Before & After: Harris Teeter/Earth Fare, Rock Hill

Grocerying has a post from 2006 citing the Harris Teeter near downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina closing. Well now we finally have a photo of the new and thriving Earth Fare that replaced it.

Earth Fare - SouthPark (Charlotte)

Earth Fare's SouthPark location opened recently at the mixed-use Morrison center. It is in proximity to the flagship Harris Teeter and the proposed competitor Whole Foods (whose Elizabeth location has been put on hold indefinitely). Additionally, the market's competition is growing with the opening of the new Trader Joe's store at the Shoppes at Piper Glen. Earth Fare's SouthPark location is similar in size to its Ballantyne location at around 25,000 feet, however this new store has more of an urban feel. (last pic via EarthFare.com)

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!

Grocerying in Asheville

Sav-Mor Foods

I don't have a lot of info on this store, but it is located off Merrimon in north Asheville. Some say it was former a Best Foods? Leave comments if you've got any information on this store. I've seen a couple others throughout the mountains.
Update: Anonymous said "Regarding Sav-Mor, it was a Best Foods prior to being Sav-Mor. The name has just changed on the front but the store itself (with the exception of some sundry items) and the staff are all the same as when it was Best Foods. It's owned by the Ingles chain and carries their LaraLynn store brand products. Before Best Foods opened there, it was a Winn-Dixie store and then stayed vacant for quite a while when that closed. Harris Teeter wanted to open a store there but, as I recall, there was some neighborhood resistance to it (problem with right of ways and loading docks) and during that time Ingles bought the property and installed their Best Foods store shortly thereafter."

Bi-Lo, Hendersonville Road

This Bi-Lo store serves communities along Hendersonville Road between Asheville and Arden. Bi-Lo's presence in Asheville is natural due to the fact that they are based just down the highway near Greenville, SC. This one is located at the corner of Overlook Drive at the base of a hill, across K-mart.

Ingles / Long Shoals Road (near Biltmore Park & Arden)

Ingles - Merrimon Road / North Asheville

Ingles is Asheville's omnipresent food retailer and is a homegrown chain too. Their stores range from new prototypes to smaller stores which still have a charm of yesteryear, and they carry a wide range of products to serve Asheville's eclectic population. The store above is on Merrimon Road, near Asheville Country Club and UNCA. The store at the top is the new Ingles prototype, akin to that of newer Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, Bloom and Super Bi-Lo stores.

Food Lion - Weaverville Road (Newbridge Shopping Center)

This Food Lion store is located between Asheville and Weaverville, and serves north Asheville. Additionally, it is the closest Food Lion store to UNC Asheville.

Earth Fare - Westgate, Asheville.

This store is Earth Fare's flagship location and first store which began in 1975 and helped enable them to be the fine natural and organic foods retailer that they've become today. Read more about this store here: http://www.earthfare.com/storeinfo/details/3079

See Also: Harris Teeter - Asheville

Also: Greenlife Grocery
Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to get a pic of Greenlife Grocery, as anonymous #2 was asking about (who also mentioned that they were rated best grocer by the Mountain Xpress). However, I must say that they are definately worth mentioning and supporting. Personally I like them because they carry LOCAL organic produce (which seems to be a rarity nowadays) and it is my wish that there were more stores like theirs. Here's more info from their Myspace:
[yes, a grocer with a myspace!]

"The Asheville store opened on July, 17th 2004. The original Greenlife Grocery was opened by Chuck Pruett in July 1999, located in an charming old corner grocery on Hixson Pike in the Riverside area of Chattanooga. Greenlife Grocery is a full service natural foods store dedicated to bringing you and your family the freshest and healthiest foods and products available. No artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or hydrogenated oils. We are committed to supporting local foods and local economy. We believe a healthy environment starts with a healthy community. We strive to support organic local produce, local meats, local cheeses, local breads, local supplements & body care, and other local goods whenever possible. We pride ourselves in offering as many organic options to our customers as are available. We believe that supporting organic is one of the best ways to make positive changes in people's health and the environments of local communities, and the earth itself. Greenlife operates two full-service natural foods grocery stores dedicated to bringing you and your family the freshest and healthiest foods and products available. No artificial flavors, colors, preservatives. The freshest and finest in Chattanooga, TN, and Asheville, NC. Greenlife Grocery is proud to support local suppliers of food and other natural products, as well as serve the Chattanooga and Asheville communities through education, events, promotions, and sponsorships. The original Greenlife Grocery was opened by Chuck Pruett in July 1999, located in an charming old corner grocery on Hixson Pike in the Riverside area of Chattanooga. Originally built as a Food King grocery store, the Chattanooga Greenlife has about 8,000 sq. ft. Greenlife expanded with the opening of the Asheville store in July, 2004. Chuck Pruett and his partner John Swann transformed an old A&P grocery store with attached laundramat, built in the mid-1960's, into the new 20,000 sq. ft. store. Greenlife Grocery Asheville is located one block off I-240 just north of downtown Asheville."

Former Earth Fare - Eastgate, Chapel Hill

Photo courtesy EarthFare.com
This 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

Earth Fare - Torrington (Ballantyne)

Earth Fare, "the healthy supermarket," entered Charlotte last year. We've had other natural & alternative grocers (Talley's Green, Berrybrook, The Home Economist and the Fresh Market, to name a few) but Earth Fare seems to be agressively expanding and can be best compared to Whole Foods, who will debut in Charlotte in 2008 (in Elizabeth, with a SouthPark store coming in 2009). Speaking of SouthPark, Earth Fare plans to open their store there at Morrison in Spring 2007*. I personally reccomend shopping at Earth Fare because they don't carry products that contain hydronogated oils, artifical colorings, trans fats, and most importantly, high fructose corn syrup. It's important to note this Earth Fare was planned originally as the location of Lowes Foods (which later built a store 2 miles south on Hwy 521).

*according to earthfare.com