Preview Raleigh's New Whole Foods Market

As Charlotte and Greensboro wait for their Whole Foods Markets to open next year, Raleigh's brand new Whole Foods is set to open next week. This store is unique in the sense that it is the first store in North Carolina to open as a Whole Foods Market. The other stores in the the state opened as Wellspring Grocery, which Whole Foods later bought out (aside from the Asheville store which opened as a Greenlife Grocery). Additionally, the North Raleigh Whole Foods is being touted as the 'greenest' Whole Foods store in the southeast. The new store is 40,000 square feet, about 12,000 square feet larger than the central Raleigh Whole Foods on Wade Avenue. Read more and see more photos, including interior shots, on Sue Stock's blog from Raleigh's News & Observer at Taking Stock.

Photo courtesy Sue Stock at the Raleigh News & Observer

No Bloom for the Triangle; Charlotte store moves forward

Last year we reported that Food Lion's upscale and high-tech spin off, Bloom, would be expanding to North Carolina's Research Triangle area with stores planned in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville and Clayton. These stores will now open under the Food Lion banner, as Delhaize Group, parent company of Food Lion and Bloom, say they would like to focus on markets that they are currently in like Washington, D.C., Greenville-Spartanburg and Charlotte, before expanding into new markets.

In other Bloom news, their Charlotte store which replaces the former Bi-Lo in Dilworth Crossing is set to open this Wednesday, March 17. What's In Store blog has photos from inside the store.

Changes Coming to North Raleigh's Grocerying Scene

To begin, above is the rendering for Northern Wake County's new Whole Foods store. This store will be located at the southeast corner of Strickland and Six Forks roads at Collonade Center Drive. The rendering is from the grassroots committee website BringWholeFoods.org and the developer, Regency Centers. According to the website, their aim is to bring a Whole Foods store to North Raleigh that would serve the affluent and expanding population of this area. Perhaps the most alarming news out of this situation, still, is that Whole Foods is planning on bringing a fifth store to the Triangle region, while Charlotte has zero. We will keep all readers updated on the progress of this store, and read more about it at Bring Whole Foods.

Moving on, the Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that the Trader Joe's slated for North Raleigh has been delayed but is still set to open in 2009, just not the spring. This Trader Joe's location was announced in November 2007, and is slated to open a store in the Holly Park Shopping Center, located at Wake Forest Road and I-440. Holly Park is owned by Charlotte developer Lat Purser and Associates, and they also own 2 other shopping centers with Trader Joe's in North Carolina-- The Shops at Piper Glen and The Arbors on Mallard Creek. The new Trader Joe's in Raleigh will encompass 13,000 square feet (typical size for a Trader Joe's) and it will be the first store in Raleigh city limits. There are two other Trader Joe's in the Triangle already, one in Cary and one in Chapel Hill. Holly Park is one of the oldest shopping centers in Raleigh, and its redevelopment and recasting is a welcome sight to area residents, many of whom are elated that a Trader Joe's will anchor.

Finally, many residents of the North Hills area of Raleigh are excited as a two-story grocery store will open at the North Hills East redevelopment called St. Albans. It will be a relocation of the current Harris Teeter at Lassiter Mill, and the new store will encompass 48,200 square feet. The Triangle Business Jounral reported this story last year, and the store is set to open in late 2009. The developer, Kane Realty Corporation, has provided a site plan here.

In a tough economy, growth and expansion is a welcomed sight and it would be a delight to see all of these projects pull through and reach their full potential, but it is not a big surprise to see this development in the fastest growing metro area in the country. Know of any other changes to North Raleigh's grocerying scene? Leave us comments and lets us know!

Krogering in Wake County

Kroger - Wakefield Commons (New Falls of Neuse) - Raleigh (Wake Forest)

Kroger - West Park Place - Cary

Kroger - Town North - Raleigh

Kroger - The Shops At Pine Hill - Raleigh

Kroger - Wilders Grove - Raleigh

Kroger - Lynnwood Collection - Raleigh

Kroger - Garner Towne Square - Garner

Kroger - Fuquay Crossing - Fuquay Varina

Kroger - East Six Forks Road - Raleigh

Kroger - Maynard Crossing Shoping Center - Cary

Kroger - Bent Tree Plaza - Raleigh

Kroger - Lake Pine Plaza Shopping Center - Apex

Although the Charlotte and Triad metros may be devoid of Kroger stores now, one section of the state still has them. Wake and Durham Counties have Kroger stores, and there is also one Kroger in Greenville, NC. Kroger is the nation's largest grocer (if you don't count Wal-Mart Supercenter) and has kept a good presence in the Triangle area, maybe due to the fact that there are so many newcomers to the region and from where they moved there likely was a Kroger store. Kroger can be defined as the quintessential mid-market grocery store.

Most of the showcased Kroger stores are in Raleigh, Cary, Garner, Apex and Fuquay Varina -- all Wake County towns, seeing as collection of images comes primarily via Wake County Tax Website (which does a great job of keeping up with digital images). Additional images provided by Regency Centers Online and Loopnet Images.

Harris Teeter at Charlotte's Cotswold Village and Raleigh's Lassiter Mill

Harris Teeter Cotswold

November 2006 (After):
November 2005 (Before):

One of Charlotte's oldest Harris Teeter stores, open since the early 1960s, has gotten a facelift. It is also one of the highest-grocing stores in the area. A beautiful store part of Cotswold Village Shops in Southeast Charlotte. Although the red crosshatching pattern on the windows will be missed, it is nice to see this store's renovation. There is new brick on the exterior, and it resembles the store at Lassiter Mill in Raleigh (see below) The original picture of the store above was taken on Thanksgiving Day (of the pre-remodel store) so that's why there are no cars in the lot, otherwise it's be packed as it is in the post-remodel photo.

Update: Interior Photos, Feb. 2009: Notice the similar style of the ceiling in the bakery/produce section, and the use of drop ceilings only found in older Harris Teeter stores these days.

Harris Teeter at Lassiter Mill Shopping Center, Raleigh, NC: (Feb. 2005)

This store which looks similar to the one in Cotswold was remodeled in 2002 as a part of the whole North Hills revitalization, a few miles north of downtown Raleigh. Here is a picture of the store from 1995, courtesy the Wake County Tax Website. I'm not 100% sure the store was a Harris Teeter in 1995 because it's hard to read exactly what the sign says although it does look like one, but i'm sure someone will know for sure. Edit: Steven says it was formerly a Winn-Dixie store.

1995:

Update: As of 2010, Harris Teeter's Lassiter Mill store has closed and relocated to a two-level location across the street in the new North Hills expansion.