Natural Grocers makes Albuquerque, New Mexico, store bigger

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. is going bigger in New Mexico.

The natural-and-organic retailer will relocate its Albuquerque, New Mexico, store at 4420 Wyoming Boulevard NE to a bigger footprint at 4625 Wyoming Boulevard NE, with a grand re-opening celebration slated for Dec. 14, the grocery retailer announced Thursday. The current store will close on Dec. 11, to complete the relocation process.

"Natural Grocers has been proud to serve the community of Albuquerque since the original location opened over 20 years ago, in August of 2003," said Raquel Isely, VP of marketing for Natural Grocers, in a statement. "This was the first of our six Natural Grocers stores in New Mexico, and we decided it was time for a store 'glow-up'. It's important to us that each location provides the best possible shopping experience for our customers."

The new location is less than a half mile away from the original Albuquerque store, providing more space and an expanded product assortment.  The new store gives “our customers more space to shop, which also means new product offerings throughout the store—including a larger produce department, an expanded body care and beauty section, and a super-sized supplement department,” Isely added.

Earlier this month, Natural Grocers reported strong sales performance for its fourth quarter.

The Colorado-based grocer notched a 6.9% jump in same-store sales as shoppers continue to prioritize health and wellness. The natural-and-organic grocer’s net sales increased 7.6% to $295.1 million and adjusted EBITDA was $16.1 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Looking ahead, Natural Grocers said it plans to open between six and eight new stores per year as part of its expansion strategy.

Founded in 1955, Natural Grocers now operates 167 stores in 21 states.