New natural grocer with Meijer backing to debut in Chicago

Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets said today it will open more than 60 stores in the Midwest over the next five years. The first will open this spring in northwest suburban Mount Prospect. A location in north suburban Deerfield will follow this summer, and outposts in west suburban Downers Grove, Naperville and Joliet are to debut in 2015.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... n-chicago#

Fresh Thymes, from what I have been told is a merger of the Sunflowers Markets and the Sprouts Market.

The Sprouts Market that I shopped earlier this month in Tuscon, AZ was quite inter3sting. While they have a lot of products similar to what you would find in a Whole Foods, the produce is very reasonably priced, similar to what you would find at Eurofresh or Joe Caputo's. In addition, they have a bulk food selection that is pretty similar to Winco stores.

It is a place that appeals to a lot of people who would no step foot into a Whole Foods stores.

I don't see anything on their website concerning their being financially backed by Meijers. From what I understand the guy who is the CEO of Fresh Thyme, used to be the CEO of Sunflower until they were bought out by Sprouts. I took a look at the Sprouts website, and they have a lot of stores in the same areas as Whole Foods. They even have at least one store in Austin.

There is a reference to it in the first paragraphs.

http://www.freshthyme.com/news/fresh-th ... ago-suburb

Hi- Fresh Thyme is opening up their store in Mount Prospect at 7:00am on April 23. It is on Rand. The first 250 customers get a reusable bag with $50 worth of groceries in it. Both Jill Cataldo and mashupmom are giving away a $50 gift certificate to the store. The Deerfield store which is on Waukegan a block north of Deerbrook Mall is supposed to open up sometime this summer.

Hi- Here is the sale ad for the Mount Prospect store. If it was closer I would go there. It looks like there are some good sales.

http://freshthyme.com/weekly-ads/april-23rd-april-30th

I stopped in today. Missed the first-250 door prize, which was a $50+ bag of groceries, but the opening day flyer tucked in my front door included a $5 coupon off $25 (no booze), and a free cloth bag was included in my purchase (which is good, some of my Dominick's ones are getting pretty ratty).

It's not a very big store (perhaps 2x a Trader Joe's), and it has a very open plan -- the middle is all low shelving so you can see front to back. A couple left aisles are dedicated to liquor, a couple to health supplements and the rest are packaged and freezer/dairy. The middle front has bulk foods, middle back is produce, and right side is all specialty counters and piers: prepared foods, bakery, deli, fish, meat.

Prices seemed reasonable, with some good sales as NFriday posted (strawberries a particularly good price, Saku tuna steaks $6.99)... but there wasn't a lot I needed. The biggest problem I see is that they don't distinguish themselves well: Why would I shop here? They have less stuff that I need day-to-day than Jewel or Mariano's (and Jewel, which is closer, appears to have improved both selection and prices lately). Mariano's is at least as big in selection of Organics and exceeds in prepared foods. They are *closer* than Mariano's, and may be useful for a quick grab of things such as herbs. However, selection of ethnic and exotic seemed very thin (for example: 20 items on the olive bar, but no unpitted kalamatas or plain greens): it's more of a general grocery trying to be just slightly upscale, a la TJ's, when what I really want is a closer version of Fresh Farms Niles.

Hi= According to the Chicago Trib., people started lining up for the free bags of food at 4:30am, and so I think you had to get there really early to get the food. I am just curious if the strawberries were any good. The California strawberries I have had so far have been lackluster. Last night at Jewel, I actually broke down and bought one package of conventional strawberries on sale for $1.99, and one package of organic for $3.99, and they were both the best I have had so far, but they still were not great. The organic ones were a little but better, but they were not worth twice the price. I am going to jazzfest in New Orleans next week, where they will have homegrown berries, and so I will finally be able to get some decent ones. Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:I am just curious if the strawberries were any good.

I haven't eaten them yet (had blueberries to polish off first, and if I were good I'd eat the crappy melon that nobody wanted that someone brought in a fruit platter for Easter), but I'm not optimistic: They're very large berries with a lot of white showing near the stems. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have a report.

Hi- On another board that I post, somebody just reported that Fresh Thyme is moving into the old Dominick's store in Crystal Lake. At least out there they won't have any competition from Whole Foods. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hopefully for them, they won't have any competition from any upscale grocer.

Hi- I did a search for Crystal Lake here, and apparently there is a Fresh Market there. I don't know how much competition they would be though.

NFriday wrote:Hi- I did a search for Crystal Lake here, and apparently there is a Fresh Market there. I don't know how much competition they would be though.

I do not know how that place survives. I have never been in the place when it has been busy. The prices are astronomical. I have been there four times and have yet to make a purchase.

Hi- Supposedly Fresh Market is supposed to have some good deals on some Tuesdays. I've heard that they have free range boneless skinless chicken breast for $2.99 a pound occasionally on Tuesdays. I know there are a few people here that go to Fresh Market for a few items, but buy most of their groceries elsewhere. On Jill Cataldo's couponing blog, somebody was concerned that Fresh Thyme was going to put Joseph's out of business, but I don't think Joseph's has to worry about that. It appears that Fresh Thyme does better when Whole Foods is not in the neighborhood.

I have been inside the Fresh Market at Eden's Plaza in Wilmette a few times, but I decided I couldn't afford it, and it was way more expensive than even Whole Foods, which I do shop at occasionally.

Fresh Market in Wilmette has slowly but surely built a steady clientele. I was skeptical they were going to make it as well.
The specials mentioned above are worth driving any reasonable distance. This is not just great pricing on boneless chicken breasts on Tuesdays. The store in Wilmette has a butcher counter that serves the best meat in the area. Ground chuck is also 2.99 on Tuesdays. An unbelievable price for the quality of meat. Their meat and chicken have converted me into a FM fan through and through.

jlawrence01 wrote:

NFriday wrote:Hi- I did a search for Crystal Lake here, and apparently there is a Fresh Market there. I don't know how much competition they would be though.

I do not know how that place survives. I have never been in the place when it has been busy. The prices are astronomical. I have been there four times and have yet to make a purchase.

NFriday wrote:I have been inside the Fresh Market at Eden's Plaza in Wilmette a few times, but I decided I couldn't afford it, and it was way more expensive than even Whole Foods, which I do shop at occasionally.

Meijer, based in Michigan, has opened Fresh Thyme Farmers Market in Mt. Prospect. Fresh Market is a national chain based in Greensboro,NC.