A Wilmington location of Total Wine & More is expected to open in the former Earth Fare grocery store on Military Cutoff Road.

The beer and wine store is coming to the nearly 23,000-square-foot space in Renaissance Market, 943 Military Cutoff Road, with an opening expected this year. Online building permit application records show a commercial interior demolition review scheduled for Jan. 31.

Founded by brothers David and Robert Trone, Total Wine & More operates at least 229 superstores across 27 states, according to its website. The chain has 12 stores in North Carolina, but the closest location to Wilmington is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the website shows.

The Renaissance Market store will be larger than typical locations.

Total Wine has "operated since 1991 and has an incredible reputation around the country for offering a deep selection of wine and craft beers at reasonable prices," said Raiford Trask III, one of the owners of Renaissance Market and president of Trask Land Co., in an email Monday. "They have been incredible to work with and we know they are extremely excited about serving Wilmington and the surrounding market."

He said crews for Total Wine & More, which is leasing the Renaissance Market space, are expected to start working on transforming the former Earth Fare into a Total Wine this spring and its doors set to open this summer.

"Our typical store carries more than 8,000 different wines from every wine-producing region in the world. The typical Total Wine & More also carries more than 2,500 beers, from America‘s most popular brands to hard-to-find microbrews and imports, and more than 3,000 different spirits in every style and price range," the chain's website states.

"We're also committed to having the lowest prices on wine, spirits and beer every day. Our tremendous buying power and special relationships with producers, importers and wholesalers bring us considerable savings, which we pass on to our customers.”

Natural grocery chain Earth Fare opened its Military Cutoff location at the end of 2018, announcing in February 2020 that it was closing all of its stores because it was running out of money.

After the company filed for bankruptcy, some of Earth Fare's 50 sites sold to other grocery stores. Seperately, an investment group reopened some Earth Fare stores, according to news reports, but not in Wilmington.

The former Earth Fare space anchors Renaissance Market, which is also occupied by West Marine, Blaze Pizza, Starbucks, Verizon and a nail salon. The property is owned by a Trask entity and its partners.

Trask Land Co. represented the Renaissance Market partnership group in the lease to Total Wine.