Specialty grocer sets summer debut in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood

EDITOR’s NOTE: This story was updated July 22, 2025, with the opening date.

The signs may have been removed but specialty grocer Sprouts Farmers Market still plans to open another store in Charlotte this summer.

Sprouts is set to open Aug. 22 at One NoDa Park, the Phoenix-based grocery chain told The Charlotte Observer. The mixed-use development by Avery Hall Southeast is on the corner of 36th and Tryon streets.

Developer Avery Hall, which previously said the store will cover 21,000 square feet, is working on Sprouts’ upfit, said Tarlton Long, a principal with Avery Hall. Temporary signage is moved from time to time for construction purposes, and a permanent sign should be coming in the next month or so, he said.

The store will fill a void in the neighborhood’s grocery options. A small grocer, Southland Supermarket, is near One NoDa, and on The Plaza there is a Food Lion and Giant Penny.

Sprouts is a specialty healthy grocer with fresh produce, and other organic, plant-based or gluten-free products.

Sprouts is competing with many other grocers to grab a piece of the $10.4 billion Charlotte grocery market share. That’s up 2% from 2023, according to sales tracking firm Chain Store Guide.

Sprouts in Charlotte

The NoDa store will be Sprouts third location in the Charlotte area.

In 2018, Sprouts made its Charlotte debut at 15121 Ballancroft Parkway in Ballantyne.

Five years later, Sprouts opened at 14124 Steele Creek Road in Steele Creek. The 24,250-square-foot building in the Rivergate shopping center area had been vacant for nearly three years after Asheville-based specialty grocer Earth Fare closed.

Sprouts has 391 stores in 23 states, including six in North Carolina, and about 31,000 employees.

Grocery store expansions

There are 729 grocery stores in the Charlotte region, and more on the way:

▪ Discount German grocer Aldi will open a store at 9605 N. Tryon St. by this summer.

▪ Publix supermarket has at least five more store openings planned at: Wesley Chapel, The Arboretum, 10 Tryon building in uptown, Clear Creek Crossings and South Park.

▪ The West Boulevard Coalition is opening Charlotte’s first cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market. The full-service grocery store will debut in an area that has been without a traditional supermarket for over 30 years. It’s expected to open this year.

▪ Last July, Matthews Board of Commissioners approved changes to a grocery store plan with illustration signage similar to Trader Joe’s in a 13,5000-square-foot building at Matthews Gateway on East John Street.

▪ Last year, Mecklenburg County commissioners OK’d $1.5 million for California-based grocer Spangler’s to build an 8,000-square-foot store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.

▪ In 2026, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans will make its Charlotte debut with a 110,000-square-foot grocery store on the east side of Ballantyne in south Charlotte. Construction is underway.

▪ Historic West End Partners will open a 15,000-square-foot cooperative grocery store in partnership with Weaver Street Market, which has four stores in the Raleigh region. It’s part of the grassroots group’s larger development plan that includes 290 apartments.

▪ Harris Teeter will open two 60,000-square-foot stores in York County, South Carolina — a Fort Mill store on Fort Mill Parkway and Lake Wylie at 5366 Hwy. 55 E. Both are under similar schedules, according to The Herald, with 2027 openings.

This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 5:50 AM.