Dave's 'Freshest' Marketplace opens at Smithfield's Crossing

SMITHFIELD - It may be the newest retail enterprise in town, but Dave's Fresh Marketplace, which opens today at The Crossing on Putnam Pike at I-295 amid mounds of California pomegranates, lobsters steamed in-house, and pizza hot from its own brick oven, is designed as a blast from the past.

Shoppers at the 36,000-square-foot market find themselves in a Smithfield of long ago, in a setting designed to evoke the atmosphere of an old Apple Valley barn, complete with murals depicting local orchard scenes and photo montages of the town as it used to be, gleaned from townies themselves.

It's a place where Pam Banaczuk, of Woonsocket, shows off 100-pound wheels of parmaggiano reggiano, the parmesan cheese she'll be hand-grinding under the watchful eye of customers in her cheese department, the first of its kind in the Dave's eight-store Rhode Island chain.

"I am basically your cheese lady," says Pam, one of some 120 full- and part-time workers at the store, the result of a $4.5-million renovation of what used to be a Linens "n" Things emporium in the shopping center.

The new market's opening on Wednesday and Thursday of this week is the result of 3 1/2 months of work that its operators say provides both atmosphere and a wide variety of products, highlighted by trademark-fresh meats and produce, specialty deli and seafood departments, and a varied food court and eat-in area.

"You've got your pasta bar, you've got a wok, you've got a burrito station and a carving station, noted General Manager William Hogan on Monday, as shelves began to fill.

Signs were going up everywhere: "Fresh Sushi," "Grilled Citrus Salmon," "Lobster Mac & Cheese."

Charlie DiMascio, produce director, was seeing to the rosso bruno brown tomatoes, grown in Canada from Italian seeds and prized for their low acidity and creamy texture.

Claudia DiFusco, manager of the flower shop, was setting up a forest of cut blossoms, including bright, six-inch mums and sunflowers, and reminding a passerby not to forget that "We deliver."

Also getting set up was another Dave's trademark - the brewing machine that provides shoppers with a free cup of coffee.

The new store is the largest in the uniquely Rhode Island chain started 40 years ago when "Dave," that's David A. Cesario, opened a seasonal fruit stand in Warwick that he called Dave's Fruitland.

Later he enclosed it for year-round operation and branched out, and in 1976 he built his existing Smithfield market, a 14,000-square-foot enterprise on Cedar Swamp Road (Route 5) that will continue to operate.

According to Robert Fabiano, director of store development, the smaller Dave's became so popular that its clientele was far larger than its design anticipated.

"It's absurd the number of people that go into that little store," he said. "It does more business per square foot than any other place in the country."

He estimated that with the opening of the new Smithfield store, the chain, which operates two stores in Smithfield, North Kingstown and Warwick, and one in Cumberland and East Greenwich, now employs close to 1,000 people.

Hogan said the company did its hiring for the new store quietly, depending largely on word-of-mouth and recommendations from workers.

He said the idea for the new store came by chance, when Dave's learned of the vacancy in one of the community's largest shopping areas.

The interior décor and its attention to local history and landmarks was designed by an Ohio firm, after consultation with residents who even supplied old photos, Hogan said.

The local angle isn't just for show: The company also buys from local farms, in addition to using Boston as a hub for products that "are flown in from all over the world," says Hogan.

He said the renovation process was helped because local officials were "the most accommodating that we've ever worked with."

"There's plenty to look at here," he said, adding that the attention to detail is key to providing "a fun shopping experience."

Dave's is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.