HIGH POINT, N.C. — North Carolina-based organic grocery chain Earth Fare says it is closing all of its stores, including two Triad locations.
The company says the decision is due to continued challenges in the retail industry and the inability to refinance debt.
One-hundred employees at Earth Fare stores in Greensboro and High Point will be impacted by the change.
Earth Fare says there is no set date for closure. Liquidation sales began today and the grocery chain anticipates they will run through the end of February.
Earth Fare has 50 stores and approximately 3,000 employees.
The grocery chain released the following statement:
“Earth Fare has been proud to serve the natural and organic grocery market, and the decision to begin the process of closing our stores was not entered into lightly. We’d like to thank our Team Members for their commitment and dedication to serving our customers and our vendors and suppliers for their partnership,” said Earth Fare.
“While many of these initiatives improved the business, continued challenges in the retail industry impeded the company’s progress as well as its ability to refinance its debt. As a result, Earth Fare is not in a financial position to continue to operate on a go-forward basis. As such, we have made the difficult, but necessary decision to commence inventory liquidation sales while we continue to engage in a process to find potential suitors for our stores,” added Earth Fare.
The City of High Point reacted to the news of the closing of the Earth Fare store with this statement below
"High Point, like many communities across the nation, will hate to see the Earth Fare store leave our city. Charlotte is losing seven Earth Fare stores, and the Triangle will see two close – along with all other stores in the company. This company-wide closing will be affecting many across the state. These days, it’s an extremely competitive grocery store landscape that requires some companies to make some tough decisions. We wish the company and those employees affected the best. We will continue our efforts to attract businesses and jobs to High Point while creating an environment for existing businesses to thrive."