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The Green Planet Grocery store in Camillus. Green Planet plans to open several new stores over the next few years.
(Kevin Tampone | ktampone@syracuse.com)
Cicero, N.Y. — Green Planet Grocery plans to branch out in the next few years with a major expansion.
The store, which specializes in natural and organic groceries and supplements, will open 10 new stores over the next three years. The first of the new stores will be at 6195 Route 31 in Cicero.
The location will be open in mid-August, said Joe Scripa, one of the partners involved in Green Planet's expansion.
Brent Lewis opened the first Green Planet location in Oswego in 2004. He added another store in the Fairmount area of Camillus in 2010.
Lewis is partnering with Scripa and two others, Reg Schweitzer and Tom Schultz, on the expansion.
Green Planet's niche has plenty of room for growth, Lewis said.
"We feel that in the future as people demand these products, there's going to be a push towards it," he said. "The potential, it's fairly large."
The expansion will begin in the Syracuse area, but Green Planet will eventually look to other markets like Albany and Rochester as well, Scripa said. Each new store will have 12 to 15 employees.
The 6,000-square-foot Cicero store will have a cafe and coffee bar in partnership with Cafe Kubal, a local coffee roaster. Kubal has cafes in the Eastwood and downtown areas of Syracuse, Medical Center West in Camillus and on the Syracuse University Hill.
Consumers are demanding more organic foods and products than ever, Scripa said.
"We think it will continue to grow," he said.
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