Grocery shoppers in southwest Charlotte will have a new store before Thanksgiving

Charlotte-area residents will have a new grocery store just in time for Thanksgiving Day.

Sprouts Farmers Market will open Nov. 17 at 14124 Steele Creek Road in Steele Creek, according to the specialty grocer’s website. The store is expected to hire about 100 full- and part-time employees, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

The 24,250-square-foot building in the Rivergate shopping center area has been vacant since Earth Fare closed nearly three years ago. Similar to Earth Fare, Sprouts focuses on organic and natural foods and products.

It will be the Phoenix-based grocery chain’s second Charlotte store and sixth in North Carolina. Five years ago, Sprouts made its Charlotte debut at 15121 Ballancroft Parkway in Ballantyne.

The southwest Charlotte near Lake Wylie is part of Sprout’s expansion plan to open 32 stores across the country this year. Sprouts has 391 stores in 23 states and about 31,000 employees.

Sprouts officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Grocery store competition

The Steele Creek store faces stiff competition from nearby Harris Teeter, Publix and Target, as well as expansions by other supermarket chains that generated $9.5 billion in sales last year.

▪ In March, Publix opened a 48,387-square-foot store at North Creek Village in Huntersville.

The Florida-based grocer plans to open at least six more stores in the region: 10 Tryon building on the corner of Tryon and Ninth streets in uptown; Arboretum at Providence and Pineville-Matthews roads; Clear Creek Crossings development on the corner of Albemarle and Rocky River Church roads; Harris Farms Shopping Center in Mooresville; The Colony on the corner of Sharon and Colony roads in SouthPark; and at 11525 Carmel Commons.

▪ In January, Lowes Foods said it will open a store at Kellswater Commons in Kannapolis. The Winston-Salem-based grocer also plans to open a store this year at Christenbury Village shopping center in Concord. Last year, Lowes Foods debuted its first-of-its-kind store in Huntersville in a former Earth Fare at 14021 Boren St. with a food-hall style design and an entertainment area.

▪ Last year, Super G Mart, a family-owned international supermarket, opened its third and largest North Carolina store at 10500 Centrum Parkway in Pineville, and discount German-grocer Lidl opened its 10th Charlotte-area store at 11200 Carmel Commons Boulevard.

This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 10:47 AM.