The owner of the former Friedman's Freshmarket in Saxonburg is in talks to sell the 27,500-square-foot building to a buyer who would return it to a full-service supermarket.BUTLER EAGLE FILE PHOTO

SAXONBURG — The talks between the new owners of the former Friedman's building on West Water Street and an undisclosed grocer has got the borough buzzing.

Saxonburg has gone without a grocery store since January 2018, when all of the Friedman's Freshmarket locations were closed.

Merchants Distributors Inc. (MDI), the North Carolina company that sued Harold Friedman Inc. and won, now owns the Saxonburg building and another empty property in Butler Township.

MDI officials confirmed earlier this week that they are in talks with a potential grocer, but will put the building up for sale if they do not make a deal within the next several weeks.

Residents of the borough have had to drive to Sarver, Butler or Gibsonia to access a full-service grocery store since Friedman's closed.

“I hope it's someone we could depend on and (who would) have good products,” said Maria Berzonski, of Jefferson Township, of a potential new store.

Read more in Friday's Butler Eagle.