ond store in south Asheville. Publix announced its first Asheville location on Hendersonville Road. And of course, 2013 also saw the highly-anticipated opening of Trader Joe’s. Add to that all the existing stores, and it seems like Katuah is a pretty risky idea. “Then again, a lot of people were skeptical of us when we did Greenlife because of how entrenched Earth Fare was in this town, and we blew them out of the water in sales,” says Swann. “We have a situation now in Asheville where there are big, big players and they do grocery — meaning packaged goods — very well.” But Swann says Katuah can do a few things that the big stores can’t: • Fully commit to local: While many grocery stores in town carry local products, Swann says Katuah is making local a cornerstone of the business. In practice, that means the new store will bring in items from local producers before larger stores will — the way Greenlife did back when Buchi and Lusty Monk were starting out. It also means Kituah will stock an extensive variety of local products for categories where Asheville excels. • Empower category buyers: With no corporate office to route decisions through, buyers can get requests for new products directly from shoppers, and those products can be on the shelf for testing in less than a week. • Make all prepared food inhouse: While Greenlife and Earth Fare both make some food in-house, according to Swann they also bring in food from corporate commissaries located
out of state. Katuah will make all its prepared foods in-house from high-quality ingredients and on a daily basis. Swann hopes that such differences will make the Katuah store quickly become part of the community. “People used to tell me at Greenlife, ‘It feels good to shop and eat here,’” says Swann. “Part of that is the products and part of that is the look and feel, but a lot of that is the employees.” In addition to a dedicated staff, Swann hopes the café will play a big role in making the store a place where people gather. It will have a small stage for acoustic live music, it will be licensed for on-premises consumption of beer and wine, and the plan is to let the café operate independently of the grocery store. While the store is tentatively set for to be open 7 a.m.-10 p.m., the café may stay open a couple hours later. Katuah Market is at 2 Hendersonville Road, Suite D. The grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14. No opening hour was available at press time, but it will be announced on the store’s Facebook page.
plant gift cards the perfect holiday present 165 merrimon avenue | 828.258.7500 | www.plantisfood.com
PhỞ R Us
FREE Spring or Egg Roll with purchase of dinner entree
Vietnamese Noodle Soup Dine in or Pick-up
828-676-2311
Tuesday-Sunday 11am - 9pm Skyland Crest Plaza - Near the Post Office 1950 Hendersonville Road #12, Asheville - www.Pho-R-Us.com
Katuah by the numbers Approximate square feet: 15,000 (about 3,000 smaller than Greenlife) Parking spaces: 304 shared (102 dedicated) Staff: 54 employees Café seating: 80 indoors, 40 outdoors Registers: 6, with plans for 2 more Hot and cold salad bars: 24 feet (about 33 percent larger than Greenlife) Beer and/or kombucha draft lines: 6
Geraldine’s Bakery
We love Asheville! Open HOuse December 14 FRee COFFee & DOuGHnut 8am—4pm
Made from Scratch 840 Merrimon Avenue
New Winter menu featuring housemade charcuterie, locally sourced cheeses, 100% grass fed beef, local cage free eggs, fresh baked bread from Strada Italiano and organic, hormone free chicken.
Open daily. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Craft Cocktails. Contact 828.239.0186 for more details or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ 151boutiquebar mountainx.com
Making plans for Christmas? Leave the cooking to us. Open Christmas Day with Special Holiday Menu. DECEMBER 11 - DECEMBER 17, 2013 2013
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