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San Diego's Favorite Place for Produce - Henry's Farmers Market - Remodels Encinitas and Poway Stores, and Expands Specialty Services and Departments

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 July 2005, 12:01 CDT

SAN DIEGO, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry's Farmers Market, an extraordinary fresh foods grocery store and leading resource for produce and natural foods, today announced its grand re-opening of two newly remodeled stores in Encinitas and Poway. Both stores will open their doors on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 8 a.m. The Encinitas store is located at 1327 Encinitas Blvd. and the Poway store is located at 13536 Poway Road.

Named San Diego's best health food store for seven consecutive years by the Union Tribune's San Diego's Best Reader's Poll, Henry's is remodeling and expanding services to meet increased customer demand. In addition to remodeling these two stores, Henry's has plans to open four stores in the greater San Diego area in the next two years and additional new stores in the Los Angeles area. Henry's, which planted the seeds for many of today's farmers market grocery stores, began in 1943 with the sale of a truckload of peaches on a San Diego street corner. Known for its locally grown farm-fresh produce, over the years Henry's has become a Southern California favorite, which is on trend with growing consumer shopping patterns.

Recently farmers markets have been growing in popularity and new outdoor markets featuring local farmers have opened in towns all over the country. In fact, the U.S. Agriculture Department says the number of farmers markets has doubled nationally in the past decade, to more than 3,700.

Henry's is a family of friendly, authentic farmers market stores that offer a shopping experience reminiscent of produce stands and neighborhood butchers of the 1950s. Henry's stores have been known for more than 60 years in San Diego for their farm-fresh produce, high quality vitamins and supplements, and great-tasting, all-natural food, including bulk grains, nuts and candy, whole grain sprouted breads, fresh meats and seafood, deli offerings and a wide variety of grocery products.

The official grand re-opening for both stores is July 27. Doors open at 8 a.m. and the first 200 people through the doors receive a free canvas tote full of Henry's groceries. Regular store hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. To celebrate the grand re-opening of the renovated stores, Henry's Farmers Market is inviting its neighbors to festive block parties on Tuesday, July 26, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The parties will be blowout block parties held in the parking lots at both the Encinitas and Poway Henry's stores. The parties will feature music, a vast array of free great-tasting food samples, face painting and a sneak-peek at the newly remodeled stores for guests. Guests can also shop from 6 to 9 p.m. on July 26 and visit Henry's expanded Healthy Living department, fully-staffed meat and seafood counter and new specialty cuisine "islands".

"Henry's has a strong following in Southern California and we are thankful for our loyal San Diego-area shoppers," said Al Bercuson Director of Operations for Henry's Farmers Market in San Diego. "We're remodeling and expanding some important services and departments in our stores to give our customers the best shopping experience possible."

The Encinitas and Poway Henry's stores keep their turn-of-the-century farmers market feel and now have a new layout to improve customer flow. Both stores have fully staffed fresh meat and seafood counters that will offer fresh fish delivered daily and several varieties of fresh, all-natural pork, poultry, beef, lamb and ready-to-cook entrees for maximum convenience. The stores also feature new specialty food stations where customers will find exceptional olives, coffees and cheeses from around the world.

The Poway Henry's now boasts a brand new Healthy Living department while the Encinitas store expanded and remodeled this department. Numerous aisles devoted to vitamins, dietary supplements, herbal remedies and all-natural body care products make up the Henry's Vitamins and Healthy Living Department. An open environment with lower shelving, along with informational brochures, books, in-store health screenings and health-related events will help customers learn more about how vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies can contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

The remodeled Henry's stores also feature upgraded in-house bakeries where customers will enjoy the aromas and flavors of fresh-baked breads, all-natural muffins, bursting fresh-fruit pies and other baked items. The stores also feature cuisine "islands," which make shopping for fresh, theme-based meals a breeze. The islands are meal zones that rotate by season, featuring South of the Border, Italian, grilling favorites, breakfast items and lunch box fixins'.

As always, the Henry's Farmers Market product selection process is designed to offer customers the highest quality, freshest, all-natural products at competitive prices. Henry's employees are trained to have in-depth knowledge about the store's products to offer customers a shopping experience that is not only fun and friendly, but also educational.

The heart of Henry's is its produce department. With expanded produce departments, the stores offer more than 350 farm-fresh conventional and organic produce varieties with an emphasis on California-grown items. From extra large artichokes and seven different kinds of tomatoes -- from vine-ripened to Roma -- to fresh corn on the cob and Hawaiian-grown papayas, Henry's produce selection and prices can't be beat.

The Encinitas and Poway stores' grocery aisles are filled with thousands of products and hundreds of brands of all-natural and organic grocery, dairy and frozen food items. With new freezer sections, the stores offer a vast selection of all-natural frozen food items. Cheeses from California dairy farms and several countries around the world make up the expanded fresh cheese department. Bins filled with more than 250 different nuts, beans, grains, trail mixes, candies and more complete the Bulk Foods department, which allows customers to take as much or as little as they like and reduce the environmental impact of product packaging.

In addition to designing the store to meet customer preferences, freezers, shelving and lighting have been updated. The lighting is run by a sophisticated computer system that allows for cycling, thereby reducing overall energy use. The computer system will also monitor refrigeration systems to maintain high-energy efficiency.

The roots of Henry's Farmers Market were established in 1943 when the Boney Family bought a truckload of peaches and sold them on a street corner in San Diego. In 1999, Wild Oats Markets, Inc. acquired Henry's Farmers Market from the Boney Family and today continues their tradition of exceptional quality, value and service. The Henry's family includes 21 stores in Southern California and four in Arizona.

Wild Oats Markets, Inc. is a nationwide chain of natural and organic foods markets in the U.S. and Canada. The Company currently operates 111 stores in 24 states and British Columbia, Canada. The Company's other natural foods stores include Wild Oats Natural Marketplace(R), Capers Community Markets(TM) and Sun Harvest(TM). The stock is traded under the symbol "OATS" on the NASDAQ.

Henry's Farmers Market

CONTACT: Eva Wong of Edelman Worldwide, +1-415-222-9944, for Henry'sFarmers Market; or Sonja Tuitele of Henry's Farmers Market, +1-720-562-4984

Source: PRNewswire

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