Whole Foods to add healthy competition

  • BY KRISTY EPPLEY RUPON
    The State
  • Posted: Monday, July 18, 2011 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 10:45 p.m.
  • Text size: A A A
The Whole Foods Market in Mount Pleasant was the chain’s first South Carolina location. Seven years later, the Texas-based grocer has decided to expand into Columbia.
Grace Beahm /The Whole Foods Market in Mount Pleasant was the chain’s first South Carolina location. Seven years later, the Texas-based grocer has decided to expand into Columbia.

COLUMBIA -- The arrival of Whole Foods in Columbia next year will "step up the game" of like-minded grocers already in the market, one expert said.

That could mean good things for consumers - who are likely to see more variety, better prices and more creativity, said Marianne Bickle, director of the Center for Retailing at the University of South Carolina.

"It will really bring excitement in a down economy," she said. "There is a lot of consumer buzz."

Edens & Avant recently announced it will bring in Whole Foods to anchor Cross Hill Market, a shopping center it is redeveloping at the former Kroger grocery store that sits at the intersection of Devine Street, Cross Hill Road and Fort Jackson Boulevard.

The organic and natural foods grocery store will compete with like-minded grocers that are nearby, including Earth Fare on Devine Street and Rosewood Market on Rosewood Drive.

Garris Matthews, store manager at the Devine Street Earth Fare, said he welcomes healthy competition and anticipates there will be enough business in the market for all of the stores. "We enjoy the competition because it does bring more people to the area that are health conscious," he said.

A Whole Foods opening in Mount Pleasant proved more disruptive to the market. Recently, an Earth Fare in that city closed after a Whole Foods opened nearby.

But Matthews said Earth Fare had been planning on closing the Charleston store anyway. He said it was about 10 percent the size of a typical Earth Fare, adding the company does not use the smaller format anymore.

Matthews said he expects the opening of Whole Foods -- anticipated in the fall of 2012 -- will put a financial strain on nearby grocery stores for about six months until the market evens out.

Basil Garzia, who owns Rosewood Market, said it is too early to tell what effect Whole Foods might have on competing businesses.

USC's Bickle said she would expect consumers to shop at more than one store. "They'll be like little bunny rabbits hopping from store to store, but they'll all be these health-food stores."

The competition will be healthy, she said. "It will be wonderful for consumers, and I think it will be wonderful for businesses," she said.

"It just might also help people eat a little healthier."