The Future of Earth Fare and Its Stores

Earth Fare continues picking up the pieces after last week announcing that it will close all of its stores, beginning liquidation sales immediately — which are expected to conclude no later than Feb. 29 — and then filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Now, Melville, N.Y.-based A&G Real Estate Partners (AGREP) and Northbrook, Ill.-based Hilco Streambank are selling all of the natural and organic grocer's leases and intellectual property, respectively. 

According to AGREP, most of the stores are approximately 25,000 square feet — ranging in size from 17,000 to 38,000 square feet.

"Many of these stores are in great shape, with nice interiors and fixtures that are typical of the specialty organic category," said Joseph McKeska, AGREP senior managing director. "The opportunity to acquire fully fixtured, very young or recently renovated properties is not available very often and gives buyers a fantastic opportunity to enter a turnkey location and be up and running with very little down time."

Earth Fare's intellectual property assets include its trademarks, customer data, domain names, social media assets and recipes, all of which are for sale.

"The brand has a rich history in the health-and-wellness retail market, and is well known for holding food manufacturers to the highest standards," said David Peress, EVP of Hilco Streambank. "The Earth Fare brand aligns with the values of today's consumer. It offered locally sourced meats and produce in the early 1980s and has been at the forefront of offering its customers products without such ingredients as artificial sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup."

Earth Fare is being advised by Washington, D.C.-based FTI Consulting, a global advisory firm, as financial advisor and chief restructuring officer. Interested parties in the grocer's stores should reach out to Emilio Amendola with AGREP at [email protected], and those interested in intellectual property should reach out to David Peress at [email protected].