California-based Grocery Outlet Inc. acquired the local grocery outlet business at the end of last year, and its philosophy is to lease property instead of building and owning, Amelia's President and CEO Michael Mitchell said.

The result has been a move from the Amelia's New Holland headquarters facility to a former Super-Dog Pet Food Co. site in lieu of plans to build in East Cocalico Township, he said.

The 100,000-square-foot Leola-area facility is augmented by Amelia's using an outside vendor to handle frozen foods for distribution, Mitchell said.

Executives initially had planned to build a facility in the 125,000- to 150,000-square-foot range at the site, which is owned by Mitchell and Jeff Good, the firm's chief operating officer. That is now up for sale, he said.

Grocery Outlet prefers to put cash into opening new retail outlets, he said.

"You'll see a lot more Amelia's popping up," Mitchell said.

Amelia's opened one new store in Berks County last month and expects to open a second one there shortly, Mitchell said, and it is working on a store in the Hanover area.

The deal for the latter store is not final, Mitchell said. If and when it comes to fruition, it would open some time around early fall, he said.