Dive Brief:
- Coborn’s is building a location in suburban Minneapolis that will include several additional features not present in other stores the chain runs, including in-store dining, according to details published by Roers Companies, the real estate company behind the development that will host the new supermarket.
- The new store in Plymouth, Minnesota, which will be known as Coborn’s Market & Table, will also include indoor and outdoor seating as well as an outdoor stage for performances.
- Coborn’s is developing the store at a time when many supermarket operators are trying to attract shoppers who might otherwise turn to restaurants for prepared foods.
Dive Insight:
In an August 2024 press release announcing that it intended to build the store, Coborn’s noted that the supermarket would serve as a new prototype “that aims to bring a fresh approach to grocery shopping” and offer “an immersive experience that caters to the evolving needs of today's consumers.” The grocer did not respond to an emailed request for comment about the planned store.
The new Coborn’s location will serve as an anchor of a mixed-use real estate project that Roers Companies is building through a partnership with Scannell Properties, another property developer. The companies began construction on the 75-acre development, known as The Boulevard, earlier this year.
As well as combining grocery shopping with restaurant-style dining, the new store — Coborn’s first in Plymouth — will include shopping carts made from recycled plastic, energy-efficient refrigeration systems and “seamless online-to-in-store shopping options,” Roers Companies said.
In addition, Coborn’s plans to carry an assortment of regionally and locally manufactured items along with a selection of premium wines and spirits in the more than 60,000-square-foot location, the real estate company said. The new store, which will sit next to a 9,000-square-foot wine and spirits store also run by Coborn’s, will create about 200 jobs and is due to open in March, the developer added.
The new store will be Coborn's 79th location, according to Roers Companies. In April, Coborn’s announced that it had agreed to purchase two Kessler’s Food and Grocery stores in South Dakota. Coborn’s plans to operate the stores, which are located in Aberdeen and Miller, South Dakota, under the Kessler’s name.
Shoppers are showing signs that they see prepared foods offered by grocers as a replacement for restaurant meals. In reflection of that trend, West Coast grocer Town & Country Markets has opened several in-store restaurants since 2024, and Wegmans debuted an upscale sushi restaurant in its store in Manhattan earlier this year.
Almost a quarter of shoppers who took part in a recent survey conducted by FMI — The Food Industry Association said they purchase less food from quick service or fast casual restaurants now than they did a year ago, while the majority of respondents said they buy at least as much deli-prepared food from grocery stores.
