Two organic supermarket chains from out of state are closing their doors in Jacksonville, which has helped open the door for Native Sun Natural Foods Market to take another run at the Jacksonville Beach grocery market.
Lucky’s Market - based in Colorado - pulled the plug on its Neptune Beach location Thursday while the North Carolina based natural-foods chain, Earth Fare, will be closing all of its supermarkets, including three stores in the Jacksonville area.
Locally-owned Native Sun threw in the towel in August. But, as owner Aaron Gottlieb explained on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross Thursday, he's decided to reopen the old Jacksonville Beach store with some new twists.
Related: Listen to the entire audio interview with Gottieb
“Our old deli wasn’t sustainable in the format it was. So we’re reintroducing that as a fast-casual restaurant. We looked at ordering efficiencies, speed and then also having a restaurant experience where you can sit down and have a nice meal that’s from scratch and made from organic ingredients,” said Gottlieb.
The revamped Native Sun is scheduled to open Wednesday.
