Greensboro's Whole Foods sets opening date; Winston-Salem to get Trader Joe's

Greensboro's long-awaited Whole Foods Market is set to open soon. Finishing touches are being put on the store, which is in part of the Sears building at Friendly Center. The 34,000 square foot store takes up half of the lower-level footprint of Sears' department store. The store will open on April 12th.

Above: Trader Joe's Winston-Salem store rendering

Above: Trader Joe's Greensboro store rendering

On the other end of the Triad, Winston-Salem is gearing up for a Trader Joe's. The store will locate in approximately 13,000 square feet of the former Borders Bookstore at Thruway Center, and is scheduled to open sometime later this year. This will be Trader Joe's first store in the Triad, and perhaps the most sought-after specialty grocery store in the region too. The news of Trader Joe's comes amid opposition regarding a rezoning at a potential Greensboro location.

Trader Joe's Winston-Salem rendering via Triad Business Journal/Thomas H. Hughes architecture
Trader Joe's Greensboro rendering via Greensboro News & Record/Regency Centers

Trader Joe's finally coming to the Triad?

When Greensboro's newspaper, The News & Record, polled readers as to which store they would most like to see come to the Triad area - one retailer had an overwhelming majority, Trader Joe's. Since 2007 the specialty grocer has been on a slow but steady expansion throughout the Carolinas, with stores currently in Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville (SC), and Charleston (Mount Pleasant). It has long been rumored that Trader Joe's is looking for a location in the Greensboro or Winston-Salem area, although those only amounted to what they were... rumors (including an unfounded but widely circulated rumor about the store taking space at the Target shopping center on Lawndale).
Now, the newspaper is reporting that Trader Joe's is interested in a site near Friendly Center. The Greensboro site is adjacent to The Shops at Friendly Center, which houses Harris Teeter, and right next to that is the Whole Foods Market that is set to open soon. Trader Joe's site would encompass the northwest corner of Friendly Avenue and Hobbs Road, which is currently six residential lots. Previously, The Triad Business Journal reported that Trader Joe's may have been interested in redeveloping the old City Motors site off of Westover Terrace. Despite an abundance of vacant space across town, the developers' hearts look to be set on Friendly.

March 2012 Update: Trader Joe's has signed a lease for a store in Winston-Salem at Thruway Center in part of the former Borders bookstore space, that location will open later this year. Plans for the Greensboro location are still at a standstill.

Grocerying in Burlington and Winston-Salem

It's time for some Triad Grocerying! These photos are from Winston-Salem, Burlington and Gibsonville (NC).

Lowes Foods - Winston-Salem
This store is located at Robinhood and Peace Haven Roads in the Mount Tabor area of Winston-Salem. Winston-Salem is Lowes Foods' home turf and so many of the stores there have the older prototype look to them.

Harris Teeter - Winston-Salem
This HT store is just across the street from the Lowes Foods mentioned above. It has a newer look with the domes on top which are pretty rare to see.

Wal-Mart Supercenter, Burlington
This is the primary Wal-Mart store serving the Burlington and Elon areas.

Super Kmart Center - Burlington
Despite being a dying breed, this K-mart seems to be alive and kicking as a supercenter. Even as competition is increasing in the area. (Greensboro also has Super K-mart).

This Harris Teeter store opened last year after it relocated from its old location across the street. The store it is currently in used to be a Winn-Dixie, and Harris Teeter's old store is now a Gold's Gym.

One of the older styles of Lowes Foods, this was once a Byrd's Grocery Store before Lowes Foods took over them in the 90s.

Grocerying in Winston-Salem

Lowes Foods - [Silas Creek] Parkway Plaza

This Lowes Foods opened in 1992, but is slated to close this month and become a Compare Foods store, which will be Winston-Salem's first. The store looks older than an early 90s store though, so I'm guessing it was something previously (a Byrd's perhaps?).
UPDATE: Grocerying reader Matt said that this store was once Lowes Foods' flagship store upon re-entering the Winston-Salem market and the first to feature their current logo and was most likely a Lowes since its opening.

Former Harris Teeter? - K-mart Plaza, Peters Creek Parkway

Is this really a former Harris Teeter store on Peters Creek Parkway, next to an old-school K-mart (which I have added a picture of for reference). If it was an old HT, it must have been the really old prototype store. (K-mart pictured below)
UPDATE: Anonymous said this was indeed a former Harris Teeter, which was originally a Big Star, and it operated as a low-volume store until its closing in the late 1990s.

K-mart - Peters Creek Parkway (see related blurb above)

Harris Teeter - Thruway Center

This store is located in one of Winston's oldest shopping centers, Thruway, and I consider this a "legacy" store of Harris Teeter, one that fits in the category with the other Morocroft-like prototype stores of the chain. I think that most of the major NC cities have one of these HT stores, as seen Thruway in Winston-Salem, Morocroft in Charlotte, Cameron Village in Raleigh, Friendly Center in Greensboro and Commons at University Place in Durham.
Update: Steven said this store was built where a Winn-Dixie once stood, once very upmarket.

Harris Teeter - Cloverdale

This HT nearby to the previous one shown is an old Kroger store (I believe) and is in close proximity to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (that's a mouthful).
Update: Steven said before this was an HT & Kroger, it was a former Zayre. Additionally, old Kroger shells are found in the area at the Dollar Tree store in Cloverdale and the Goodwill nearby.

Former Bi-Lo, turned former Southern Family Markets, Peters Creek Parkway.

Food Lion - Peters Creek Parkway.

This store is directly across the street from the former Southern Family Markets and probably has gained a lot of business from the former customers of that store.