THE WAIT IS OVER! Canton’s Papaya officially opens
A look inside the recently-opened Papaya Fruit Market in Canton.
When it came time for the ultra-popular Papaya Fruit Market brand to select its first western-Wayne County location, its leaders turned to social media.
“One thing we did was put up a poll on our Instagram account to see which city would be the best new location,” explained Michael Beydoun, the general manager for Papaya Fruit Markets. “A lot of people voted for Canton. Plus, we had been receiving a lot of requests from Canton residents who wanted to see a Papaya in their township.”
Following a six-month process following the acquisition of the property in the shopping complex just northwest of the intersection of Canton Center and Hanford roads, the Canton Papaya officially welcomed customers Thursday with a soft opening.
Beydoun said the company would announce the opening on social media sometime Thursday evening.
“We’ve already had 200 customers in here before 3 p.m. — and that’s with no publicity about the opening,” Beydoun said. “We’re excited we’re finally open. It’s taken six months to get this site up and running. We were waiting on getting the OKs from the township and health department, but everything came out perfect and we’re up and running and ready to rock and roll.”
Most spacious Papaya yet
At approximately 16,000 square feet, the Canton Papaya is the largest of its five retail stores (the company also has three wholesale locations).
The space is brightly lit, well-organized with well-stocked shelves.
“Our main focus is our offerings of authentic Mediterranean groceries we get from overseas,” Beydoun said. “A lot of our groceries come from Lebanon, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey — that’s what makes us unique and popular.”
Beydoun said the company has temporarily moved some employees from its other sites to get the Canton store up and running. He said they are looking to hire as many as 25 new employees to fill a variety of jobs for the Canton store. Interested individuals can email their resumes to PapayaCanton@papayafm.com or text 313-896-8000. The store is paying up to $18 per hour for cashiers, stock boys, managers, kitchen staff, baskery staff and meat market staff.
Grand opening announcement
Papaya will host a grand opening sale March 15-19, Beydoun said.
The store occupies the space formerly filled by Planet Fitness, which moved to a Ford Road location in 2022.
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