Specialty Grocery Stores Invade Silicon Valley

Just in the last year, Whole Foods unveiled a new San Jose emporium and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market established two outposts in the city. Sprouts Farmers Market planted its first Northern California store in Sunnyvale. And Phoenix-based Sunflower Farmers Market will soon open in South San Jose.

The economy may be stalled, but at least one consumer niche — specialty grocery stores — is going gangbusters in Silicon Valley and the rest of the Bay Area.

"You go to most places and Trader Joe's and Whole Foods don't even register," said David J. Livingston, an expert in supermarket location research. "But in the Bay Area they are considered the primary grocery stores for a lot of people."

Some grocery firms even appear to be feeding off the bad times. Because they tend to occupy smaller buildings than the big supermarket chains, the specialty stores often don't even have to build their own stores because they can easily move into a sea of vacant retail sites.

Source: San Jose Mercury News