The Fresh Market will open Oct. 1, 2014, at the former Kmart location, 180 Collins Rd. NE, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The opening will mark the first foray into Iowa for the chain, which offers local, organic and all-natural products, prepared foods, custom cuts of meat and bulk spices. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
By Cindy Hadish/For the Corridor Business Journal
CEDAR RAPIDS — Three east-side grocery stores could open their doors within months of each other, but store leaders insist it’s not a race to see who can finish first.
The Fresh Market, New Pioneer Food Co-op and Fareway all will open new stores just a few minutes’ drive from one another in Cedar Rapids.
Chris Martinez, store manager of the Cedar Rapids Fresh Market site, noted that the North Carolina-based specialty grocery retailer will open its 24,055-square-foot store Oct. 1, 2014, at the former Kmart location, 180 Collins Rd. NE.
The opening will mark the first foray into Iowa for the chain, which offers local, organic and all-natural products, prepared foods, custom cuts of meat and bulk spices.
The loading dock for New Pioneer Food Co-op’s new store in Cedar Rapids will be at the front, facing Center Point Road NE, with the main entrance off the parking lot at the rear of the store. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
With a similar focus on local and organic products, New Pioneer Food Co-op also has plans to open before the end of 2014, with a store in Cedar Rapids at the former Fin & Feather, 3338 Center Point Rd. NE.
“We’re on-target to open by the end of this year,” Operations Manager Craig Albright said. “We’re really trying to push to open by the holidays.”
Mr. Albright said the push isn’t a reaction to the pending opening of The Fresh Market.
Last year, during a press conference to announce the co-op’s choice of Cedar Rapids for its third store, New Pi leaders said the location would open in early 2015, if not sooner.
Mr. Albright said the opening date will be announced in coming weeks.
Just blocks from The Fresh Market, preparations are under way for the new Fareway store at 3717 First Ave. SE, in the Town & Country Shopping Center.
Frederick Greiner, president and chief operating officer for the Boone-based stores, said the hoped-for opening date of this fall has been pushed off to the end of January or early February 2015.
Fareway operates just over 100 stores in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Nothing in particular delayed the Cedar Rapids project, Mr. Greiner said, but pointed to logistics in razing buildings at the site, recycling the materials and other aspects of demolition that take time.
Work is under way for the new Fareway store at 3717 First Ave. SE, in the Town & Country Shopping Center. The store will open just blocks from The Fresh Market’s new store on Collins Road NE in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The new building, at more than 30,000-square-feet, will include a fresh bakery, full-service meat department, farm-fresh produce and low, competitive prices, he said.
Mr. Greiner said the store isn’t in a race to compete with the other area groceries and noted that Fareway has been in the Cedar Rapids area for 18 years.
“People already know us,” he said. “We seem to develop our own niche and it works for us.”
If nothing else, the three new stores might be in competition for employees.
Fareway plans to hire 80 to 100 mostly part-time employees.
Job interviews will be conducted later this year, with employment opportunities to be posted at www.fareway.com.
The Fresh Market, which operates 160 stores in 26 states, has already hired many of its 90 workers that each store employs, Mr. Martinez noted, with available positions listed at careers.thefreshmarket.com.
“We have been really pleased with the fantastic employees we have hired from the Cedar Rapids community,” he stated in an email.
New Pioneer recently announced the hiring of Matt Steigerwald, executive chef and owner of the former Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon, to lead its prepared foods team in Cedar Rapids.
After operating the cafe for 12 years, Steigerwald sold the local favorite to Rachel Sauter, who reopened it this year as the Palisades Cafe, while he turned his attentions to the nearby Lincoln Wine Bar, now under new management by longtime barkeep Jesse Sauerbrei.
Steigerwald, well-known for his innovative flavors and focus on fresh, local foods, shared mutual interests with New Pi, Mr. Albright said.
“We’re really excited to have him on the team,” he said. “We thought Matt would be perfect to make this a destination place to eat, as well as a grocery store.”
Craig Albright
About 30 people work at New Pioneer’s new North Liberty bakery, The Hub, which opened three months ago. Deli staples and more are made at that site, Mr. Albright said, while cookies, breakfast pastries, muffins, scones and other items will be baked fresh at the Cedar Rapids store.
New Pioneer has its key Cedar Rapids leaders in place, Mr. Albright added, and will hire a total of about 50 staff for the 14,400-square-foot site. Job announcements will be made on its website: www.newpi.coop
The store runs above the industry standard in hiring full-time workers with benefits, he noted.
A prepared foods section, with dine-in seating, is taking shape at the new site, with wall installation under way last week.
The building will offer numerous energy-efficient and environmentally friendly features, such as LED lighting in the interior and a bioswale in the parking lot, which uses native vegetation to collect and filter storm water runoff.
As it does at its two locations in Iowa City and Coralville, New Pioneer will focus on buying fresh produce from local growers. The Fresh Market also offers local foods, but neither Mr. Albright nor Mr. Martinez see that as cause for concern.
“We have a distinctive concept that rarely competes directly with other food retailers,” Mr. Martinez said via email.
He noted that The Fresh Market offers smaller, more intimate stores, classical music, soft lighting and other amenities that provide a unique shopping experience.
New Pioneer’s Mr. Albright echoed those comments.
“We don’t view it as competition,” he said. “We’re happy that there’s a bigger focus on local and organic foods. It will be nice for Cedar Rapids to have more options.”
Read more Eastern Iowa business stories at the Corridor Business Journal, see more photos from New Pi, below, and find related articles here: (Photos © Corridor Business Journal and Homegrown Iowan.)
The Fresh Market sets Oct. 1 grand opening
Voting under way for new Iowa City store
Cedar Rapids chosen for third store
Is Cedar Rapids “too unsophisticated” for New Pi?
Ryan Companies is the general contractor for New Pioneer Food Co-op’s new store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The store is using an existing building and incorporating environmentally friendly and energy efficient features. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Painting is under way on the interior of the New Pioneer Food Co-op’s new store at 3338 Center Point Rd. NE in Cedar Rapids. The store is expected to open by the end of the year. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Workers install walls for the dine-in seating area of the prepared foods section at the New Pioneer Food Co-op store in Cedar Rapids. Matt Steigerwald, well-known in local foods circles, will lead the prepared food team at the new store. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
I can’t wait! Hy Vee is so-so, Walmart lame, Aldi ok except for produce, meat, variety.
I will try all three once opened!
Thanks for your comment, Cathy. Agreed! It will be interesting to see the new dynamics with more variety and competition.
[…] Three-way grocery store “race” nears finish line in Cedar … – Three-way grocery store “race” nears finish line in Cedar Rapids; … which offers local, organic and all-natural products, prepared foods, custom cuts of meat and bulk spices. … “We’re happy that there’s a bigger focus on local and organic foods. […]