Duckweed Urban Grocery has revealed to St. Pete Rising that it plans to open a new store in downtown St. Pete, its first outside of Tampa, by the end of the year.

Tampa’s favorite neighborhood grocery store has inked a deal to debut inside 2,200 square feet on the ground floor of the Tru by Hilton hotel at 1650 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District. 

Duckweed will join Noble Tavern off the Farm, a new restaurant concept by the owners of Noble Crust, on the first floor of the Tru by Hilton. Noble Tavern is also expected to open by the end of the year.

“We have always wanted to open in St Pete, but were waiting for the right location,” said Pavan Pediredla, owner of Duckweed Urban Grocery. “This space met our criteria.”

This will be the sixth location for Duckweed, which also has outposts in downtown Tampa, Channel District, NoHo, Westshore, and Davis Islands.

“We want to make it easy for urban dwellers to buy great, locally sourced groceries in their own neighborhood any day of the week without having to drive across town,” states the company’s website.

Duckweed is a health-conscious grocery store that offers locally sourced, organic groceries, as well as some additional luxuries and conveniences. The St. Pete shop will also carry a selection of beer and wine with liquor hopefully being added later.

The grocery store has become known for its curated selection of products that cater to a variety of diets—including vegan and keto. 

The business got its start after a local couple sought to solve the issue of not being able to buy basic grocery items in downtown Tampa. And so, in 2011, Duckweed Urban Grocery was born, occupying a modest 550-square-foot space on East Polk Street.

Success led to expansion, as Duckweed debuted its second store in the Channel District in 2016.

Soon after, the downtown Tampa location moved into a larger space. Going from 550 square feet to 2,400 square feet allowed Duckweed to add a cafe, Farmacy Vegan Kitchen, and carry a wider range of products.

Although the St. Pete location will not contain a Farmacy Vegan Kitchen, many vegan grocery options will still be available.

Two years later, in 2018, the founders of Duckweed sold the business to Pavan Pediredla, who still owns the stores today.

Pediredla added a liquor component to the Channel District location after he noticed few other options to purchase alcohol locally. 

The growth continued with Duckweed opening in Westshore and NoHo in 2021 and in Davis Islands earlier this year.

Now, Pediredla has his sights set across the Bay.

“We are focused on St. Pete for now,” he said. “Ideally, we would like to open a second location in St. Pete next year.”

Duckweed Urban Grocery hopes to open by the end of the year at 1650 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District. Be sure to visit their website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.