Fresh Grocer to join Shop Rite's supplier, Wakefern Food Corp.

The Fresh Grocer chain of supermarkets will join Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative that supplies Shop Rite supermarkets, Wakefern announced Wednesday.

Fresh Grocer co-founder Patrick Burns will continue to own the chain's eight stores, primarily in this region, while Wakefern will own the Fresh Grocer name. One of the locations in the Philadelphia area will become a ShopRite.

"Adding the strength of the Fresh Grocer brand and its unique offering will help us to continue our growth in the Philadelphia marketplace," said Joe Sheridan, Wakefern president and chief operating officer.

Fresh Grocer currently has locations near the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Sheridan said Fresh Grocer locations near college campuses were attractive because they "will give us new insight into the next generation of consumers and will expand our reach to a new customer."

Fresh Grocer has six stores in the Philadelphia area and one each in Wilmington and New Brunswick, N.J., near the Rutgers University campus.