my life is now complete :D
The rumors are true. Whole Foods Market is coming to Hilton Head Island.
Several
posts on Facebook on Monday suggested the upscale grocer that
specializes in hard-to-find products and "food in its purest state,"
planned to move into space being vacated by Piggly Wiggly supermarket at
Shelter Cove. A Whole Foods official confirmed those plans Tuesday,
saying the store is slated to open in "mid-2014."
"The community
of Hilton Head has been asking us to open a store here for years, and we
are excited to be coming to the market," wrote Emily Shively, associate
marketing coordinator for Whole Foods Market South Region, in an email.
The
store, which sells natural and organic foods with a focus on products
produced locally, will occupy 30,000 square feet at The Plaza at Shelter
Cove shopping center and employ at least 100 people, according to
Shively.
Piggly Wiggly announced Monday it will close its store at Shelter Cove in "approximately two weeks."
"The
final date of operations remains subject to change, thus preventing a
more definitive announcement," said Christopher Ibsen, Piggly Wiggly's
director of corporate affairs.
The Shelter Cove store is the
second of five Piggly Wigglys in Beaufort County whose closures have
been announced recently. The store on Burnt Church Road in Bluffton will
become a Bi-Lo by the end of the year, Bi-Lo announced Sept. 11. Bi-Lo
bought that store and 21 other Piggly Wigglys in South Carolina and
Georgia.
Three Piggly Wigglys will continue operating in Beaufort
County, Ibsen said. Those stores are at Coligny Plaza on Hilton Head, on
Boundary Street in Beaufort, and at the Royal Oaks Shopping Center in
Port Royal. Fifty-seven Piggly Wigglys -- some corporately owned and
some independently owned -- will continue operating in South Carolina,
Georgia and elsewhere in the Southeast.
"It's sad to see Piggly
Wiggly go. For the last 25 years, they've been a great asset not only to
Shelter Cove, but to the island," said Realtor Phil Schembra, who along
with the grocer were the first tenants to open in the shopping center
in the late 1980s.
"They contributed to a lot of the community
through the charities they support and have been a good neighbor,"
Schembra said. "It's sad to see them go, but we're fortunate to get an
upscale grocer with a spectacular national reputation that will take the
shopping experience on this island to a whole new level -- one we've
not seen but are ready for."
http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/10/15/2739038/whole-foods-coming-to-hilton-head.html
Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/10/15/2739038/whole-foods-coming-to-hilton-head.html#storylink=cpy
