After putting together a community advisory team of about 20 people, organic foods supermarket chain Earth Fare believes it knows what customers want in its new Hixson store, which opened last Wednesday.
Those meetings, along with others with local vendors, helped Earth Fare tailor the assortment of products in the 32,000-square-foot store, said Earth Fare Chief Executive Frank Scorpiniti.
The store plans to use nearly 40 local vendors.
“More and more, Americans are becoming much better informed about what they put in their bodies,” Scorpiniti said. “We found Hixson was seeking healthier opportunities for themselves and their families.”
In an interview at the store at 5414 Hixson Pike, he said Earth Fare’s existing Gunbarrel Road unit does “very well.”
The Hixson store, the Asheville, N.C.-based grocer’s 39th, offers a full slate of goods free from high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, artificial colors and sweeteners as well as from synthetic growth hormones and added antibiotics in fresh meat and dairy.
Earth Fare spokeswoman Laurie Aker said the Hixson store will offer beer on tap, which is not currently offered in East Brainerd, that can be consumed in the cafe. Also, the new store will hold an “heirloom juice bar” which offers a larger variety than does the Gunbarrel Road unit, she said.
The store additionally will offer rewards loyalty cards with which shoppers can garner deals and store credits, Aker said.
The location for many years held a Bi-Lo supermarket before it was turned into a Harvest Grocery. That independent supermarket that opened in 2015 focused on fresh regional produce and natural and organic foods, but it closed after less than a year.
Scorpiniti, who became Earth Fare’s CEO two years ago, said the grocer at its core offers the most “authentic, organic offering in retail.”
“Because we’ve differentiated our product offering, there seems to be space in the market for the very unique offering we have,” he said. “That gets us very excited.”
The company’s chief declined to give sales figures for privately held Earth Fare, but he said sales are growing.
The company will offer an enhanced digital platform in January, he said.
Scorpiniti also said the company plans to open three more stores by mid-2017. Aker said the company will have five stores in Tennessee – two in Chattanooga, two in Knoxville and one in Johnson City.
“We have to continue to be the best at what we do and the only ones who do what we do, with this strict food philosophy,” said Scorpiniti.
Founded in 1975 in Asheville, Earth Fare has locations in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest states.