Ever since Lincoln revealed their plans for the Gaston-Garland-Grand shopping center, it’s been a guessing game to figure out which grocery store will anchor Arboretum Village.
Rick Wamre tossed around the idea of an HEB and a Kroger based on a blog by DMN reporter Steve Brown. Although HEB told us they aren’t interested in coming here, those ideas aren’t off the table. Nothing is, really. We’ve heard it’s going to be a small grocery store of about 25-to-30,000 square feet, possibly one that we haven’t seen in the area before. So, with that in mind, here are some other grocery store possibilities to chew on:
Natural Grocers is definitely an option. They’ve been interested in the neighborhood for a while and had a watchful eye on Lower Greenville, but that went quiet after the Trader Joe’s deal. I’ve been bugging the PR lady with Natural Grocers on the regular, and she has neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of a Natural Grocers coming to Lakewood. She says that unless there’s a signed agreement on record, they won’t be able to announce new locations.
The other grocery store on my calling list is Houston-based Rice Epicurean Markets. I’ve left a couple of voicemails with the CFO, but I haven’t heard anything back from him. I’ll let you know if that changes. Right now, the grocery store is limited to Houston only, but with its stock of specialty treats and other goods, it might be just the kind of gourmet grocery store Lakewood could rally around.
