Greensboro's Super G Mart headed to Charlotte

International foods retailer Super G Mart, which has a popular store in western Greensboro's international shopping center Fanta City, is opening a store in southeast Charlotte in the former Bi-Lo store at Independence Square. This comes as the success of similar food retailers have opened on this side of town, such as Compare Foods which took over the former Harris Teeter a couple miles north on Independence Boulevard. As the east side of Charlotte's population changes, grocery stores realize they must cater to the market that they serve.

Check out photos and more information of Greensboro's Super G Mart via the Greensboro News & Record.

Compare Foods - Independence Shopping Center

Compare Foods came onto the North Carolina grocerying scene a few years ago, and its popularity is undeniable. The store caters to a more ethnic crowd, particularly Latinos, but their stores are popular amongst all backgrounds. The store generally does not build new buildings, but is very green and economical in its efforts to re-use former grocery stores, such as the former Winn Dixie in Rock Hill. Patrons have stated to Grocerying that the value, freshness and variety of food makes it a unique fixture on the scene. The interesting thing about their stores is that they also reuse fixtures that were generally left in place from the previous store, and not only that, but are one of the few grocers to showcase their stores via photos on their websites. So if you remember what a mid-90s Harris Teeter looked like, these photos are almost like having a flashback to the signs. The Harris Teeter at Independence Shopping Center (Independence Boulevard-Hwy 74 at Idlewild Road in East Charlotte) was one of the oldest operating stores in the chain, built in 1970 and enjoyed a 35 year run closing in 2005. The store size today is approximately 40,000 square feet. Compare Foods has other Carolinas locations in the aforementioned Rock Hill, and additionally in the Triad and Triangle. See more photos inside the store via Compare Foods' website here.

(Harris Teeter photo via Charlotte Mecklenburg Real Estate Lookup; Compare Foods photo via CompareSupermarkets.com)


Update: As of early 2012, this store has closed.

Changes coming to Rock Hill's grocerying scene

[Photo Credit: Rock Hill Herald]
More good news for Rock Hill's Cherry Road area. First there was the announcement of a Super Bi-Lo store coming to the former Rock Hill Mall, which has been vacant and abandoned for years. Now, the former Harris Teeter on Cherry Road could become an Earth Fare store, bringing organics and variety to the market. Additionally, Compare Foods - which focuses on the international and Latino market - is coming to the old Winn-Dixie. It's a good thing to see these boxes being filled!