Natural Grocers to Close Downtown Salt Lake City Store

Lakewood, Colo.-based Natural Grocers plans to close its downtown Salt Lake City store, located at 645 E. 400 S., Suite A, by March 31. The closure is the retailer’s first store in Utah to close, but the company said in a Feb. 2 statement that it "currently has no plans to close any additional stores."

The organic and natural neighborhood grocery retailer said a store closing sale will begin Feb. 14, with discounts of 25% off all products at this location.

The retailer said in a statement that the decision to close the store was made after “careful consideration of that store's operating performance and reflects the company's commitment to enhancing operating efficiencies across its store base.”

Natural Grocers will continue to provide its grocery offerings to customers at its Sugar House store at 1033 E. 2100 S., Salt Lake City, which is 3.1 miles from the downtown Salt Lake City store.

The store employs 20 Natural Grocers good4u crew members, and the company said it will work to assist them through the closing process. The company expects to transfer some of these workers to Natural Grocers' other locations throughout Utah.  All other crew members will be offered a severance arrangement, with health benefits covered through the end of June 2022.

Natural Grocers opened a total of three stores and relocated or remodeled five stores in fiscal 2021. Last fall, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. reported a dip in comparable store sales (3.6%) for third-quarter fiscal 2021 compared to the prior year.

Founded in 1955, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. has 162 stores in 20 states.