Rego’s Fresh Markets will open in February at the former Tops Markets location on Columbia Road in Westlake. (Photo by Kevin Kelley)

Rego’s moving to former Tops store
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Dec. 13, 2006

An old name from the grocery business will return to Westlake early next year.

Rego’s Fresh Market Inc. has agreed to purchase the former Tops Markets store at 1499 Columbia Road. The new store should be open for business by mid-February, owner Chuck Rego told West Life.

Rego’s is also purchasing the former Tops store at Kamm’s Corners in Cleveland (17400 Lorain Ave.) That store will reopen under its new name in the second half of January, Rego said.

The Columbia Road location will require more work than the Kamm’s Corner site, Rego explained.

“We need to do some remodeling there,” he said.

Rego’s Fresh Market currently operated stores in Cleveland and Strongsville as well as the Lake Road Market in Rocky River.

Rego, a Westlake resident, said the Columbia Road store not only expands his chain but also represents a return to a community his family has served in the past.

“My father started the original (Rego) store back in 1948,” Rego said. “We saw it as a great opportunity to get back into Westlake with the Rego name and serve the customers.”

Riser Foods operated 36 Rini-Rego Stop-N-Shop stores in the Cleveland area before being purchased by Giant Eagle in May 1997 for $403 million.

Rego said employees at the Columbia Road Tops, which like all Tops stores closed Friday, will be considered for positions at the new store.

“We are going to interview all the associates that were at that store and then we will hire,” Rego said.

In October, Tops announced plans to sell 18 stores, including the one in Fairview Park, to Giant Eagle. The sale to Giant Eagle of an additional Tops site in Streetsboro was announced last week.

In Lakewood, Giant Eagle will move across Detroit Road to a soon-to-be-vacated larger Tops location. The store will reopen under the Giant Eagle sign in mid-December.

The fate of the North Olmsted Tops store on Brookpark Extention is unknown, although company officials say they will continue to pursue deals.

“Throughout our history in Northeast Ohio, we have worked hard to be a good corporate citizen by actively supporting our associates, customers and neighborhoods,” Max Henderson Jr., executive vice president and general manager of Tops, said in a statement last week. “We are satisfied that many of our stores have been sold to experienced grocery store operators who will continue the tradition of service to their communities. While we are closing our doors as of (Dec. 8), we will continue to seek buyers for the stores that have yet to be sold and feel confident that the majority of the remaining stores will be sold.”

Ahold, the Dutch parent company of Tops, announced its decision to divest of its Northeast Ohio Tops stores in July.