Retail News Briefs

H-E-B Grocery Co., a San Antonio, TX, supermarket chain with $5 billion in annual sales, this month will open a 90,000-sq.-ft. specialty and natural foods store called Broadway Market less than one mile from Whole Foods Market’s (WFMI) newly relocated San Antonio store. H-E-B is converting one of its conventional supermarkets to the new format, based on its highly successful Central Market store in Austin, TX. Broadway Market will be operated as part of H-E-B’s Central Market division. Whole Foods’ new San Antonio location opened on Oct. 29.

NBTY Inc. (NBTY) opened 18 new Vitamin World stores in MA, TX, VA, KS, CA, MS, NY, MO, VT, PA, CO, TN, DE and HI between Aug. 1 and Oct. 30 and expects to open 25 more stores by year’s end. NBTY currently operates 105 Vitamin World stores in the U.S. and two stores in England. NBTY recently acquired the U.K.-based Holland and Barrett chain.

The Granary, a two-store chain in Sarasota, FL, is up for sale, according to owners Rik Tweed and Susan Christy, who have decided to sell the 20-year-old business, despite the company’s first profitable year in a decade. The Granary had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 1996 after running up a $2 million tab with distributor Tree of Life. Competitor Mother Earth Markets, based in Gainesville, FL, reportedly is interested in purchasing the stores.

Chamberlin’s Market & Cafe will open its sixth store next spring, having completed a five-year remodeling effort on its five existing stores in the greater Orlando, FL, area. The 8,500-sq.-ft. store is a new prototype for at least four additional stores planned for the area.

Fred Meyer Inc. of Portland, OR, is introducing aromatherapy accessories in all 113 of its store-within-a-store nutrition centers, with 46 of those units installing expanded aromatherapy sets.

Albertson’s Inc. of Boise, Idaho, has introduced organic fresh fruits and vegetables to about half of its 850-plus stores, with a line of up to 12 fresh produce items. The chain picked higher-volume stores for the rollout and will add product items and stores pending consumer response.

Costas Foods Supermarket Inc. in Valparaiso, IN, as part of a renovation, has opened the Organic Market, a store-within-a-store health food market, which will include an on-site nutritionist.

The Vix Deep Discount drugstore chain, a subsidiary of Amherst, NY-based Tops Markets Inc., opened its first free-standing Herbs Nutritional Center in October in Williamsville, NY. The 6,000-sq.-ft. store will feature a range of vitamins and supplements, homeopathic medicines, sports medicine, diet products, and natural body care items.

Wild Oats Markets (OATS) closed its Marina-district San Francisco store in early October due to poor sales because of lack of parking, according to CEO Mike Gilliland.

Good Earth Natural Foods has opened its third Sarasota, FL, store, a 4,500-sq.-ft. unit in Bradenton.