Henry Detwiler Sr. did not set out to build a grocery empire. He set out to sell fresh produce in his pocket of Florida.
In the early 2000s, Detwiler and his wife Natalie were selling fruits, vegetables and Amish furniture out of a small tent at Sutter Egg Farm on Fruitville Road.
It was a modest operation run by a family that had relocated to Sarasota from Virginia with nine children, faith-based convictions and a belief that good food, when sold honestly, was enough of a business model to build a life around.
Over two decades later, that tent has become one of the most shopped and supported grocery chains on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Detwiler's Farm Market now operates six stores across Sarasota and Manatee counties, recently opened a 133,000-square-foot
distribution center in Palmetto and is preparing to open its seventh and eighth locations: a 43,000-square-foot store in Bradenton's Braden River Plaza this fall and a 52,000-square-foot flagship in North Port in late 2028.
The North Port store will be the largest in the chain's history and the first built entirely from the ground up.
What Detwiler's has built is not just a grocery chain.
It is a Sarasota institution – one that arrived quietly, grew steadily and became, without fanfare, the store that people across two counties will drive out of their way to visit.
"Honestly, not really," said company president Sam Detwiler when asked if he ever imagined Detwiler's Farm Market would become a local grocery giant.
"What started as a little roadside stand just continues to grow," Detwiler said.
"But we are very honored and thankful to be able to move into another area."
A lost lease and a second chance
The road to today's success was not always smooth.
In the summer of 2009, the family lost its lease at Fruitville Grove Market east of Interstate 75 with just 30 days' notice.
They had spent years building that market from a small stand into a thriving operation with one of the largest pumpkin festivals in the area.
Losing it stung.
"It really hurt our family," Sam Detwiler said. "Whatever we could do, it wouldn't keep the landlords happy."
But instead of retreating, the family pivoted.
They gathered every customer contact they could on the way out and opened the Palmer Boulevard store the same year. That store became the foundation on which everything else was built.
Venice followed in 2013, University Parkway in 2015, Palmetto after that and West Bradenton in December 2023 – which was when the chain introduced hot foods and freshly baked pizza for the first time.
Each new store followed the same formula Henry Sr. had set from the beginning.
As Sam puts it: "Price is king. Customers are family. And fresh is fresh – you can't fake it."
Family in every sense of the word
Detwiler's is a family business in the most literal sense.
It's one where the founder's children grew up working the floor and now run the company alongside their parents.
Henry Sr. serves as founder and CEO.
Sam is president and oversees day-to-day operations.
Henry Jr. is vice president in charge of operations.
Caleb handles produce buying.
Gracie works in the bakery.
The leadership transition has been years in the making, and it is already well underway.
"The sons have continued what Henry Sr. started," Sam said.
"The transition has been happening for already a few years. The boys are staying focused on delivering the best food at the best prices while staying true and grounded – treating people the way they want to be treated, whether that's our internal team or customers."
What keeps Sam Detwiler up at night is not competition or real estate. It is something more fundamental.
"The main thing that keeps me up at night is that we could get distracted from what we know as true," he said.
The stores are always closed on Sundays – every one, every week.
On its website, Detwiler's states that it will "always be closed on Sundays as we feel it's important to have time with family, and the same goes for our employees and their children."
In an industry where seven-day operations are standard, the Sunday closure is a statement at Detwiler’s.
And it hasn't diminished the loyalty Detwiler's has earned from its customer base.
Building for what comes next
On Sept. 29, 2025, Detwiler's opened a 133,000-square-foot distribution center at Florida International Tradeport in Palmetto, featuring 33 cold docks and nine dry docks, and serving all six existing stores.
The Braden River Plaza store in Bradenton opens this fall.
The North Port flagship follows in late 2028 at 5001 N. Sumter Blvd., across the street from Sarasota Memorial Hospital's new North Port campus. It is expected to create 125 jobs.
Sam Detwiler is particularly excited by the North Port project.
"We have a few things up our sleeve that we believe will wow customers and create an even better experience," Detwiler said. "We get to start with a blank slate instead of working off of an outdated building or layout."
Looking further ahead, the company has its eyes on continued northward expansion, with several opportunities currently in consideration.
"We will continue to expand internally, perfecting our current departments, as well as externally," Detwiler said.
"We would like to go north further and we have some opportunities between locations currently."
From a roadside produce tent to eight stores, the Detwiler family has built something most businesses never manage.
It has become a local brand that feels genuinely irreplaceable.
It's not because there is no competition. It's because, as Sam Detwiler would say, fresh is fresh.
You can't fake it.
Samantha Gholar is an enterprise journalist with USA TODAY Co. and reports on business, culture and lifestyle for the Herald-Tribune.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: A deep look at Detwiler's ahead of new Sarasota County grocery opening
