In its final days, Columbia Earth Fare store clears out shelves with major discounts
Gary Bell weighed and wrapped wedges of specialty cheeses behind the counter at Columbia’s lone Earth Fare store on Tuesday morning, trying to space out what’s left of his inventory as the specialty grocer prepares to close after two decades in Columbia.
Customers, he said, “are devastated. Some are moved to tears, you know, because there are some products here that people really depend on.”
“There’s a lot of customers that have been coming since day one, so they’ve built relationships with us, and they’re concerned about us, which is sweet,” Bell said.
There’s a bit of an apocalyptic feel to the Devine Street store now, with its produce and meat shelves wiped nearly bare and shoppers picking through what’s left of the sparse stock of canned and dry goods and health and wellness items, all being sold at steep discounts.
The Asheville-based grocery store chain, which specializes in natural and organic products, announced Feb. 3 that it would liquidate and close all its stores across the country by the end of the month. A day later, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is seeking buyers for its stores.
Store employees learned of the Earth Fare’s closure the same day it was announced to the public, said Bell, who’s worked at the Columbia store for about 20 years.
The mood in the store since the news broke has been “probably more positive than you would expect,” he said. “Some of the older people that have been here like me, we haven’t had to look for jobs for a long time. We’ve got good skill sets and stuff. It’s just you’ve got to kind of sharpen yourself back up. But I understand the mood’s pretty good.”
Some Earth Fare employees have sued the company because they were not given a 60-day layoff notice, as required the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, The Charlotte Observer and multiple other news outlets reported.
Bell and other Columbia employees have begun looking for other jobs. He said he hopes to land with a similar business in the area.
Business was steady at the store around lunchtime Tuesday, although the pickings were growing slimmer. The crowds have started to slow a bit as the shelves have gotten barer, Bell said.
Bulk bins of nuts, seeds and grains are nearly empty beside an aisle of coffee and teas being sold for 20% off. You can save around $4 on a $20 bottle of olive oil, while vitamins and health supplements are marked 40% off. The vegetarian-fed, humanely raised meats are sold out out, but there are still cartons of cage-free eggs and organic milk. The craft beer and wine selections are dwindling, too, but you can buy what’s left for 20% and 30% off, respectively.
Even the store fixtures are for sale.
Helen Kilimnik came with several of her coworkers hoping to grab a fresh lunch Tuesday. Alas, they were out of luck; all the prepared foods are gone. But they left with several bags of groceries, including some teas and probiotics.
There aren’t many other stores where they’re able to shop for specialty items such as jicama and Bulgarian yogurt, they said.
“It’s a pretty unique store. It’s sad,” Kilimnik said. “Whole Foods is not far, but Whole Foods is just a chain. This one has heart and soul.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 3:36 PM.
