Schnuck Markets reinforces ties to community with new store announcement

After opening EatWell, A Natural Food Store by Schnucks, in June, Schnuck Markets yesterday announced the company plans to open a third store in Columbia, Mo., in spring 2021, subject to the landlord closing on the acquisition of the property.

The store will add approximately 80 new jobs to the Columbia economy and will be located on the southwest corner of Clark Lane and St. Charles Road. Construction on the development is anticipated to begin this fall. The leased, 48,000-square-foot store will include a heavy focus on fresh departments such as produce, meat, seafood and bakery.

“As shown by the recent EatWell opening and today’s announcement of this new store, Schnucks is committed to nourishing the lives of customers in the Columbia and Mid-Missouri communities,” said Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck in a statement on Tuesday. “We’re excited to create a store that our customers will be able to quickly and easily navigate, while still offering an extensive selection of the fresh products for which we’re known.”

The site of the Schnucks' EatWell store is the previous location of the current Forum Blvd. Schnucks supermarket, illustrating the company’s ties to the Columbia, Mo., community.

Hiring at the new store will begin approximately six weeks ahead of the store’s opening. The existing Schnucks store at 1400 Forum Blvd and the EatWell store at 111 South Providence Road currently employ 183 teammates combined. The company also operates a store in nearby Jefferson City that employs 82 teammates.

Related:EatWell gives Schnuck Markets ‘a great learning platform’

St. Louis-based Schnucks operates 112 stores, serving customers in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and employs more than 14,000 teammates.

The site of the EatWell store happens to be the previous location of the current Forum Blvd. Schnucks supermarket, illustrating the company’s ties to that community.

“We’ve been in the Columbia market for over 50 years. Interestingly enough, this EatWell location is in the same shopping center where our original [Columbia] store was located. We opened in 1970, and then later we closed that store and moved to a bigger store about two miles away,” said Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck in a recent SN Off the Shelf podcast.

 “So we’re coming full circle, back to a location that’s closer to the university, closer to the student population and closer to the downtown area of Columbia.”