Natural Pantry, the natural and organic food store in the University Center, will move into a new and bigger stand-alone store under construction at the southeast corner of 36th Avenue and A Street.
Vikki Solberg, co-owner with her husband, Rick, said the new place will be ready in January 2014. It's being built in a vacant area between Loussac Library and the Frontier Building.
The store will have a separately ventilated gluten-free kitchen to make muffins, scones, cookies and the like, Solberg said.
It will also have a regular kitchen and a cafe, and will offer homemade breads, cheeses, an olive bar and free-range meats, among other items.
The new store will be 44,500 square feet compared to the 32,000 square feet at the current location, Solberg said. Staff will triple in size from around 30 people to 100, she said.
"We've wanted to have our own building for some time," Solberg said.
Natural Pantry has been in the University Center at 3901 Old Seward Highway since 2000, and before that was in a shopping center off Dimond Boulevard.
