Montville — An Oakdale woman is trying to use crowdsourcing to help fund the reopening of a food store on Route 32.

Trish Laros said in a press release that the midsize market at Rite Aid Plaza, formerly the longtime Beit Bros., then Tri-Town Foods and most recently Best Market, would be called Meals Family Market. It would be a place not to buy Twinkies or SpaghettiO's but a store that sells ingredients to make a meal as well as prepared meals.

“The community needs a mid-sized produce and meat market for easy shopping with a personal touch and amazing customer focus,” Laros said.

Best Market moved into the location two years ago, but didn't last long. It closed in January 2015 after about a year in business when it couldn't reach a deal to buy the building. Previously, Tri-Town had lasted five years in the same location.

The proposed market, funded through a GoFundMe page, would include fresh produce, meat, deli and a dairy but not toiletries or cleaning products. A variety of cultures would be represented in the food choices.

“Opening this market will bring jobs back to the area and give us an opportunity to embrace and celebrate the different cultures that make up our community, through food,” Laros said.

Laros said she recently walked through the space and found the whole place had been gutted, with coolers and freezers having been removed, necessitating an extensive buildout to get the food market she estimated between 6,000 and 10,000 square feet off the ground.

"I want a more personal touch; there is not a lot of that around these days," she said in a phone interview. "I want to bring back a 1940s-style store."

Laros said she would manage the store and has experience in all facets of the business, from butchering to bookkeeping. The store would sell Best Yet store brands, she added.

"I am a hands-on person," she said. "I will be the store."

She said, however, that she needs to know there is going to be community support to get the store off the ground. She estimated she needed $30,000 just to sign a lease and perhaps a total of $150,000 to fund the entire project, an amount kept low because her husband, Jeff Keefe, is a general contractor.

Laros said she will see how much the GoFundMe campaign raises over the next two months before deciding whether to pursue running the food store.

For every $200 donation, Laros said, she plans to give a meal to a family in need through a gift card. Families and businesses also can sponsor various departments set up at the store, she said.

A Facebook page also has been set up to help get out information and answer questions.

"It's all location," Laros said. "I'm not in this weird location where I have to draw people. ... There is nothing between I-95 and Stop & Shop."

l.howard@theday.com