Coborn’s plans to include eateries run by prominent local dining entrepreneurs in a grocery store it is developing outside Minneapolis, the Midwestern retailer said on Wednesday in an emailed press release.
The new supermarket, known as Coborn’s Market & Table, is due to open in March in Plymouth, Minnesota. The location will include the third location of The Buttered Tin, a bakery and cafe chain founded by Twin Cities restaurateur Alicia Hinze. The Buttered Tin specializes in freshly baked pastries and other breakfast and lunch foods.
Hinze participated in the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program, which seeks to boost women-owned food or beverage businesses, in 2017.
The new Coborn’s store will also feature a food court called The Global Table, which will include three fast casual concepts designed by David Fhima, a chef who owns several restaurants in the Minneapolis area. The stations will offer Italian and Mexican food as well as handcrafted burgers.
Customers will be able to order meals in the store or online to eat on-site or take with them. Coborn’s noted that the store will have indoor seating and, during the warmer months, outdoor seating.
Coborn’s currently runs 78 grocery stores in Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois under its namesake brand as well as banners including Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods, Hornbacher’s, Kessler’s Food and Grocery, and Sullivan’s Foods.
Coborn’s decision to make in-store dining a centerpiece of its new store reflects a growing trend among food retailers to attract shoppers looking for a restaurant experience when they buy groceries. The company’s president, Emily Coborn Wright, said in a statement that Coborn’s goal is to create a “vibrant, community-focused shopping experience.”
In addition to its dining options, Coborn’s new location — which the chain has described as a prototype store — will host an ice cream shop and serve as a drop-off and pick-up site for Mulberry’s Garment Care, a dry cleaning service. It will also include a fuel kiosk and an on-site wine and spirits store.
The new Coborn’s location will be part of a mixed-use real estate project under construction by a pair of property developers, Roers Companies and Scannell Properties.
