Long lines were evident at every checkout lane as plenty of people
packed the aisles and perused the shelves for foods and goods not
traditionally offered in the city.
Long lines were evident at every checkout lane as plenty of people
packed the aisles and perused the shelves for foods and goods not
traditionally offered in the city.
“We’re very pleased with the turnout,” said customer service
manager Holly Ceane-Kirshner. “We weren’t really sure how we would be
received, but I’ve heard so many tell me today how excited they were
about this store and the opportunity to shop healthier.”
Many were also excited about the prospect of saving gasoline,
saying Asheville, N.C., was a common trip they made to visit the Earth
Fare there.
“We’ve been going to Asheville for two years,” said Nancy Nichols, as she shopped for pesticide-free fruits and vegetables.
And as the sales associates and the customer service manager
kept repeating as they handed out reusable shopping bags to each person
who came through the line, buying at Earth Fare also helps Second
Harvest Food Bank.
The food bank was part of Earth Fare’s Friends of Earth Fare
program. The idea is that every month the store chooses a small local
charity to whom they donate a percentage of their sales.
This month’s Friend of Earth Fare is Second Harvest. Every time
a customer brings back their reusable shopping bag, 5 cents will be
donated to the food bank. Second Harvest also gets a bonus by being
part of the grand opening because 5 percent of all sales for the first
three days also will be donated to Second Harvest.
“We at Earth Fare try to choose smaller local charities that
may not have all of the funding they need,” said Karen Walters,
community marketing coordinator.
“One of our stores just gave $5,000 to one of their local charities,” she said.
As Walters gave tour after tour of the store, stopping at each
station espousing facts about the food and products and the
ingredients, most customers were already aware of the facts.
“You’ll find by talking to our customers that they are educated
about these foods and products before they even come in,” Walters said.
“Gluten is a huge health thing right now and I’ve already had numerous
shoppers today come and ask me about our gluten-free products. The
medical community has just discovered that wheat is what many who think
they are lactose intolerant are allergic to. That’s where the
gluten-free products come in.”
Along with gluten-free products, Earth Fare stakes its name on
offering foods that have no high fructose corn syrup, no pesticides,
organic sugar, whole grains and beans and most of all earth- and
health-friendly products with no added extras. They also have a cafe
offering lattes and coffee, a dessert bar, an anti-pasti bar, a cafe
and a full-service meat department that employees say you won’t find
anywhere else.
“Our motto is ‘as close to the ground as it gets,’ ’’ Walters said.
Earth Fare adheres to that motto by having local farmers and
growers checked and rechecked, at least weekly says Walters, for
anything that may be below the store’s standards. “Our farmers follow
strict guidelines,” she said.
Right now, most of the produce is grown in North Carolina, but
Walters says that the store is working on changing that. “It takes
three years to prepare the ground to be able to grow things
organically, so we’re reaching out to farmers in Tennessee hoping to
begin new farms that sell to us. We do have a dairy farm in Tennessee.”
When asked why she thought the shoppers kept pouring into the store, Walters said that Earth Fare was filling a need.
“The advantages to shopping at Earth Fare are numerous,” Walters
said. “By eating healthier you can save money on medical bills and even
dental bills.
“I find that our customers are educating themselves and their
children about what is good and not good for the human body and their
health. As more and more people find out about what really goes into
some of the foods they consume, the more they look to us for
alternatives.”
Earth Fare is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10
p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. For more information on the
products and foods offered at Earth Fare, visit earthfare.com.
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