The Del Ray Farmhouse Market and Garden, located at 1913 Mount Vernon Avenue, has just opened a small grocery store inside its premises.
Owner Jay Portlance soft-opened the grocery store today (Oct. 8), selling vegetables, fresh bread, and eggs. He said that the store will support local vendors and farms. Portlance noted that the store is a “micro-version” of a standard grocery store and plans to expand its offerings over the next several weeks.
“The last six months we’ve been building out the inside to be a farm-to-market grocery store,” Portlance said. “We didn’t think that the Del Ray Farmers’ Market one day a week was enough of a platform, so we decided to have a seven-day-a-week farmer’s market where we are. We’re buying directly from the farms.”
The Del Ray Farmhouse Market and Garden opened in March, three months after the previous tenant, Bellies and Babies consignment boutique, closed. Portlance is also the owner of Del Ray Hardware, which is across the street at 2003 Mount Vernon Avenue.
“We’re going to start displaying the farms and displaying where all the products are coming from,” Portlance said. “All the perishable items — eggs, dairy, all that stuff is going to be coming from local farms. All shelf-stable products will be sourced from across the country. Those are mom-and-pop products. You’re not gonna see your Hellman’s or your global brands. You’re gonna see your small domestic brands.”
Portlance said that fresh bread will be delivered every day.
“We’re gonna be functioning off the run-out method,” he said. “We’ve already sold half the bread we brought in this morning. Starting tomorrow (Thursday), we will have fresh baguettes delivered every morning, but once they’re gone, they’re gone, and we’ll have new ones the next morning.”
Portlance said he’s trying to keep prices down. Right now, a pound of fresh tomatoes is $3, a pound of eggplant is $4.75, a head of Romaine lettuce is $2.75, and a dozen eggs are $8.
“We’re being very intentional about how we’re curating,” he said. “We’re testing everything. We’re making sure that it makes sense for what we’re doing, but also that the price point has to make sense.”
