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A Burtonsville institution for more than 20 years, the Dutch Country Farmers Market closed its doors at the Burtonsville Shopping Center on Saturday and will open in a former furniture store in Laurel by late August or September.

Earl Allgyer, manager of Lantz Restaurant at the market, said "progress is really good" at the market's new location, 9701 Fort Meade Drive in Laurel. On Thursday, renovations were underway there that will include new appliances for various businesses that will occupy the building, Allgyer said.

Hundreds packed the market on Thursday around noon, side-stepping through the crowds and waiting in line to purchase some of the famous fried chicken cooked at the market, located near the intersection of routes 29 and 198.

The market, which was part of a shopping center that once included Dunkin' Donuts and the Burtonsville Post Office, offered produce, baked goods, fresh meat, candy and other items. Many of the items are sold by Amish and Mennonites, who come from Pennsylvania to operate stores including Lancaster County Pies, J&R Bakery and Stoltzfus Salads.

Celeste Robinson of Northeast Washington, D.C., emerged from the crowd with a plastic bag of ribs. Despite being a resident of the region, she said the Burtonsville location is too far for her to make regular trips to the market. Occasional visits were a treat.

"I like the food and they sell everything," Robinson said.

Robinson brought another newcomer to the market, 74-year-old Willette Coltraine, a San Francisco-area resident. After eating an egg and scrapple omelet at the market, she said it reminded her of eating omelets and apple butter as a child.

"It was very, very good," she said of her first meal at the farmers market. "You could tell the eggs [were fresh]."

Last year, the owner of the shopping center announced the market would close by mid-summer but later said it would be open through the winter, citing problems with acquiring the necessary permits for the new shopping center.

The market is viewed by residents as a destination but also a community-focused spot to see neighbors.

Shelley Rochester, a Burtonsville resident and regular market customer, formed the Coalition to Save the Dutch Market, a group of community members that wanted to keep the market in Burtonsville.

"You see all your neighbors there," Rochester said. "It became our little town center."

The market, Rochester said, has a different feel than the "big box" stores in other parts of the area. She knows workers at the market as "the cheese guy" and "the produce man."

"When you bring in a big box, people come in [to do] their shopping and leave," Rochester said. "Nobody is sitting around munching.

"Burtonsville is all smallish stores. We have very [few] chain stores in our community. When people go into [places] …you can be greeted by name. …That's what Burtonsville is."

As the Dutch Country Farmers Market prepares to move, plans are developing to construct a new, "green" Burtonsville Shopping Center that would have a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

Christopher Jones, president of BMC Property Group, the owner of the Burtonsville Shopping Center, said he has commitments from Giant and current tenant CVS to move in when the 130,000-square-foot shopping center is completed between late spring and summer 2010. CVS will move into a temporary trailer at the shopping center site this summer.

Jones said he is working on bringing in at least one restaurant, but said the number of stores has yet to be finalized.

Two weeks ago, BMC received a consent item approval from the Montgomery County Planning Board that made it easier for BMC to build a new shopping center while it works out permits with the State Highway Administration; a consent item approval is made without a public hearing.

Jamie Miller, a spokesman for Giant Food, confirmed on Thursday that Giant will move to the new Burtonsville Shopping Center in 2010 but did not disclose the terms of their lease at the Burtonsville Crossing Shopping Center. Giant will move from Burtonsville Crossing to the new shopping center.

"As a matter of policy, we do not share terms of contractual agreements," Miller said in an e-mail Tuesday.

Despite the loss of the market, Rochester said she will shop at the Laurel location to pick up fresh meat, bread, produce and other items; she particularly likes the produce for the size and quality.

"The radishes are so enormous I thought they were beets," Rochester said.