Sullivan’s Marketplace, a popular Mississippi grocery store, has been approved by the Oxford Planning Commission to set up shop at the Colonnade Crossing development off Highway 30.  

Sullivan’s Marketplace, founded by the Sullivan family in 2005 in Newhebron, Miss., features a fresh produce section and a butcher station. The Oxford location is expected to resemble the Sullivan family’s market in Gluckstadt, Miss.

The Oxford Planning Commission gave special permission to the store, allowing it to exceed the Suburban Corridor District’s 25,000-square-foot limit set for grocery stores. This made way for the 35,000-square-foot space. Dates to begin construction have not been announced, nor has a completion date.

Some residents are excited to welcome this new grocery shopping option to town.

Bella Monteleone, an Oxford-Lafayette county native, said the new addition will alleviate some of the crowding in current grocery stores like Kroger. 

“I think Oxford gets a little crowded when students are here, so the new grocery store will be very helpful,” Monteleone said. “Walmart and Kroger get extremely crowded, and it can be hard to find parking, so I think this will help make Oxford feel a lot less busy and smaller.”

Kadie Jadin, a sophomore pharmaceutical sciences major., shared her excitement for the grocery store’s arrival. 

“I am really excited for us to get Sullivan’s because it will make less traffic at (other) grocery stores,” Jadin said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Not everyone in the Oxford-Lafayette community feels the same sense of excitement. Oxford resident Brook Austin said he thinks Sullivan’s Marketplace is not necessary.

“I don’t think we necessarily need a new grocery store, but a new one isn’t a bad thing,” Austin said. “We already have about three or four grocery stores in Oxford, and several more in nearby towns.”

With Oxford’s increasing residential population — 56,172 residents as of 2022 — Monteleone said that the addition makes sense. 

“I’ve seen Oxford grow so much,” Monteleone said. “It makes sense that we would get new businesses as well. That really helps.”

Mary Allen Anderson, a sophomore biology major, also expressed a similar economic enthusiasm toward the new grocery store’s opening. 

“I am so happy because as a person who has a job, pays for school, sorority dues … I like to have an easier time getting groceries since I eat at home all the time,” Anderson said. “Hopefully this makes my trips quicker.”