CHEF'STORE opens 2nd location in Virginia

CHEF’STORE, the warehouse retail concept from US Foods, opened its 89th location nationwide recently in Roanoke, Virginia, with still more stores to debut in 2023.

Located at 1372 Towne Square Boulevard, the new 23,500-square-foot store is the retailer's second location in Virginia, joining an existing location in Lynchburg. The store celebrated the grand opening day with local customers, vendors and community members on Saturday. With its warehouse-style shopping experience, the new store is open seven days a week with no membership required.

Looking to broaden its brick-and-mortar footprint as a cash-and-carry business, CHEF’STORE, which is located in 13 states, is also planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 15 for its new store in Greenville, North Carolina, located at 915 Greenville Boulevard SW. Plans are also already underway for the opening next month of a store in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at 511 Cross Creek Mall proving CHEF’STORE’s focus is on store growth.

“As part of the US Foods omni-channel strategy to provide enhanced delivery and retail options to foodservice operators, we are excited to continue to grow the CHEF’STORE footprint,” said Irfan Badibanga, president of CHEF’STORE, in a statement. “Our CHEF’STORE locations provide an unmatched solution for restauranters, smaller foodservice operators and price-conscious community members to get the products they need when they need it, and we look forward to serving new and existing customers.”

With a real estate pipeline that is edging closer to 90 stores nationwide, “one thing that's guided our growth over time has been our commitment to going where our customers are and ensuring they have access to the low-priced, high-quality products they want,” according to the retailer's website.

In April 2020, US Foods acquired Smart Foodservice Warehouse Stores to accelerate growth in the cash-and-carry market. The stores were rebranded as US Foods' CHEF’STORE in March 2021.