Back From The Dead; Earth Fare Reopens on Wednesday

Everyone loves cheering for an underdog, and a great comeback story. Earth Fare hopes theirs is going to be just that. The "healthy supermarket", which went belly up and closed its doors in February, before the pandemic, has new owners, and is re-opening its Portage store on South Westnedge Wednesday.morning

The Hinman Company CEO Roger Hinman, landlord of the Portage store, says “having the new ownership team at Earth Fare make it a top priority to reopen the Portage store as part of the initial restart is indicative of how strongly the healthy supermarket has been embraced by the community”.

Commenting of the return to Portage, David Isinghood, the COO of the new Earth Fare, said, “We are excited to return to Portage. You will find many of the same trusted brands and house made specialties back in our store, and we are adding some new ones. We will be keeping our Food Philosophy and product standards at the forefront, we are expanding our craftsmanship and increasing our selection of Organic produce and local offerings,”

After the bankruptcy sale, a chunk of the stores was purchased by an investor group than includes founder Roger Derrough and a former executive of the old company, who will be CEO, Bethany Turon, According to grocerydive.com, Derrough told the Citizen Times in Asheville, that he was disappointed by what the previous ownership group did after he sold the company in 2007, mentioning attempting to grow too quickly. The new Earth Fare is currently comprised of only 12 stores.