Earth Fare Going Out of Business, 2 Weeks After Lucky's Market

[tacobell fan]

ORLANDO, Fla. — Earth Fare, another organic grocery store chain that was a competitor to Lucky's Market, is shutting down.

 

The company, based in Asheville, North Carolina, made the announcement in a news release Monday, just two weeks after Lucky's said it was closing all but a dozen stores nationwide.

The natural and organic grocer was founded in 1975 but bought by a private equity firm in 2012, CNN reports. It operated stores in more than a half-dozen states, mostly in the South but also Indiana and Ohio, according to its website.

Earth Fare said it has notified its employees of the impending closure and cited "continued challenges in the retail industry" for its demise. It will try to sell its assets.

"Earth Fare has been proud to serve the natural and organic grocery market, and the decision to begin the process of closing our stores was not entered into lightly. We'd like to thank our Team Members for their commitment and dedication to serving our customers, and our vendors and suppliers for their partnership," the company said in the release.

"Earth Fare is not in a financial position to continue to operate on a go-forward basis," it said.

In Central Florida, Earth Fare operated several locations, including downtown Orlando, Lake Nona, and Rockledge, according to its website. In the Tampa Bay area, it operated stores in Lutz, Seminole, and Oldsmar.

The liquidation is the third grocery store chain to fold in the past few weeks. Lucky's Market announced January 21 that it would close all but one Florida store after Kroger pulled its investment the chain. Publix has bought a handful of the Florida Lucky's store locations, some of which were still under construction and hadn't yet opened; others had been open less than a year. In New York, popular gourmet grocer Fairway Market announced January 23 that it was filing for bankruptcy protection and would sell five stores.

"The outlook for small and regional grocers is becoming increasingly challenging in a rapidly changing digital food retail landscape," BMO Capital Markets analyst Kelly Bania wrote in a note to clients, CNN reports.