Wonder is preparing to open a multi-brand food operation in Prince Frederick, adding more than 15 restaurant concepts to the Fox Run Shopping Center at 625 Solomons Island Road North. The official opening is scheduled for Sept. 24, following a three-day soft opening from Sept. 21 through 23, The BayNet reports.
The arrival places Wonder in one of Calvert County’s most established commercial areas. The county’s comprehensive plan identifies Prince Frederick as its largest Town Center by land area and commercial square footage, with residential, commercial and institutional uses, and describes the community as a regional retail center because of its location near the county’s geographic center. Calvert County’s comprehensive plan also says food service and drinking places were among residents’ top three requested retail categories in a 2011 retail leakage report.
A redeveloped shopping center
Wonder’s storefront is part of a broader transition at Fox Run. According to property owner Brixmor, the center’s former Kmart was reconfigured into four junior-anchor spaces and three new outparcels, including Popeyes, Burger King and Starbucks. The redevelopment was completed in the third quarter of 2022, and Brixmor reports that traffic at the center increased 51% afterward.
That history gives the opening significance beyond the addition of another restaurant: Wonder is taking space in a shopping center that has been repositioned around a larger mix of retailers, services and food businesses. The available sources do not establish how much traffic or employment Wonder itself will add, so the center-wide figure should not be treated as a forecast for the new operation.
What customers can expect
The Prince Frederick operation will bring several restaurant brands into one location, with offerings spanning pizza, pasta, barbecue, burgers, tacos, Thai and Mediterranean food, salads, sushi and desserts. Named concepts include Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson, Bobby Flay Steak, Walnut Lane by Jonathan Waxman and Yasas by Michael Symon, along with Burger Baby, Tejas Barbecue, Detroit Brick Pizza Co., Wing Trip and Limesalt, according to The BayNet.
The format is designed around a single order that can include food from multiple concepts. Customers will be able to order for dine-in, pickup or delivery through Wonder’s website or app, with delivery orders advertised without a delivery fee. The reported hours are 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily. Those ordering policies, hours and opening promotions—including a free soft-opening meal valued at up to $15 and a gift for the first 100 grand-opening customers—are promotional details reported by The BayNet and may be subject to Wonder’s terms.
A local service-sector addition
The operation will also enter a county labor market in which service work is a substantial part of employment. The Maryland State Data Center’s 2024 American Community Survey estimated that 6,852 Calvert County workers—14.7% of the civilian employed population—were in service occupations. That broad category includes more than restaurant work, however, and the figure does not indicate how many positions Wonder will create. The survey estimate is best understood as local workforce context, not a job projection for the storefront.
A regional comparison, with limits
Wonder’s Prince Frederick opening follows another recent regional example: The Star Democrat reported that the company opened a 21-brand food hall at The Grove in Newark, Delaware, on July 10, its first Delaware location. The comparison shows that Wonder is using the same broad multi-concept approach in more than one market, but Newark and Prince Frederick differ in size, trade area and local competition; one opening does not demonstrate a broader trend or predict the Prince Frederick location’s performance.
For Prince Frederick, the immediate change is practical: residents will have a new way to order several cuisines from one storefront in a regional retail center that has recently undergone substantial redevelopment. The opening schedule is set, but the longer-term effects on Fox Run’s traffic, neighboring businesses and local employment remain to be seen.
