Earth Fare organic grocery store closes another store in the Charlotte area
The last Charlotte-area Earth Fare store in North Carolina is closing for a second time.
The Asheville-based specialty grocery market at 8885 Christenbury Parkway in Concord will close by mid-August, Earth Fare spokeswoman Laurie Akers confirmed Thursday.
“It came down to lease negotiations,” Akers said. “After careful consideration, we decided not to renew the lease to protect the growth and future of Earth Fare.”
The store closing is not a reflection on the company’s financial performance or stability, Akers stressed. “Our business is thriving,” she said. It just came down to “unacceptable” lease renewal terms.
The natural and organic industry has reached record sales, according to The Organic Trade Association. “People are becoming more health conscious and more aware and educated about what they’re eating,” Akers said.
The Concord store’s 30 employees will be given priority if they choose to apply at other locations.
It’s the second Earth Fare store to close in the Charlotte region this year. In January, Charlotte’s only Earth Fare store, in Ballantyne at Torringdon Market shopping center, closed. Akers cited the intense grocery store competition as one of the factors.
There are a growing number of supermarket shopping options in the area fighting for the $10.4 billion market share, including top grocers by market share Walmart, Matthews-based Harris Teeter and Salisbury-based Food Lion.
The Concord store is the fourth to close in the Charlotte region after Earth Fare began reopening stores following bankruptcy five years ago. The store in Concord originally opened in 2017.
The closest Earth Fare stores to Charlotte are just over the border in South Carolina in Fort Mill and Rock Hill. There are no plans to close either store, Akers said.
Earth Fare has two stores remaining in North Carolina, in Asheville and Boone.
More about Earth Fare
In 2020, Earth Fare filed for bankruptcy closing all 55 stores in 10 states. At that time, there were seven Charlotte-area stores.
Hulsing Enterprises purchased the Earth Fare brand in spring 2020 and a year later, began reopening stores.
Six stores reopened in the Charlotte region, in Ballantyne, Concord, Davidson, SouthPark, Fort Mill and Rock Hill.
Two locations that did not reopen are 14126 Steele Creek Road in Steele Creek, now a Sprouts Farmers Market, and 14021 Boren St. in Huntersville, now a Lowes Foods.
The SouthPark store on Governor Morrison Street closed again in September 2021, followed a year later by the Davidson store at 261 Griffith St.
In 2022, Earth Fare had 22 stores in eight states. It now has 16 stores in seven states, according to the company’s website. Other stores are in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.
Earth Fare will exit Ohio at the end of the month, closing its only store there in Canton. ‘It was the same situation,” Akers said. “We were unable to renew the lease there, as well.”
But Earth Fare is expanding, Akers said, with a new store breaking ground next year in downtown Asheville.
“We are going to continue growing,” she said. “Charlotte is certainly not off the table.”
Grocery growth around Charlotte
There are 729 grocery stores in the Charlotte region, and more are on the way:
▪ Discount German grocer Aldi is expected to open a store at 9605 N. Tryon St. this summer.
▪ Sprouts Farmers Market expects to open its third Charlotte store in August 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.
▪ Lowes Foods expects to open an Indian Land, S.C., in September and a store in Waxhaw early next year. Last August, Lowes opened a Concord store in Christenbury Village shopping center, near the Earth Fare store that is closing.
▪ 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.
▪ In 2027, Harris Teeter will open two 60,000-square-foot stores in York County, South Carolina — a Fort Mill store on Fort Mill Parkway and one in Lake Wylie at 5366 Hwy. 55 E., according to The Herald.
▪ Publix supermarket has at least four store openings planned at: Wesley Chapel, The Arboretum, 10 Tryon building in uptown and South Park, following the debut at Clear Creek Crossings in May.
▪ Trader Joe’s specialty grocer will open its fourth Charlotte-area store in Matthews.
▪ 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.
▪ 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.
▪ 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. The opening was expected this year but has stalled due to lack of funding.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 11:36 AM.
