Natural foods grocer Earth Fare will soon close two of its Atlanta area stores, after just over three years in business. The stores, located at the Village at Peachtree Corners shopping center in Peachtree Corners and Emory Point in Atlanta, opened in January and July 2015, respectively. A third store, located at The Collection at Forsyth, opened in December 2015 and is remaining open for now.
Asheville, NC- based Earth Fare also operates a pair of other Georgia stores in Athens and Martinez (Augusta) that will remain open.
The store's tagline "Healthy Food For Everyone," puts it in competition with the likes of Sprouts Farmers Markets, Whole Foods Market, The Fresh Market and Trader Joe's, in addition to traditional grocers like Kroger and Publix. Earth Fare is just the latest casualty of the hyper-competitive Atlanta grocery market whose previous victims include Harris Teeter, A&P and Bruno's.
The Emory Point and Peachtree Corners stores are currently offering 20% off all in-stock merchandise with plans to close for good no later than Saturday March 31.
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| Inside the Earth Fare in Peachtree Corners |
In early 2016, Earth Fare shuttered stores in Louisville, KY, Dayton, OH, Montgomery and Hoover (Birmingham), Alabama. In all four instances, Earth Fare's statement about store closures said "the store's physical location has proven too much to overcome."
The Peachtree Corners store, which occupies just over half of the onetime Bruno's grocery store, measures 23,500 square feet with off-price retailer Tuesday Morning occupying the other roughly 20,000 square foot portion.
The Emory Point store, which anchored phase two of the Cousins Properties developed mixed use center, measured 24,782 square feet and was the largest of the three stores the company opened in Georgia in 2015.
The closure of the Emory Point store comes as little surprise, given how slow the store routinely was and the struggles it had to attract neighborhood shoppers. Earth Fare is only the latest closure at the beleaguered center.
Casual dining chain Bonefish closed its restaurant at Emory Point in February 2014. Upscale Italian eatery La Tagliatella closed its Emory Point location in December 2014. Sweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes closed at Emory Point in February 2015.
Men's clothing retailer JoS. A. Bank and quick serve burger eatery BurgerFi both closed their locations at Emory Point last February.
Marcello's, which had opened in place of La Tagliatella in February 2016, quietly closed last March.
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| Earth Fare at Emory Point on opening day |
Women's boutique Lizard Thicket and tanning salon Solar Dimensions closed this past January. [Solar Dimensions' closure was reportedly due to its merger with Palm Beach Tan which operates an existing salon at Toco Hills.]
Are you surprised by the upcoming closures of the two Atlanta area Earth Fare stores? Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? What would you like to see open in the two Earth Fare stores once they close?
Please share your thoughts below.
