Green Zebra Grocery Plans Expansion
The growing Oregon grocery chain stays on top of health food trends and consumers’ needs.
Sep 10, 2018
PORTLAND, Ore. – Health-focused Green Zebra grocery is moving down the West Coast. Founder Lisa Sedlar said she plans to open two dozen locations from Seattle to San Diego by 2023, the Los Angeles Times reports, and to eventually have 100 locations.
Market research shows that Americans want healthier provisions. Sedlar wants to help redefine the nature of convenience retailing, which has in-store sales of $237 billion annually, by building small shops that contribute to the health of neighborhoods.
Currently, there are three Green Zebra grocery stores in the Portland area, with another under construction. A typical Green Zebra is about 5,000 square feet and serves custom vegan sandwiches, free-range chicken sausage, radish kimchi, organic beer, wellness shots, elixirs and many locally sourced products.
Last week, the Portland stores celebrated “Kombucha Day” to honor the fermented beverage and the Portland’s standing as the city that consumes the most kombucha in the world—78 times the national average, according to some sources. The city’s mayor attended a Kombucha party at one Green Zebra location and helped launch Green Zebra’s own version of a Kombucha Slushie.
This month, Green Zebra will test an honor-system “micro-Zebra” outlet offering both shelved and refrigerated food at the WeWork Custom House, a shared office space in Portland’s popular Pearl District.
According to David Fikes of the Food Marketing Institute, Green Zebra succeeds by delivering the traditional consumer needs of cost, taste and convenience under the halo of fresh, organic food, strong ties to neighborhoods and extreme hipness. “Everyone now is voting with their pocketbook, and they are looking to support those places that share a similar ideology,” said Fikes.
Jeff Lenard, vice president, Strategic Industry Initiatives for NACS, has toured the chain and agrees that Green Zebra delivers on the experience. “In Green Zebra, you see people getting high-fives,” Lenard said. “You see discounts for people who walk or ride their bikes to the store.”
Green Zebra is one of the retailers highlighted in the 2017 Ideas 2 Go showcase. The 2018 edition of Ideas 2 Go will be shown October 9 at the NACS Show.
Healthy options
