MaMa Jean’s to open Battlefield Market Place store

MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC is working to open its fourth store at Battlefield Market Place.

Shannon Handwerker, property manager with Magers Enterprises, the owner of the 900 E. Battlefield Road development, said MaMa Jean’s signed on as a tenant to fill the space that has served as home to Florentina’s Ristorante Italiano, Quincy Magoo’s and Fish restaurant.

Handwerker referred further questions to MaMa Jean’s co-owners Susie Farbin and Diana Hicks. Reached at the company’s South Campbell Avenue store this morning, Hicks declined to comment.

According to Springfield Business Journal archives, the Battlefield Market Place space is roughly 6,900 square feet.

MaMa Jean’s would join a development that has experienced high turnover in recent years. In September, Vasken’s International Deli and Food Market closed amid an ownership dispute and alleged theft. In April, Rogers, Ark.-based Gusano’s Chicago-Style Pizzeria opened the franchise’s eighth restaurant in the space that formerly housed Bandana’s Bar-B-Q and The Filling Station. Muscle Maker Grill opened at the development in October 2012, taking over space formerly occupied by Minsky’s Pizza. However, Muscle Maker is no longer listed at MuscleMakerGrill.com.

Natural foods retailer MaMa Jean’s opened its most recent store, a 24,000-square-foot grocery, at 3530 E. Sunshine St. in April 2013. In addition to its first store at 1727 S. Campbell Ave., an 11,000-square-foot shop that opened in 2002, the company also operates a 2008-launched store at 1110 E. Republic Road, which sits at 13,500 square feet.

MaMa Jean’s ranked No. 4 in SBJ’s 2015 Dynamic Dozen, with 2014 revenue of $18.3 million and three-year revenue growth of 54 percent. At the time of the awards in May, the company employed nearly 170.

A year ago, Farbin and Hicks were interviewed live for SBJ’s 12 People You Need to Know editorial series. In November 2014, Farbin said the co-owners were exploring a fourth store outside of the Springfield market that would be “more than 50 miles away, but less than 300.”