Natural Grocers Shuttering 2 Underperforming Stores in Texas
Citing low performance and a desire to increase operational efficiencies across its footprint, Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage will close two of its locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Storewide closing sales will begin on May 15, and the stores will officially close their doors on June 27.
The stores set for closure are located in Fort Worth at 5230 North Tarrant Parkway, and in Coppell at 120 S. Denton Tap Road. Natural Grocers says it is working closely with impacted associates to identify transfer opportunities, and all other crew members will be offered a transition package, including severance and benefits.
[Read more: "Natural Grocers Launches Free 1-on-1 Shopping Sessions"]
"We made the difficult decision to close two lower-performing stores, Fort Worth-North and Coppell," said Kemper Isely, co-president of Natural Grocers. "We remain committed to serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and believe that our neighboring stores will continue to provide these communities the world-class customer service, quality and affordability for which Natural Grocers is known."
Natural Grocers locations in the DFW area that will remain open include:
- Keller: 1501 Keller Parkway
- Hurst: 759 Grapevine Highway
- Dallas – Preston and Forest: 11661 Preston Road
- Dallas – Richardson: 677 West Campbell Road, Suite 100
The company asserts that the decision to close the stores was made after careful consideration of each store's performance, and no additional stores are slated for closure.
Supermarket competition in the area is at an all-time high, with the Lone Star State recently emerging as somewhat of a grocery hotbed. In the bustling DFW area, homegrown chain H-E-B continues to build new stores, while The Kroger Co. is busy planning three larger-format Kroger Marketplace stores in the Metroplex and Costco Wholesale Corp. is also investing in a new site.
Grocery growth is also robust in Houston, where Gordon Food Service is set to add six new locations and where independent grocers like Little Red Box Grocery are opening new outposts. Food retailing competition is also heating up in the fast-growing city of Austin, as operators like H-E-B, H Mart, Foxtrot and Tiny Grocer are widening their respective footprints.
Family-operated Natural Grocers operates over 160 stores in 21 states. The Lakewood, Colo.-based natural and organic grocer is No. 95 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Natural Grocers one of its 10 Most Sustainable Grocers.
