The long-awaited Earth Fare grocery store has projected a summer opening date at Lady Lake Commons.
The Lady Lake Commission received a brief update Monday night on the status of the natural and organic grocery market.
“The project is still a go. It’s been a long time coming,” said the town’s Growth Management Director Thad Carroll.
A late July opening is envisioned.
There are grocery carts currently lined up near the entrance to the store. There are also surveillance cameras in place. Signage has yet to be added.
The original announcement in 2019 of Earth Fare’s impending arrival was enthusiastically greeted in The Villages. Since that original announcement, Lady Lake Commons has welcomed Miller’s Ale House, Mission BBQ, Huey Magoo’s, a Goodwill store and Total Wine.
However, in February 2020, Earth Fare closed all of its 50 locations following the previous ownership’s bankruptcy declaration. It has since been revitalized through an investment from Hulsing Enterprises and CEO Dennis Hulsing, as well as involvement from one of its original Earth Fare founders, Randy Talley, and Mike Cianciarulo, a former president of Earth Fare. The new ownership group has opened several locations throughout the east, including Tampa Bay and Seminole.
Originally founded in 1975, Earth Fare is an organic grocer and wellness market with a mission to improve lives by “making healthy food available to everyone.” Earth Fare keeps the “good stuff” like organic fruits, vegetables and responsibly sourced meat and seafood and leaves out the “bad stuff” like meat raised with antibiotics and artificial hormones, as well as artificial flavors, dyes, sugars and more.