Fruta Ice Cream owner Salvador Cruz wanted to bring a produce market and ice cream shop to southeast Santa Rosa. The idea has since evolved into a supermarket with food and drink options.
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A new grocery with a coffee bar, taco bar, juice shop, taphouse and ice cream bar is coming to Santa Rosa Avenue.
The city’s zoning administration on Thursday gave approval for the design phase of Masamigas Mercado, whose owner Salvador Cruz also owns and runs Fruta Ice Cream, a Michoacan ice cream shop.
Cruz said he originally bought the former Office Furniture World building at 2970 Santa Rosa Avenue as the next Fruta Ice Cream location. There are currently three locations in Santa Rosa and one in Petaluma. His idea was to build the ice cream shop and a produce market in the same space.
Cruz said neighbors began approaching him about opening a full supermarket and that’s when he imagined a market inspired by the mercados of his youth in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Cruz sees the future mercado as a place where people can grab a snack or drink and hang out before grabbing everyday essentials for their homes. He said he hopes to make it a space where locals can walk to in order to get everything they need.
“I’m in a point in my life where I care about our community,” Cruz said. “We want to give back to the community by having good quality products at the most affordable prices that we can do.”
The market will be under parent company, Casa Cruz Group, whose website states Masamigas will be a place “where culture, heritage and community converge. The other two listings on the site are juice bar La Selva and Masamigas Craft taproom, which will offer local beers on rotation.
Brian Donald, brand manager for the Casa Cruz Group, said Cruz purchased the building in 2021 and has been developing this idea for the last four years.
Donald envisions not just a hangout spot for locals, but also a visitor destination.
“It is a good location but it also could be a destination for someone coming from the Bay Area coming up to visit wine country for the weekend,” Donald said.
Cruz said construction plans are underway and he hopes to complete the project by the end of this year. Donald said they anticipate opening in spring 2026.
You can reach Staff Writer Melanie Nguyen at 707-521-5457 or melanie.nguyen@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @mellybelly119
