Henry’s takes over Mother’s spot

COSTA MESA — Henry’s Farmers Market is opening a second Costa Mesa location.

The new Henry’s will be at the former location of Mother’s Market & Kitchen, at 225 E. 17th St.

Mother’s recently moved to Newport Boulevard, near 19th Street, replacing a Borders.

“It’s a proven site for a grocery store, and it brings a full selection of natural food to the area,” said Mark Perlmutter, president of DMP Properties, which owns the land. “So it’s a place where you can do all your shopping, get your produce and get you household goods.”

The first in-town Henry’s location is on Harbor Boulevard and Baker Street. The Irvine-based company is a full-service natural food grocer that offers everything from meats to fresh fruits and vegetables and prepared deli foods.

The company signed a long-term lease for the location — more than 10 years — and plans to stock products attractive to the Newport-Mesa area, Perlmutter said.

“Some Henry’s diversify the product mix to meet the demographics of the surrounding area,” he said. “We expect higher-end deli meats and wine-and-cheese section.”

Henry’s is in the process of obtaining permits from the city and is expected to open in January, Perlmutter said.

When Mother’s relocated, Perlmutter said, the surrounding businesses saw a small decrease in customer traffic, but with Henry’s coming in, they expect an uptick in visits.

“We were talking to a lot of different businesses for that space, and we just feel that this makes sense because it drives traffic to the property and allows other tenants to field the traffic from a grocer like that,” Perlmutter said. “We’re very excited about it.”