Pomegranate Market Eyes Expansion to Downtown Sioux Falls

Pomegranate Market, a single-store independent natural-and-organic grocery store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has unveiled plans for a second location in downtown Sioux Falls that will include a more extensive prepared-foods offering.

The new store will occupy the ground floor of The Clark building, a residential building featuring loft apartments on the upper floors as well as other commercial tenants.

“If you’ve been to ‘The Pom’ before and you like it, we’re going not one click, but two clicks above,” said Craig Snyder, founder of Pomegranate Market, in a video announcing the planned new location, which is expected to open in mid-2025.

Snyder toured specialty grocery stores on the West Coast, including Erewhon in the Los Angeles area and PCC Community Markets in Seattle, for inspiration about how to approach the second Pomegranate location, according to a report in Sioux Falls Business. 

“These stores are best in class and way outperform Whole Foods in customer experience,” Snyder said in a statement. “We’re trying to take the Whole Foods concept to the next level.”

Those regional West Coast chains have devoted customer followings and high-quality prepared-foods offerings, as well as a sharp focus on natural, organic, and healthy products overall, said Snyder’s son Jonah, who owns Pomegranate in partnership with his father and Craig Snyder’s son-in-law, Gabe Messler.

At about 13,000 square feet, the new store will be slightly larger than the original, according to the Sioux Falls Business report. In addition to the high-quality produce and grocery offerings that the original store is known for, the new Pomegranate will have a larger deli and prepared foods area, along with both indoor and outdoor seating, the report said.

The new location in the city’s vibrant downtown area known as Cherapa Place will be about eight miles north of the original, which is in southwest Sioux Falls.

Jonah Snyder said the downtown area has become a destination for young people in particular, and the region has been catching up to trends in terms of appreciating natural, organic, and healthy foods.

“Whole Foods hasn’t come to town, so now is the time to establish ourselves as the premier organic and natural food store in Sioux Falls,” he told Sioux Falls Business. “You don’t need Whole Foods because you have the local option.”

Jeff Scherschligt, co-owner of developer Pendar Properties, said his plans have long included a grocery store for the area.

"This is a chance to make it happen with local partners who share our commitment to quality and sustainability,” he said in a statement. “This is a big moment for downtown.”