Charlotte Supermarkets

[Raintree21]

Earth Fare at South Park opens up tomorrow.

[mediamongrel]

That's stupid. A person who is either determined or forced to could easily go a week with very limited food supplies. The only factor that would affect him would be a lack of water which apparently won't be an issue since he has access to water fountains.

It might be stupid, but I guess it shows that some supermarkets just hand away items even if people dont buy them, in turn raising prices for everyone. Maybe he's trying to show that the homeless could go there and eat instead of begging. I really don't know the point, just heard about the experiment.

[mediamongrel]

Earth Fare at South Park opens up tomorrow.

Forgot about that Earth Fare. Boy, how many grocers does Charlotte need? There must be at least 40-50 grocery stores if you include only the area south of Rt. 74 in Mecklenburg County. A fairly small area as far as square miles go, yet it is saturated with grocery stores. Someone had a map up at one time.

[Miesian Corners]

Trader Joe's opens next week. I hope either Trader's or Earth Fare take the Elizabeth Ave space that was supposed to have been Hole Foods (misspelling intentional--they're on my sh*t list and I'll never shop them here or anywhere else ever again). I'd love to see Hole Foods get their asses kicked here. What a bunch of posers.

[Bocephus]

I dont think Earthfare had anymore Charlotte stores in there short term planes. We had are V.I.P open house tonight and had about 11 thousand people there

[mediamongrel]

I dont think Earthfare had anymore Charlotte stores in there short term planes. We had are V.I.P open house tonight and had about 11 thousand people there

11,000 people for grocery store? It's not like it's a new stadium or skyscraper, it's just a grocery store.

[Miesian Corners]

It was the opening of an organic grocery store. One where not one product has high fructose corn syrup or splenda. Furthermore, free samples of everything they have in the store for a donation of $10. 100% of the donation went to Second Harvest which provides grocery items/food for the poor. Last time I checked, Earth Fare is the only supermarket to do either when they opened "just a grocery store".

Edited August 15, 2007 by Miesian Corners

[Raintree21]

The Observer is reporting that it was 2,000 people last night and that they raised $15,000 for Second Harvest.

[Bocephus]

sorry, 2 thousand people and raised 11 thousand sounds right I just remember hearing 11 thousand last night and figured it was the amount off people cause the place was packed.

[davidclt]

Trader Joe's opens next week. I hope either Trader's or Earth Fare take the Elizabeth Ave space that was supposed to have been Hole Foods (misspelling intentional--they're on my sh*t list and I'll never shop them here or anywhere else ever again). I'd love to see Hole Foods get their asses kicked here. What a bunch of posers.

Maybe there wasn't a high enough college graduate density in Charlotte for wHole Foods.

Frankly, although Earthfare is a (small) chain, it's still N.C. based and for that reason will be getting my support. I for one am to the point I couldn't care less that they won't be coming to Elizabeth, they're really not all that.

[Miesian Corners]

I like Earth Fare, I just wish I understood why they (like Hole Foods, Trader Joe's) went to the suburbs first. Seems to me that the folks who care about organics live in Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth and Uptown.

I have to give HT credit. Was in there this afternoon (Cotswold) and saw a box on the counter of the customer service area. It had a note on it explaining that ozone was bad this summer and it wanted to encourage all employees to gas up their cars after 7 p.m. to help combat pollutants. They bring in their gas receipt that shows what time they filled up their cars and each day management will draw a name out of the box and give the winning employee a $100 gift card.

[mediamongrel]

I like Earth Fare, I just wish I understood why they (like Hole Foods, Trader Joe's) went to the suburbs first. Seems to me that the folks who care about organics live in Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth and Uptown.

I have to give HT credit. Was in there this afternoon (Cotswold) and saw a box on the counter of the customer service area. It had a note on it explaining that ozone was bad this summer and it wanted to encourage all employees to gas up their cars after 7 p.m. to help combat pollutants. They bring in their gas receipt that shows what time they filled up their cars and each day management will draw a name out of the box and give the winning employee a $100 gift card.

I know that this will probably be an unpopular opinion on here...but the thought of government goons telling me things like I should gas up after 7pm and that I should use LESS air conditioning when it is 100 degrees, totally defeats the purpose of living in the United States. I have my thermostat set at 71...and it feels even better to walk into when it is 100 outside. Next thing they'll be saying is dont flush your toilet except for once a day. Is it that odd of a concept that Charlotte is hot and dry in the summer??? I have been in this area for 10 years and every summer is like this.

[Raintree21]

What does the government asking people to make voluntary decisions concerving energy/fuel/etc. have to do with Charlotte Supermarkets?

[mediamongrel]

What does the government asking people to make voluntary decisions concerving energy/fuel/etc. have to do with Charlotte Supermarkets?

It doesn't have anything to do with it, but the person who posted before me had to bring it up...I just had to respond. Anyway, back to supermarket talk. I didn't think Harris Teeter was on the environmental bandwagon, especially considering how many acres of forest they have cut down for their 50+ stores in Mecklenburg County. Also, I'd venture to say a lot of their clientel drive eight cylinder SUVs...sort of contradictory for the person at Cotswold to put a sign up to tell people to fill up after 7. By the way it is currently 96 degrees at 6:50pm. So, I guess i can fill up in 10 minutes and I will see a drastic change tomorrow...

[mediamongrel]

Has anyone noticed the development off of Carowinds Blvd. heading east? If you go past the Bloom they have cleared out a massive amount of land. Looks like a great place for another supermarket to compete with the Bloom.

[Raintree21]

It's official. Trader Joe's on Rea Road opened it's doors yesterday to quite a crowd. It's now open 9a-9pm every day.

[DigitalSky]

I think Charlotte has some of the most passionate and loyal shoppers... if you look at store openings here, from Nordstrom to Trader Joe's, they are truly like none other... I still don't get Whole Foods reasoning.

[mediamongrel]

I think Charlotte has some of the most passionate and loyal shoppers... if you look at store openings here, from Nordstrom to Trader Joe's, they are truly like none other... I still don't get Whole Foods reasoning.

What do you mean by Whole Foods' reasoning?

[DigitalSky]

What do you mean by Whole Foods' reasoning?

for not coming to Elizabeth.

[voyager12]

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday around noon . I had to Mapquest my way there Never been down that way before. Most places south of Tyvola and Park might as well be California to me. What a zoo. I thought that shopping center was going to be much bigger. The parking lot is way too small. There were no spaces at all. I had to park along with many other cars on the connecting road. Although once the opening frenzy dies down parking will become easier I am sure .The lines in the store stretched almost all the way to the back. I was not going to wait so did not purchase anything. The majority of the shoppers seemed to be moms with large families. I guess the prices are a good fit for them.

[Miesian Corners]

...The majority of the shoppers seemed to be moms with large families. I guess the prices are a good fit for them.

You were making a funny, weren't you. This is Piper Glen we're speaking of. The only reason the Ballantyne housewives are crowding in is because they want to be SEEN shopping at the newest place, not because it's economical. How many Escalades, Hummer H2s, Cayennes and Volvo Cross Country wagons were in the parking lot? My guess? Too many to count.

[StevenRocks]

I did some exploring in Northwest Charlotte today. This may be a dumb question but why are there so many HTs so close together in such sparsely populated areas? I understand locating before the sprawl happens, but all of them were less than two miles apart. It's bordering on ridiculous.

I also saw the new Trader Joe's under construction on Mallard Creek Church Rd. They have a great spot. I'll be able to get there form Middle-of-Nowhere, Va. almost as quick as the new Chapel Hill store.

[mediamongrel]

I did some exploring in Northwest Charlotte today. This may be a dumb question but why are there so many HTs so close together in such sparsely populated areas? I understand locating before the sprawl happens, but all of them were less than two miles apart. It's bordering on ridiculous.

Who knows why. I am just as puzzled as you, because as I have noted before on this forum, there are cities around the country that have 1-2 million people and they are similar to Charlotte, however they have about HALF the amount of grocery stores. I think in about 15-20 years when the population tends to permanently settle in certain areas of Charlotte, some stores will be very busy while others will be left with almost no one shopping there and will end up closing. For right now, everyone is still "sprawling" and most of the 45+ Harris Teeters in Mecklenburg county are doing fairly well. In other areas, such as Winston-Salem, this is not the case. I will explore that market in more detail later on in this forum.

[mljones99]

You were making a funny, weren't you. This is Piper Glen we're speaking of. The only reason the Ballantyne housewives are crowding in is because they want to be SEEN shopping at the newest place, not because it's economical. How many Escalades, Hummer H2s, Cayennes and Volvo Cross Country wagons were in the parking lot? My guess? Too many to count.

When I was there it definitely wasn't the typical Piper Glen/Ballantyne crowd... they were definitely there for the prices.

[DigitalSky]

I did some exploring in Northwest Charlotte today. This may be a dumb question but why are there so many HTs so close together in such sparsely populated areas? I understand locating before the sprawl happens, but all of them were less than two miles apart. It's bordering on ridiculous.

I also saw the new Trader Joe's under construction on Mallard Creek Church Rd. They have a great spot. I'll be able to get there form Middle-of-Nowhere, Va. almost as quick as the new Chapel Hill store.

It is HT's way of controlling (in every sense of the word) the Charlotte market, at least northern and southern Meck County. It's not bordering on ridiculous, it is ridiculous- it's one of those things "Only in Charlotte"