Officials with a grocer specializing in the locally sourced food market said Monday that the company is close to announcing a retail location in Wilmington.
 
Wilmington-based Carolina Farmin’ is “zeroing in” on a new location for its flagship store and hopes to announce the location “as soon as an agreement is finalized,” according to Monday a news release.
 
Officials remain mute on where the new store would be located, although they said the flagship store would be somewhere in Wilmington. The firm also has plans to add additional stores throughout the region, although company officials also did not discuss specific locations for future growth.
 
In September, the grocer inked a lease for a 23,500-square-foot warehouse facility at the corner of Marlboro and Emerson streets at 4102 Emerson St. to serve as a key distribution site for the grocer’s future operation.
 
Carolina Farmin’ closed its 2101 Market St. retail location in September in an effort to retool its growth and retail expansion.
 
Company officials also announced Monday that they were dropping Carolina from the title and going by Farmin’ as part of its rebranding.
 
The name change is intended to more accurately represent the company’s commitment to agriculture and to help foster the growth of interstate agri-commerce development in North and South Carolina, Farmin’ spokeswoman Susan Johnson said.
 
The new brand will also serve as the firm’s umbrella for several of its food service divisions, including Prospect Farms, Capital Creamery and future retail divisions, the news release stated. The firm’s wholesale division – formerly known as Central Market, services 50 restaurant and other food purveyors throughout the Cape Fear and Triangle regions. It will now be called Farmin’ Exchange, according to the news release.    
 
“So many people have just referred to us as ‘Farmin’ all along,” Ben Long, Farmin’s president, said in the release. “It’s down-to-earth and it embodies why we’re here. We love the idea of being responsive to that reference and running with it.”
 
The company’s new logo – featuring a revamped tractor icon – will be incorporated in Farmin’s signs, trucks, products and communications, the release stated.
 
“As a whole, this new Farmin’ brand reinforces the fresh foods and farming roots that the store’s offering exemplifies,” Long said in the release. “We’re really excited about this next phase of our growth and are looking forward to further infuse our local food systems throughout the area.”