Moments after the final touches of fluorescent green paint were applied to its walls the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Downtown Fresno opened to the public today a little before 10 a.m.

Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason and Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin were on site to welcome in the more than 50 people who stood in line for nearly an hour to peruse the store’s selection of groceries and toiletries.

“We’re delighted to be here and to be part of generating downtown development,” said Mason fresh of the plane from his native country of England.

The opening of the 10,000-square-foot store at Tulare and R streets comes after more than a year of suspense and work by the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, which leveraged $100,000 to bring the $4.5 million project to Downtown Fresno.

“It’s a milestone event and it brings a very important service to the downtown community,” said Marlene Murphey, executive director of the agency.

The store was one of three Fresh & Easy stores to open in the Fresno-Clovis area today. The other locations now open are at Cedar and Nees avenues in Fresno and Shaw and Willow avenues in Clovis.

What makes the downtown location so unique is that it’s the first grocery store to locate downtown in more than two decades, which Murphey anticipates will lead to further development of the area, job creation and increased property values.

“On a day like today you can really feel the momentum in Downtown Fresno ... and that we are on the brink of revitalization,” Swearengin said.

Each store employs 20 to 30 people who are each paid at least $10 per hour in California. Other locations scheduled to open next month are those at Shaw and West avenues in Fresno, which will open Feb. 3, and a Reedley location, which will open Feb. 24. The location in Lemoore opened on Dec.  2.

The grocery chain, owned by the British retail giant Tesco, ships in prepared foods like lasagna and burritos from its distribution center in Riverside.

The company has announced plans to open 12 stores total in Fresno, Clovis, Reedley and Lemoore and additional locations in the future.