LA Mart grocery to open in Oakland Mills

A Maryland-based grocery chain plans to open its fourth store in a 39,279-squarefoot space in Oakland Mills Village Shopping Center in Columbia.

LA Mart, serving the Washington metropolitan area, specializes in internationally focused foods.

The Oakland Mills building was previously occupied by Food Lion and later Weis Markets, which left in June, two years after Weis’ acquisition of several Food Lion stores. The Baltimore Business Journal said the firm wanted a store that can serve a more diverse population.

“We felt that with the other traditional grocery stores ...we needed to do something a little different,” said Lawrence Hoffman of H&R Retail, a real estate brokerage.