How a tiny Maryland town got a grocery store after more than two decades as a food desert

The bones of some high-visibility walls went up a few weeks ago in the roughly 4,259-resident town of Indian Head. “We just did a blog on that and got blasted with people who are ecstatic,” said Marilyn Steele, co-owner of Oasis Fresh Foods Market, which has been in the works for years. “Seeing the framing makes people giddy.” Giddy about a grocery store. And not a huge one. It will be just 6,000 square feet, including back of house. But Oasis’s anticipated mid-2024 opening is big news in the Charles County town where Steele said many people are “still raw” about Super Fresh closing more than two decades ago.