We’re looking at an everyday natural farmers market where 40 percent to 50 percent of our sales are going to be in perishable departments - produce, meat and some of the other health food service areas - but not really as high profile a food service area as Whole Foods may have. “We’re not focusing on 40 percent food service. “Size is the biggest differentiator from a Whole Foods Market, which is starting to open some smaller stores,” Sherrell said. , an online trade publication focused on organic and healthy lifestyle products, spoke with Sherrell in April. “We’ve combined the spirit of a weekend farmers market and the convenience of a neighborhood store with the nutritious offerings of a natural food marketplace,” Fresh Thyme’s website says. Sunflower merged with Sprouts under Sherrell’s leadership, according to the company’s website. He was formerly the president and CEO of Sunflower Farmers Markets and has over 20 years of experience in the natural, organic grocery business in the western and southwest U.S.
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Rogers said it’s a time of a “whole new series of value, natural organic grocers” throughout the country, led by Sprouts, which has over 150 stores in the west and southwest.įresh Thyme President and CEO Chris Sherrell formed the company in 2012. “Their thrust is to offer a value version of Whole Foods.” But yes, they don’t have a single store open yet,” said market analyst David Rogers, president of Illinois-based DSR Marketing Systems. “I think the people who are running it know what they are doing because they have experience. It will also focus sales on perishable foods like organic and locally grown fruits and vegetables, rather than prepared foods. It’s focusing on 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot store sizes, which fits the Goodrich’s footprint. Thyme is positioning itself as a smaller, less expensive version. He said Fresh Thyme “operates independently” of Meijer, but he could not provide specifics.įresh Thyme is considered a competitor to Whole Foods, which plans to open its first greater Lansing store in 2015 in Meridian Township. The commission will ultimately make a recommendation on the project to the East Lansing City Council.įresh Thyme is aligned with Grand Rapids-based Meijer, which has “an investment interest” in the enterprise, a Meijer spokesman confirmed Monday. Last month, McGraw took the plan off the East Lansing Planning Commission’s agenda to consider possible amendments. McGraw’s plan calls for two new buildings for student housing, offices and retail and renovating the grocery space. McGraw did not respond to calls for comment for this story. McGraw told City Pulse at the time that it “will be here long term and is very well financed.”
Less than a month ago, Goodrich’s co-owner Steve Scheffel said “chances are pretty good” that Goodrich’s was going to close, but he did not say it would for sure.Ī new agreement with a “cutting edge, organic market” first surfaced in mid-November. Goodrich’s lease expires in August.Ĭolein Whicher, Fresh Thyme’s director of marketing, confirmed in an email Monday that the company has already signed a lease for the site at 940 Trowbridge Road. Goodrich’s has said it can’t afford the terms of McGraw’s offer, which would have tripled the grocer’s rent and required the store to close for six to eight months for renovations. It appears McGraw and Goodrich’s owners were unable to renegotiate a new lease.
will replace Goodrich’s Shop-Rite in East Lansing’s Trowbridge Plaza, an official with Fresh Thyme Farmers Market has confirmed.Īs part of a $24 million mixed-use redevelopment of the plaza, local developer Kevin McGraw has teamed up with Fresh Thyme to replace Goodrich’s, a locally owned grocery store that’s been in the Lansing area for 76 years, 47 of which have been at the East Lansing location.įresh Thyme plans to open its first store in the suburban Chicago community of Mount Prospect this spring and plans to open 50 in 12 Midwestern states over the next seven years, according to its website. Andy Balaskovitz A fledgling Phoenix, Ariz.-based grocer with ties to Meijer Inc.
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