Colorado-based Natural Grocers will soon open a Fayetteville location.
The natural grocery chain lists Fayetteville as one of several cities where new stores are planned on the company’s website. The listing includes a March 10, 2015 grand opening date.
Company officials said Natural Grocers will set up shop at the Northwest Village Shopping Center inside the OfficeMax space across from the Northwest Arkansas Mall at 4116 N. College Ave.
Office Depot, which acquired OfficeMax last year, plans to close about 400 locations across the country to reduce overlap between the two office-supply businesses. An OfficeMax representative said the Fayetteville store, which is currently promoting a “moving sale” will close by Nov. 15.
Natural Grocers, which specializes in natural and organic foods and dietary supplements, operates at least 113 locations across 15 states. The Fayetteville store would be the company’s first location in Arkansas.
Yahoo Finance last year called Natural Grocers “a viable form of competition” for Whole Foods Market, which recently broke ground on its first Fayetteville location.
Although Whole Foods recently rolled out a new campaign to help stand out from its competitors, Natural Grocers says it has a symbiotic relationship with the Austin, Texas-based chain.
“It’s (Whole Foods) a really fun place to shop, and many of their principles are aligned with ours, which is why their stores do so well when located near ours (and vice versa),” states a post on the Natural Grocers website.
Once open, the two new stores will be located less than a mile apart.
