Photo courtesy EarthFare.comThis Earth Fare store in North Carolina's quintessential college town of Chapel Hill originally opened as the specialty market A Southern Season. A Southern Season left the space when they moved into the former Belk store at University Mall and in June 2005 Earth Fare took the space at Eastgate. However, Chapel Hill is a very competitive grocery market and it seems that there wasn't enough room for so many specialty foods retailers. a Whole Foods, about five Harris Teeter stores, three Food Lion stores and a Lowes Foods store accompany the Earth Fare in the grocery market. Additionally, farmers markets like the Carrboro and Southern Village Farmers Markets and the cooperative Weaver Street Food Market contribute to the region's plethora of grocerying. So with that, Earth Fare will be closing its doors and according to the News & Observer, another upscale grocer will move in its place. Also on a related note for the area, Carrboro is expected to get a new Harris Teeter store in a shopping center called The Shops at Jones Ferry.
Edit: We've learned that this will become a Trader Joe's!
Links
Federal Realty Investment Trust
News & Observer story
7 comments:
Oh no! It's closing? It's so nice looking. very sleek. I'd definitely shop there if I was in Chapel Hill. Keep up the awesome work on your grocerying =) I enjoy the posts.
Too bad it's closing, it's an North Carolina company that I would like to see succeed in a niche dominated by Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
Also, Chapel Hill once had Kroger which failed there, despite being on the expansion in the rest of the Triangle. Maybe a Durham location is close enough for Kroger to serve Chapel Hill, but I would like to see Kroger return to Chapel Hill or expand to Carrboro.
Yeah it's one of the few closures of Earth Fare. As far as Kroger, I think the Durham location is close enough to Chapel Hill... Chapel Hill (like south Charlotte) has a LOT of Harris Teeter stores (5 i think) and that might be keeping Kroger out. Anyway, I've updated the blog with recent news that Trader Joe's (who is quickly expanding into NC) will be filling the Earth Fare space. I think they will do well.
I haven't been to Eastgate since A Southern Season moved, so I didn't know that Earth Fare had come in and gone so fast. It's a shame.
Still, even though Earth Fare trended upmarket and so does Eastgate, being that close to Whole Foods, all those HTs and A Southern Season, along with a rather classy Food Lion across the street simply split the amrket too much.
Trader Joe's is better known and is just the right amount of quirky for Chapel Hill to survive.
I'm absolutely thrilled that Trader Joe's is coming to Chapel Hill. I have made the trek to Cary a few times, and each time I stock up so I don't have to go again soon. But I especially like all the frozen quick meals TJ's has, and I can only get so many of those in my freezer at one time. So it can't happen soon enough for me!
I've been waiting for Trader Joe's since discovering it's Santa Fe store 2 yrs ago. It's quality imported foods and low prices made it my major grocery resource. I stopped shopping at stores like Whole Foods about 10 yrs ago because of their silly high prices. In Santa Fe, TJ's new store seriously effected Whole Foods sales. TJ's makes it possible for people with ordinary bank accounts to eat and drink well (try their $3 French wines). Welcome TJ's!!
Trader Joe's in Chapel Hill is not just doing well, it's doing so well other upscale stores in Eastgate have posted new banners *facing* TJ's, advertising their presence.
As someone completely turned off by the rudeness and jr. high in-crowd attitude of the staff at Chapel Hill's Whole Foods (not their prices, I shop at other Whole Foods), I couldn't be more pleased at Trader Joe's rip-roaring success.
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