Morton’s Siesta Market to open in summer

The rumors are true: Morton’s Gourmet Market is opening in the Siesta Market spot in Siesta Key Village.

Morton’s owners, Eddie and Todd Morton, have signed a lease to fill the spot currently held by the Siesta Market.

The Siesta Market will close at the end of May after owners Vince and Peter Messina announced their intentions to retire in late March. Chris Brown and business partner Mike Granthon own the property; they purchased the land in November for $2.8 million. After the Messina brothers decided to retire, Brown began searching for a new tenant. Last week, Brown said he wanted to see another grocery store in that location. 

“I think that is a service that’s needed — there’s a huge void if it’s not a grocery store,” he said.  “Customers and tourists depend on it.”

Brown and Granthon approached the Mortons after the Messinas announced their retirement to see if the father and son would be interested in opening a second location on Siesta.

Brown said when the word got out that the Siesta Market would leave a vacancy in a highly desirable Village location, their phones started ringing, but Brown and Granthon wanted to be selective with the type of tenant filling the space.

After negotiations, the Mortons signed a lease with Brown last week and plan to open the doors sometime this summer. 

“They’ll be great neighbors, and it’s great news for Siesta Key,” Brown said. “It will help it grow in the right direction.”

Morton’s Gourmet Market is a locally owned catering and specialty food store located at 1924 S. Osprey Ave. 

Todd Morton said the new location will be a hybrid of the store’s Southside location and the amenities of the current Siesta Market, offering what he called “normal” groceries along with Morton’s signature specialty items, prepared foods and hot and cold deli.

The name isn’t changing much: Morton said the current plan is to call the new location “Morton’s Siesta Market.”

“It’s not going to be a copy of (the Southside) market,” Morton said. “It’s a location I think is unique. We thought we would fit in.”

Morton said they are going through the building inspection now with plans to update both the interior and exterior of the building, but they plan to work on the building while the market is operating.

“We want to get in as-is, operate and work on it while we’re in there,” he said. “The sooner, the better.”

Brown said the Mortons shared the same vision as him and Granthon in terms of maintaining Siesta Village’s charm and character.

The Siesta Market employs about 20 people currently. Vince Messina said most of them plan to work until the store closes May 31. Morton said some of the employees have indicated they would like to stay on after the store switches names, and he said the employees would be interviewed and considered for employment at the future store.