River Falls Market is now closed, according to owner Jeff Grolig.
The long-time Potomac seafood and prepared foods market, which opened in 1998, closed over the weekend.
Grolig said he shut down the market because of a financially-taxing divorce from his wife, Ashley.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be sold or what,” Grolig said Monday. “I’m at the end of the line for me. The divorce won’t end, it has sucked every penny I had out of me. Personally, I’ve liquidated all of my assets.”
Grolig had also planned to close The Tavern at River Falls, the restaurant his father owns next door to the market, but he said his father plans to run it.
“They’re going to open the doors today, have staff come back and try to run it,” said Grolig, who could only speak briefly Monday morning.
He said the couple’s other Potomac business, Renato’s at River Falls, which is owned by Ashley Grolig, will remain open. Jeff Grolig said he has “nothing to do” with Renato’s.
Grolig opened River Falls Market as a seafood market in 1998 and then expanded it in 2003 to serve meats, prepared foods, beer and wine. He spent 15 years as a seafood buyer for Sutton Place Gourmet (now know as Balducci's) before opening the market. The Tavern at River Falls opened in 2009 as a casual dining restaurant. The market, tavern and Renato's are adjacent to each other at a Potomac shopping center on River Road.