If 14,000 clicks tell us anything, it’s that Maricopa is fired up about the new Fry’s. A huge grocery store next to the library, plus the promise of fresh rotisserie chickens, will do that.
If you visit the site of the new Fry’s along White and Parker Road, you’re going to see… not much. As of today, it’s a field. More of a dirt pit. In the distance are half-built apartments and with a hazy mountain range behind them.
InMaricopa went to the O.G. Fry’s on John Wayne Parkway to ask Maricopans about what an east side Fry’s would mean to them.
The consensus: Maricopa has more roads than John Wayne Parkway? Record scratch.
Let’s start with a recap of Monica D. Spencer’s reporting: The proposed 121,000-square-foot Fry’s would anchor the planned San Travasa Commercial Center at the northwest corner of Farrell and White-and-Parker Roads. Developers have submitted a permit application to build on 24 acres and are working on an “accelerated timeframe,” with documents nearly ready for groundbreaking.
The project will include a fuel station, 725 parking spaces, three retail buildings, a bank and three fast-food restaurants, updated site plans show. No additional businesses have been named.
For many residents, another Fry’s has been a long-awaited relief from what some describe as the “zoo-like atmosphere” at the existing Maricopa store.
“I go to the grocery store on my way back into town, so I’ll still use this one,” said Jason Lonsinger, who is renting in Tortosa.
“Maybe the new one will be for last-minute things,” added Rhet Lonsinger.
Others are curious about what the new development will bring.
![An artist's rendering shows what the proposed Fry's Marketplace at Farrell and White-and-Parker Roads could look like once construction is complete. [Barclay Group]](https://inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/san-travasa-frys-rendering-300x117.jpg)
“I hope they have a Starbucks,” said Senita resident Josh O., wishing for a coffee shop and other amenities on the east side. “I moved here a year ago. What’s even over there?”
That was a trend for many of the shoppers we talked to. Many had never been over to Maricopa’s east side.
“I never drive over there, so I don’t know,” said Villages at Rancho El Dorado resident Raquel H. “I know where everything is here.”
If approved, the new Fry’s would be the city’s fifth standalone grocery store, joining the original Fry’s, Bashas’, Sprouts, Walmart and, soon, Aldi.
