our best to stock the basic grocery items that most people buy, we will continue to add additional products as the days and weeks go by. We encourage our community to continue giving us feedback on the brands and items you would like to see in our store by sending us an email (contact@cipublicmarket.com).
In the coming weeks, we will be decorating our store with pictures celebrating our community and the unique offerings of the Cobb Island/Cobb Neck region.
Starting Thursday, you may see us turning on our "Open" sign periodically as we allow customers in to test out our systems and processes before officially opening our doors on Friday 12/16/22 at 7:30am.
We cannot wait to serve you and provide a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience. Thank you for your patience and support throughout this process.
We look forward to seeing you at the Market!
*Added to post: USPS is continuing to coordinate the proper resources to move back into their space. It could happen in December, but with the holidays it is possible they move back in January. We will post an update once we have an official date.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
December 5, 2022
Hello Community:
A quick update on where we are with opening day. Unfortunately, we are not opening this weekend. We are scheduled to try and open on December 17th. At this point we are at the final inspection stage. The inspection process is quite cumbersome and frustrating at times, but we are getting through the process.
To give everyone some perspective that have not had to go through this process before below are the final inspections we must pass prior to getting a Use and Occupancy Permit (U&O). Most of the agencies that are in-charge of inspecting this are Charles County, but we also have a couple state agencies that must approve their portion prior to getting Final Approval. From our view, what is difficult about the process is the numerous agencies that must be coordinated and scheduled in a specific order prior to moving to the next inspection. If you don’t pass (like us on certain items), then you need to call to schedule a reinspection, pass the inspection, then move to the next step.
· Water and Sewer (passed)
· Electrical (passed)
· Mechanical (passed)
· Plumbing (passed)
· Pre treatment (deferred until grease interceptor install)
· Critical Area (passed)
· Health Department (today)
· State Fire Marshall (reinspection Wednesday)
· Final Building (resinspection this week)
· Planning and Zoning (Friday)
Assuming we pass the inspections and reinspection’s this week we are set to open on December 17th. However, if we are unable to pass this week we will have to get a new date from our food distributer to fill our store with product. They have warned us we could be rescheduled as late as early January due to the holiday’s and the availability of their personnel. We are hopeful we can get through our inspections this week, but we did want to be transparent about the potential push into the New Year should we have any further delays.
In anticipation of opening we have hired our team members that will help run the store and serve our customers. Training will begin in earnest this week and if things go as planned we will continue training next week until opening day. We will continue to accept applications for positions as we are unsure right now the total amount of staffing we will need until we see the volume of customers the Market will have.
We are almost there. We will do a quick update at the end of this week to give an update on the final inspections.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
November 3, 2022
Hello Community
Good news! SMECO was able to get our power switched over on Tuesday and we are full speed ahead. Multiple vendors are working to schedule the startup of the equipment we have purchased. They have warned us that we will probably have some things to work out, but they are feeling confident that in the next couple of weeks we should be able to get things wrapped up.
Suburban Propane has installed the propane tanks and they filled the tanks today. The connection from the propane tanks to the building is scheduled to happen tomorrow.
The grease interceptor is going through the county process. We expect to hear back from them in the next week or two. As mentioned, this will delay the opening of the meat and deli portion of our operation which will likely open in early 2023. In the mean time we are working with our distributor to have a selection of other meat products.
USPS – We continue to have productive conversations with USPS representatives. We were able to get approval for the sign and the inside of the Postal Service. We are now awaiting a date from USPS in DC on when they can get the move done on their end.
So when are we going to finally open? We are planning to go for our final inspection and Health Department inspection in the next two weeks. This will give us a little time to fix any issues if any come up. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly. We are on the calendar with our distributer to fill the store on December 8th and 9th. If all goes as planned we will shoot to open December 10th. We had high hopes that we could open by Thanksgiving, but we are grateful to be opening before Christmas. We aren’t declaring victory yet, but we are getting very close.
Lots to do as we have our mad dash to the finish line. We will update as we have more information.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
September 26, 2022
Hello Community:
We hope everyone is excited to continue to see the transformation of the building. We had a picture in our heads of how it would turn out, and I must say we are thrilled and couldn’t be happier on how everything is coming together. We know this has been a long journey - as we look back it was just over 1 year ago when we started this blog! We appreciate everyone’s patience and know that the team is working very hard to get us open.
The pace has picked up as all the different contractors continue to make progress in their respective areas. The building is now glowing as our electrician continues to get through his list, the walls have been put up and painted, the duct work has been installed and the floors laid and waxed. The sign for the market is painted on the building, the shelving is up, and all the chillers are in.
Another big milestone is the delayed HVAC units should be installed via crane on top of the roof this week – we hope. Still lots to wrap up such as the fire escape, door knobs, ceiling tiles, trim work etc.. But the bigger items that have been lingering out there, that we thought would have been resolved by now are still here.
1. SMECO - We are waiting for the work to be performed by SMECO to have 3 phase power. As mentioned in a previous post this power conversion is necessary in order for our refrigeration system to be turned on and properly installed by the contractors. This has been extremely challenging and long process with SMECO, but we are hoping we are close to the finish line with them. We very much appreciate some of our great local community members helping make calls to their contacts at SMECO to keep attention on this important task.
2. Suburban Propane – They have been having a tough time with their permit process. Due to our close proximity to the water we have had to go through additional hoops to help them get through the process. We are at the mercy of the county getting this approved so Suburban Propane can place the needed tanks to provide gas for our HVAC heating. We are hoping the permit will be issued soon.
3. The last big item is the need to install a grease interceptor. It has been deemed by the county that in order for us to slice and provide meat / deli meat we must install a grease interceptor. We were aware of the need for a grease interceptor for our future deli operations but we were surprised by the need of one to provide meat. We are working with our architect and some gracious local community members to help us work through this issue. A design must be agreed upon with the county keeping in mind the challenge of being so close to the water. To be continued on this as we actively work the issue….
USPS – We have spoken to USPS representatives to begin planning the steps necessary to get them back into the building. We are hoping we get an approved interior plan from their management so that we can finish up the necessary construction for the wall that will separate the public space from the employee space. Once we have their approval we will be able to set a better timetable for the USPS to return to the building.
As with many things in life our journey with the market hasn’t been a straight line but a more windy road to the finish – but we know in the end it will be worth it. You’ve also seen a lot of “hope” in our writing this time. Much of what is left to be done is something we have no control over and are at the mercy of the county and/or other vendors so “hope” is what we have. I’m hesitant to put a new opening target as our last 2 attempts have not been correct. But we have to have goals right? Our new target is end of October early November.
Let’s all “Hope” for the best… together.
Until the next time – which we promise not to make too long from now.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
July 16, 2022
Hello Community:
We hope everyone is enjoying the summer! Here is the latest update for the Market.
We continue to make good progress, albeit slower than we would all like. All the electrical and the plumbing have been completed. The team finished installing the insulation this past week, and we now move on to getting the drywall up. In the next couple of weeks we expect the HVAC to be installed, and then our ceiling contractor will get the ceiling put in, and finally the flooring contractor will get the floor coverings installed. Still lots to do, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We are happy to say we have received all our refrigeration units and they are sitting in a warehouse until we are ready. We were really worried about getting this equipment due to the supply constraints so we are relieved they have arrived. The large walk-in freezer and refrigeration units have been received and mostly installed as we are awaiting for a missing part from the manufacturer.
Based on our progress and the current timeline from our contractors we are now expecting to open early September – we are thinking 1st week, but I’m not quite ready to commit yet. Seeing more progress in the coming weeks will give us more confidence about this timeline. Trust me, we are as anxious to be done and open as the community is, but we will have to wait just a little longer. We are confident in saying that the wait will be well worth it.
Due to our offering of fresh cut meats and our desire to put in a future deli service we are going through a process with the Department of Health (DOH) that we were not anticipating (I told you all in the beginning we were rookies at opening Grocery Stores). Austin (our new GM) being onboard has allowed us to develop the necessary internal processes and procedures that the DOH requires us to have prior to issuing their approval. This will be roughly a 2-3 week review and approval process. We want to thank DOH for helping educate us and getting us through the process.
We continue to meet with national and local suppliers of the products we will be selling. We have especially enjoyed meeting and speaking to many of the local farmers and suppliers in the area and will look to highlight these products as we get up and running.
We would like to thank everyone who have sent in suggestions for items you would like to see at the Market. I would like to put out another request out there for folks that have a certain brand or grocery item they would like us to stock. We would appreciate you filling out the form on our website or emailing us your suggestions. We want to ensure we are stocking items the community desires.
In the next 2-3 weeks we will begin contacting folks that have applied to work at the Market. If you have sent us your resume you do not need to resend it. We have compiled a list of folks that have contacted us and we will be in touch.
That’s all for now. We will be back soon with further updates.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
June 1, 2022
Hello Community:
We can’t believe it is already June! Sorry for the long silence. We would like to catch everyone up on the latest activities as we get closer to the opening of the market.
The permitting process has taken us much longer than we anticipated. Due to the extensive renovations we are doing to the market we have had to get additional permits that we did not anticipate having to apply for initially. Working with our architect we believe we have answered the last couple clarifying questions from the county and expect approval within the next couple of weeks.
Additionally, we have been working with SMECO to get the power moved from a single phase to a three phase system. Some of the new equipment we have purchased will need this upgrade and it will also help our energy consumption be more efficient and reliable.
Our refrigeration has been trickling into the warehouse and we are feeling optimistic all the equipment we have ordered will be in before the end of June.
We expect to to have a grand opening of the Cobb Island Public Market by the last week of July. We will provide a more definitive date as we get closer.
We are happy to say we have filled our General Manager position. Austin Ellis will be joining us mid June to help get the store open. Austin lives in Newburg with his wife, and has opened up multiple grocery stores. He is looking forward to meeting everyone soon. We will look to fill further positions as we get closer to the grand opening.
Our initial focus will be to get the market operating as smooth as possible. We will look to offer our deli and prepared foods as Phase 2 to our project. This will allow our staff to focus on providing the best operations and service possible to our community before adding more complexity to our business model.
Lastly, we wanted to address several questions around our thoughts on the Dollar General opening. Prior to us deciding to move forward with our project we were aware that the Dollar General had plans to open a store. We welcome Dollar General and are happy about the additional goods and services that are being made available to our community. Our focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood along with many other things will make us distinctly different from the Dollar General. We also hope that the focus we have on our community and being a local small business will make our store the first stop for our community members.
That’s all for now. We will be back soon with further updates.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
January 12, 2022
Hello Community:
Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Sorry for not writing a blog entry for a couple of months. The holidays, and a COVID household has gotten in the way, but we are back at it with some updates. Hopefully everyone is seeing the great progress our construction team is making. The supply chain issues we have been hearing about are real, and the team has done a wonderful job of anticipating delays as much as possible and juggling the ever changing time frames they are given from our subcontractors and vendors.
As you all have seen the new roof has been put on and the building has been painted white. The power poles and lines in front of the building have been removed, and the surrounding area was cleaned up. We are really happy with how it has turned out. The new roof has allowed us to increase the height of the ceilings by several feet to create an airy atmosphere inside. We have applied for a couple permits to move a wall that will make the old Ice Cream shop a little bigger. We are still contemplating what we will ultimately do with that space, but felt making it a little bigger will serve us well for the future. We do not expect any issues with the permits, but as always, it is a process.
We expect over the next 2 months the windows, doors, and everything else that you need to seal up a building will be complete. You all should start seeing the windows installed some time in February. Getting the building sealed is an important milestone that will allow us to start the work inside.
About the inside... This is where the challenge and delays have been most painful. The equipment manufacturer for all our refrigeration is having issues with the supply chain. This will cause delays as the different pieces that we need to get up and running are simply not available. Although we will have some of our refrigeration in over the next couple of months, the manufacturer has told us that a main component to run the refrigeration would not be available until June. Unfortunately, this will set us back a whole quarter. Our opening will now be in late Q2 early Q3 time frame. I was hoping to be able to have a more definitive date for you by the writing of this piece, but it has been very difficult to get commitments from our vendors and suppliers. Workforce shortages are also causing challenges with getting teams onsite to work on the building. But having said that, we are not deterred and are optimistic in getting a beautiful grocery store for our community in due time. It’s just going to take a little longer than we expected….
I have heard the temporary postal service has been working out well for the community. Unfortunately, the permit to get temporary power to the trailer has been a slow process. We have had to fill the generator by hand every couple of days for the past few months as we work through the permitting process with the County. Certainly, frustrating for all involved, and much more costly, but we want you to be aware and for all of us to recognize the hard work the construction team is putting in to ensure that the USPS is up and running as we continue the upgrades to the building.
That’s all for now. Will be back next month for another update. Please send us a message if you have any questions or feedback.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
OCTOBER 25, 2021
Hello Community:
Whew! What a whirlwind it has been since we last gave an update just 13 days ago. Lots of good news.
We have our permit!! You should start seeing work start in earnest as soon as we get the Postal Service moved to their temporary home.
About the Postal Service.. We have had good communication and collaboration with their leadership and we have confirmed that the Postal Service will be moving to the temporary location on the weekend of October 30-31st.
For those of you who have been by the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department & EMS event parking space, you can see our team has been busy at work getting the space ready for the USPS relocation.
Both the USPS and our teams are still putting the finishing touches to ensure the temporary Postal location is ready to receive and distribute the mail as normal. The only risk we see right now is the power company SMECO getting the power up and running in time. We have a generator on standby should that be necessary to bridge us for when SMECO can turn us on. So although it is a risk, we have a workaround that will allow us to move forward with this move.
Keep the emails coming! We love hearing from you. Until next time…..
All the best,
Kris and Christine
OCTOBER 12, 2021
Hello Community:
We can’t believe October is already here! We were hoping by the time we posted this we would have our permit, but unfortunately we do not. We have had to answer a couple more questions from the county and are hoping to get our permit within days…..hopefully not weeks.
As you have seen the market has been fenced in. We have filled 8 dumpsters so far. It is just about empty. Lots of work from our team to get the place ready to be renovated. We are in a bit of standstill at this point, but we are optimistic our permit will be issued soon.
The temporary relocation of the postal service is making great progress. We have officially signed a contract to lease the event parking lot from the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department & EMS. Another shout out to Eddie and his team for their continued help and support to get that place secured to make it easier on our community to get their mail service on the island while we renovate.
We have been in contact with the Postmaster in charge of the Cobb Island Post Office and we believe we have alignment on the aspects needed to move the postal operation into the temporary trailer. I can’t promise things will go as planned as there are a lot of moving parts and many parties involved, but we are hopeful based on the numerous correspondences we have had with Postal management.
By the time this is posted you will see the trailer where the postal will call home for the next several months delivered to the Volunteer Fire Department & EMS event parking lot. Our teams will be doing the necessary work to get the parking lot ready for postal operations. We are working with the necessary utility companies and vendors to have the trailer operational by no later than 10/27 (Wednesday). USPS has told us that their teams can do the move that same week.
Lots of activity.. we are making progress.. we will post an update once we have a final date for the USPS relocation. Fingers crossed the permit comes soon.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
Hello Community:
Happy September! First, thank you so much for the emails and the outpouring of encouragement, supportive comments, and recommendations for the brands and items you’d like to see in the market. We still have not been able to write back to everyone, but we intend to respond to all the folks that have written us. Please keep the recommendations and comments coming.
We wanted to give an update on how things are progressing as well as give an update on the permitting process, and also an update on the USPS temporary relocation. The market has officially closed. We appreciate Bob Rice working with us to keep the market open until we had our ducks in a row to minimize the amount of time the market is closed.
Soon, you will see fencing put around the market, and dumpsters out in the front so that we can start hauling out everything from the building.
Permitting – Our architect has received comments back from Charles County regarding our application for a permit. This was part of the process that was expected. From the questions we received we had to do an elevation survey as Charles County maps showed that the property may be in a flood zone — Thankfully the survey confirmed our hope that it was not in the flood zone (or only a small unused portion is in the zone). If the property were in a flood zone we would have had to go through a longer process, and could have really delayed our progress. Our architect hopes to hear something from the county over the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed we get past this major gate.
USPS Relocation – I know folks are wondering what will happen to the USPS during our renovations. We are working with the property manager in charge of the Cobb Island post office. She is located in North Carolina, and is in charge of 6000+ postal facilities - this is a very busy person. She is working internally to work through the process to temporary relocate the post office. We have offered to pay for the trailer and to work to find a suitable location to minimize the inconvenience to the community.
Our contact has confirmed that the USPS District office is onboard with the plan we have come up with which is to relocate the post office to a trailer located in the parking lot adjacent to the fire department on Cobb Island. We are now awaiting a target date from the District office. Once we have this we will be sure to communicate this out to the community.
We wanted to give a special Thank You to Eddie Godwin from the Cobb Island Fire Department for letting us give the members an update on the Market and Post Office temporary relocation.
As you can see things are progressing, and we’ve been able to get through some hurdles that could have derailed us if it didn’t go our way. Lots of vendors discussions are happening from the windows, to the HVAC, to masonry folks, SMECO, etc.. etc.. We know it’s a long journey to opening day, but we’ve been pleased with our progress so far.
Until next time.
All the best,
Kris and Christine
AUGUST 1, 2021
Welcome!
Welcome! We are the new owners of the building where the current Cobb Island Market is today. Our names are Kris and Christine, and we live in Newburg and travel between our house in Ashburn, in the Northern Virginia area. We have an 18-year-old daughter, 16-year-old son, and 10-year-old twin girls. Our family have been here for nearly a year having recently sold our home in Florida. Being in this tranquil and peaceful environment has been perfect for our family, and we immediately fell in love with our new home and community. We felt that having a grocery store nearby with fresh fruit, vegetables, and stocked with all the essentials that a household may need would improve the quality of life even more.
When we saw the Cobb Island market building for sale, we realized we could make our vision a reality. We closed on the purchase of the building in February 2021, and our journey of opening a Market began.
Although we have never ran a grocery store before, we have been successful at bringing talented teams together to do great things and understand the importance of customer service and putting your customers first. We have successful businesses in the software tech, education, and restaurant industries. Our most recent projects have been our restaurants in the Richmond area. We know the key to any business is its team members, and we look forward to hiring and working with the great folks around our community.
Our inspiration has come from Nick’s of Clinton’s grocery store. We intend to have all the staple items you would normally see in a traditional grocery store, all at a fair price. The market will have fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood, along with fresh prepared foods, plus great sandwiches and subs.
We want to stock the market with the items the community will want to purchase so we encourage you to give us feedback and suggestions on the items and specific brands that you would like us to carry at the market. This market will specifically cater to our communities on 257, Cobb Island, and Swan Point.
We are excited to be on this journey with you. We hope we can bring an updated Market that the community can be proud of and that will benefit Cobb Island and the surrounding areas.
We encourage you to subscribe to our mailing list so that you can stay up to date with our progress and the latest Market news.
Our Plans
Our plans will be to update much of the building starting with the roof. This will enable us to raise the ceilings in the market. We will be replacing everything from the freezers, refrigeration units, floors, shelving. We will also take the opportunity to replace all the HVAC, electrical and necessary plumbing in the entire building. At the end we hope to have a modern market that can serve the entire community.
Current Status
Our Architect has just completed our construction drawings and recently filed a permit with the county. We expect approval from the county around mid September.
Bob Rice, has graciously worked with us to have him continue to operate and keep the current market open. Our goal is to minimize the amount of time the market is shutdown. We know the members of our community have grown to rely on the market, and we will do everything we can to make the changes to the building as quickly as possible. Supply chain issues across many industries is posing challenges for us, but we are working through it.
Bob and I have agreed to shut the market down on September 8, 2021. This will allow us to put the proper safety fences around the market so that we can start prepping the building for the upcoming renovations and to transfer the necessary licenses to comply with liquor board regulations.
We are in contact with the proper points of contact at the US Postal Service to work through a suitable temporary relocation plan. We hope to be able to provide more details once we come to an agreement with the Postal Service.
At this time the best estimate we can give the community is a Grand Opening in Q1 2022.
We will provide the community with updates as we make progress to ensure you have the latest information from us. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us via email regarding any questions you have, and we will do the best we can to provide answers.
Sincerely,
Kris and Christine