Hinman attracts supermarket for natural, organic food

By December Portage will be the home for Earth Fare, a supermarket of natural and organic food.

The first Michigan store for the retailer that started in 1975 in Asheville, N.C., has locations across the Midwest and Southeast and calls itself "The Healthy Supermarket" will open in a new shopping center at the southwest corner of Kilgore Road and Westnedge Avenue, near Lowe's.

Earth Fare will lease 23,800 square feet of the new shopping center and expects to hire between 80 and 90 employees.

Construction is now under way on the shopping center that could provide another 26,000 square feet of retail space when it is completed in addition to the space leased to Earth Fare. The shopping center is being built so there is flexibility to accommodate a variety of retail uses.   

Earth Fare is a full service supermarket that sells organic produce, meat, seafood, bread, frozen food, dried goods, beer and wine, vitamins and herbal supplements,

All of Earth Fare's meat--beef, chicken, turkey and pork--in its meat departments are third-party audited to certify humane handling.

The stores also feature several food stations that include a salad bar, sushi, pizza, cookies and other freshly prepared items which can be taken home or eaten at indoor or outdoor seating areas. 

In keeping with the store's philosophy, none of the products in the grocery contain high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, artificial colors preservatives or sweeteners, or synthetic growth hormones in fresh meat and dairy. The company says that it also offers some conventional produce to ensure people have access to a variety of affordable options.

Earth Fare also is committed to buying local products from small, family-owned or artisan-operated producers. 

“We think the community is really going to embrace this healthy supermarket,” says  says Roger Hinman, CEO of Hinman. “This will in turn generate interest from other businesses to locate near Earth Fare. With that in mind, the rest of the shopping center is being developed to accommodate additional retail spaces.”

Source: Emma Mitchell, Hinman Co.

Photos of Earth Fare Fort Wayne from its Facebook page.