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Come Get Your
Fresh Produce at Fruitland
- Article & photo by Ben Boehl -
With summer officially only a few days away, its time
to look forward to all the great foods of the season: watermelon, corn,
tomatoes, crabs and a whole bunch more. Where do you go for all these
great foods? How about Fruitland Produce in Essex? Fruitland has all
types of fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Owner Tony Walters says
his produce is all local, and you wont find fresh produce in a grocery
store. What makes us different from the rest is we give you more personalized
service. We will help you take produce out to your car. We also cater
to families that need to buy a large amount of food, he said. We give
them that old time service. In the grocery stores, you dont know how
long their stuff has been sitting around. Our products are always fresh.
Right next to Fruitland is Crabland, which is also owned and operated
by Walters. Fruitland has always sold crabs, but he wanted to open a
clean facility where customers can sit and eat crabs. Crabland is the
home of the Big Bushel. Crabland has been open for over 11 years and
Walters thanks his customer base for helping Fruitland stay successful
for over 40 years. We have loyal customers. Some of them have been with
us for 40 years. Now we are getting children and grandchildren of our
customers from 40 years ago, Walter explained. Fruitland started 45
years ago near Robert Hall in Middlesex. After outgrowing that building,
Walters moved Fruitland to its current location of 106 Eastern Blvd.
We decided we had to move. We outgrew that building, so we decided to
take over the vacant gas station down here. Over 40 years later, we
are still here, Walters said. When I started, you could get a soft crab
for 15 and a bushel of crabs was only $8. Times have changes and Ive
seen it all. Walters is the second-generation produce man. He is the
son of Charlie Walters, who was known for his Cheap Charlies stands
in Dundalk. I still have his wagon on display in Crabland. He used to
drive his horse and wagon and sell fruit and vegetables on North Point
Road when all the Sparrow Point workers came off work, he recalled.
There would be a long line of traffic and he would go up and sell produce
to them. Today Walters sons work with him and he hopes to keep the family
tradition alive by passing the family business down to them. He remembers
going to work with his father at a young age and has worked in the produce
business his whole life. Its a business I know well and I dont know
anything else.
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