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Lucky's Market plans to replace the Kroger store on South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor.
(Jessica Webster | The Ann Arbor News)
Related story: Ann Arbor Kroger store to close after failing to reach lease agreement
The Kroger store on South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor will be replaced by a Colorado-based natural foods store this year.
Lucky's Market CEO Bo Sharon confirmed Monday evening that he has a deal to open a store at 1919 S. Industrial Hwy, just south of East Stadium Boulevard. The goal is to open Lucky's Market in October, he said.
“We’re just super excited and honored to be a part of the Ann Arbor community,” Sharon said.
“(Opening a store in Ann Arbor) was always talked about, and when we went out to visit, we were like, ‘This is lovely.’ It’s a no-brainer,” he added.
Sharon and his wife, Trish, founded Lucky’s in Boulder, Colo. in 2003. The company has three existing stores, with one store set to open soon in Columbia, Mo. Lucky’s Market also plans to open a store in Billings, Mont. in a couple months.
Sharon describes Lucky’s Market as an “affordable natural foods” store. He said produce accounts for about 25 percent of the stores, along with grocery items, a meat department with a full-service deli, wine and beer, and a healthy living section.
The market works with local farmers and businesses, and it also has its own organic farm in Boulder, Colo.
“We’re wickedly passionate about not only local foods, but curating those relationships as well. …We started our business, my wife and I, on a lot of handshakes and getting to know people and that’s really what we do today,” Sharon said.
He added: “We’re heavily focused on fresh foods and produce specifically. And then our meat departments are only antibiotic-free meat and then we have a full-service deli where we make everything from scratch, on-site.”
Lucky’s Market sells both organic and conventional produce, and Sharon said it’s the prices that sets the grocery chain apart from competition; this week’s sales flyer on the company’s website markets large pineapples for $0.48 each, a one pound bag of organic baby peeled carrots for $0.98 cents, organic Haas avocados for $0.98 cents each and $5.99 per pound for 95 percent lean ground beef.
“The thought is everybody can eat fresher foods, less packaged goods,” Sharon said.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based The Kroger Co. confirmed on Monday that it plans to close its store on South Industrial Highway this year after it could not reach an agreement on a lease term with the property's owner, the Ufer family. The 3-acre site has a 2013 assessed value of about $1.02 million.
“Kroger is very disappointed that we have lost that lease,” said Kroger spokesman Dale Hollandsworth. “We have tried to get the lease renewed but have been unable to achieve that.”
Hollandsworth said the company is looking for additional sites in the Ann Arbor area to open a store.
Robert P. Ufer, one of the property’s owners, said Kroger was operating on lease terms that were “dramatically under market” rate after the grocery chain moved onto the property in the 1980s and took over the former A&P’s 40-year lease.
Ufer said he believes Lucky’s Market will be a “very nice addition to the Ann Arbor community.”
Sharon said Lucky’s Market plans to renovate the 30,000-square-foot building once Kroger closes. Kroger’s lease expires Aug. 31, but it’s unclear when the store will officially close.
Lucky’s Market’s plans for the building include garage doors that will open in the produce department to make customers feel as if they are walking into an open-air market. Sharon said Lucky’s Market stores have low shelves and customers can usually see from one side of the store to the other side.
The store will have a prepared-foods case with items made from scratch, a salad bar, an olive bar and a cheese island.
Lucky’s Markets stores typically employ about 130 people, Sharon said. Employees are offered health insurance and Lucky’s Market has a community involvement program where it pays up to 32 hours per employee for volunteer service.
Sharon said the location on South Industrial Highway is ideal for Lucky’s Market because of the proximity to the University of Michigan and the residential neighborhoods surrounding the site.
“It just felt right,” he said.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at 734-623-2584, email her lizzyalfs@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.