Two familiar storefronts on Christenbury Parkway are changing names this fall. Neither change comes with a groundbreaking. Sprouts Farmers Market is moving into the grocery box Earth Fare left behind. A few doors away, Biscuit Belly is taking over the Maple Street Biscuit Company. Both chains chose to grow in Concord by taking over a working store, with the layout already in place. In the biscuit shop's case, the staff comes with it. That choice explains a lot about how each change will play out, including why one has a firm date and the other doesn't.
The Grocery Space Has Already Had Several Lives
The 24,110-square-foot store at 8885 Christenbury Parkway has a longer history than most shopping center spaces its age.
| When | What happened at 8885 Christenbury Pkwy |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Earth Fare opens in Concord |
| 2020 | Earth Fare files for bankruptcy and closes all 55 of its stores |
| After spring 2020 | Hulsing Enterprises buys the brand, and the Concord store is one of six Charlotte-area locations to reopen |
| By mid-August 2025 | Earth Fare closes the Concord store a second time |
| December 2025 | Sprouts submits a grocery-to-grocery conversion plan to Cabarrus County |
| Nov. 13, 2026 | Sprouts' expected opening, according to county permit filings |
The second closing had nothing to do with business slowing down. When Earth Fare spokeswoman Laurie Akers confirmed the closure in July 2025, she said the decision "came down to lease negotiations." She described the renewal terms as "unacceptable" and said the company was "thriving." The Concord store had 30 employees, who were offered priority if they applied at other Earth Fare locations. It was the last Earth Fare in the Charlotte area on the North Carolina side. The closest remaining stores are in Fort Mill and Rock Hill.
If Sprouts opens on schedule, the space will have been dark for about 15 months. Today is October 6, so the reported date is about five weeks away.
Why Sprouts Wanted This Particular Space
Sprouts has done this before. Its Steele Creek store, which opened in 2023, also took over a former Earth Fare. A store built for one specialty grocer usually suits another. That is why the Concord plan was filed with Cabarrus County as a grocery-to-grocery conversion and not as new construction.
The Concord store will be the Phoenix-based grocer's fourth in the Charlotte area and its first in a suburb. The other three are inside Charlotte:
- Ballantyne, at 15121 Ballancroft Parkway, the chain's first local store, opened in 2018
- Steele Creek, opened in 2023 in the former Earth Fare
- NoDa, at 110 E. 36th St., opened in August 2025
For anyone living near Concord Mills, the closest Sprouts is about to move from the city to the parkway they already drive.
Sprouts isn't the only grocer filling an empty store this fall. In the same September 28 report, the Charlotte Observer noted that Food Lion was opening October 7 in a former Harris Teeter at the Mintworth shopping center in southeast Charlotte. Harris Teeter had closed that store in April. Of the three grocery openings the paper tracked for this fall, only Wegmans in Ballantyne, opening October 14, is a new building on its own site. You can read the full rundown in the Charlotte Observer's fall grocery report.
The Biscuit Shop Changed Owners in July
The change at 8921 Christenbury Parkway started with a corporate sale in Lebanon, Tennessee. On July 20, 2026, Cracker Barrel announced it had sold the Maple Street Biscuit Company trademark and the assets of 35 Maple Street locations to Biscuit Belly. It also said it would close the remaining 16 locations. Concord's restaurant is one of the 35 that will stay open. Biscuit Belly lists the address among the restaurants it acquired. Neither company disclosed the price.
Biscuit Belly's reason for the deal matches what Sprouts did with the Earth Fare space. In its media FAQ about the acquisition, the company said:
"As we've grown, two of the biggest challenges we've faced are finding and building the right restaurant locations and finding great teams to operate them."
The same FAQ says the 35 restaurants were chosen for their "geography, established teams, and communities they serve." It adds that the company intends to keep them open and "invest in the existing teams who already know their guests and communities." In practice, Biscuit Belly bought the Concord kitchen and the crew that runs it, then plans to put its own brand on both.
That brand will bring some changes to the menu. WhatNow's description of Biscuit Belly's menu includes biscuit sandwiches named The Rockwell, Belly Buster, The G.O.A.T. and The Boozy Bird. It also lists Bonuts, Pancake Corndogs, Loaded Breakfast Tots and Fried Green Tomatoes, plus breakfast cocktails like mimosas and espresso martinis. The company says guests will "eventually see Biscuit Belly's signature menu, colorful interiors and hospitality experience."
The Biscuit Belly Schedules Don't Match
This is where the two changes go different ways. Sprouts' date comes from county permit filings. The biscuit shop has two published timelines that disagree.
On September 28, Biscuit Belly co-founder Lauren Coulter told WhatNow Charlotte that the Concord transition is expected in late fall 2026. She also said it would be the first true Maple Street-to-Biscuit Belly conversion in North Carolina. The company's own FAQ, last updated July 21, says the acquired restaurants will switch over 18 to 24 months, with "initial conversions" beginning in January 2027.
The Coulter interview is more recent and specific to Concord, so it is the better guide for this location. Still, "late fall" is a target. Neither source gives a day.
Biscuit Belly has also not said whether the restaurant will keep serving through the changeover. The FAQ says acquired stores "are not planned to close" as a result of the acquisition. That is a promise about the deal. It says nothing either way about a short closure for new signs, a new menu and new interiors.
| Sprouts Farmers Market | Biscuit Belly | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 8885 Christenbury Pkwy | 8921 Christenbury Pkwy |
| Space it takes over | Former Earth Fare, vacant since mid-2025 | Operating Maple Street Biscuit Company |
| Timing | Nov. 13, 2026, per county permit filings | Late fall 2026 per co-founder; company FAQ says conversions begin January 2027 |
| Staff | New store opening | Existing team stays, per company |
| Open during transition? | Not applicable | Not stated |
What Isn't Changing at Christenbury Corners
Most of the 129,319-square-foot center stays as it is. Thompson Thrift, the center's owner, lists the property as fully leased. Kohl's and Pet Supplies Plus are the anchors. The other tenants it names are Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, Chicken Salad Chick, Blaze Pizza, Talkin Tacos, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Hand & Stone, Great Clips and Jasmine Nails. That list is a sample of the tenants and doesn't cover every unit. In the research for this post, these two were the only changes coming to the center.
Sprouts' arrival was planned well before September's news. Thompson Thrift's leasing plan dated April 1, 2026 already shows Sprouts next to Kohl's and Pet Supplies Plus. The grocery swap has been the plan for months. The biscuit swap was set by a sale in Tennessee in July, and the people in that kitchen have been cooking on Christenbury Parkway the whole time.
Here are the dates to watch:
- November 13, 2026: Sprouts' expected opening at 8885 Christenbury Pkwy, per Cabarrus County permit filings
- Late fall 2026: Biscuit Belly's target for converting 8921 Christenbury Pkwy, per co-founder Lauren Coulter
- January 2027: when Biscuit Belly's FAQ says its first conversions begin
If changes like these have you wondering how the area around Concord Mills is shifting, that is the kind of local detail we follow closely. The team at Jeremy Ordan is happy to talk through what is opening, what is moving and what it means for your corner of Concord. Let's talk.
