Company flattered, but have no plans to bring store to the area
CUMMING, Ga. — Ever since Kroger left the Lakeland Plaza shopping center last year - a rumor was started that a Whole Foods was thinking of snatching up the prime location off Ga. 400 and exit 14.
However, Whole Foods execs say they have no such plan for a Forsyth County location.
In early December, Elleni Tzortzis, who runs Giorgio's Italian Restaurant at the same plaza, began asking the community to show the company it would do well opening a location in Cumming. As of Dec. 19, more than 1,038 people signed the petition - http://www.change.org/petitions/put-whole-foods-in-lakeland-plaza
"Definitely needed in our area," writes Christine Vallianatos, a Whole Foods shopper and Cumming-area resident. "The entire area would flourish with Whole Foods being the anchor store of that shopping center. Not to mention it would also bring in lots of people from other surrounding areas. Definitely a win-win situation."
Kroger closed its doors at Lakeland in November 2010, and used to bring in thousands of potential customers to the shopping plaza.
Keith Hawang, a manager at Town and Country Cleaners, had said a large anchor store like a Whole Foods would help get customers to find his independently-owned business.
Whole Foods, the eighth largest food and drug store in the U.S., according to Forbes, said it has no plan for a store in Forsyth County at this time.
"Store site decisions are based on a combination of factors that include the availability and cost of real estate, population density, education, income and interest in natural and organic foods," said Darrah Horgan, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods. "No one factor is most important, but the right combination is important. While it's flattering that there is interest in our brand, online petitions do not impact our real estate decisions."
New stores are announced four times annually on the company's quarterly earnings calls.
Current stores in development for the South region over the next year: Greensboro, Wilmington and Charlotte, N.C., Columbia, S.C. and Knoxville, Tenn.
Whole Foods shoppers in the Forsyth County area can take a ride to Roswell, 1180 Upper Hembree Road in Roswell or Johns Creek, 5945 State Bridge Road in Duluth to get their fix. There are eight total stores in Ga., including two Harry's Farmers Markets, and their newest store in East Cobb, opened in July.
Labels: Cumming, cumming georgia, Lakeland Plaza, whole foods
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 10:55 AM
