Voting is underway at VegNews! We’ve got until the end of January to vote for Charlotte vegan supermarket/general store The Greener Apple!

Even though Charlotte has a thriving, vibrant vegan community, it seems we are always overlooked while nearby cities Asheville, NC and Atlanta, GA get all the love.

Asheville may have been there first, but Charlotte has caught up over the last 10-15 years! I daresay that today we have even more vegan options. A recent Charlotte’s Got A Lot article listed 16 vegan and vegetarian restaurants, and that’s not including vegan food trucks, vegan restaurants in surrounding cities, or vegan friendly restaurants. Then there’s the massive Charlotte VegFest and the extremely popular Vegan Vibes summer music series.

And Atlanta! Yes, they have Slutty Vegan – which is amazing, I’m a Fussy Hussy gal myself. But Charlotte (and Asheville) have our own vegan fast food burger joint – Romeo’s Vegan Burgers.

So it’s wonderful that VegNews put ONE Charlotte icon on their voting ballot – The Greener Apple.

If you’ve never been to The Greener Apple and live in Charlotte, run, don’t walk there. (Or drive your car – you’ll get there faster.) If you don’t live in Charlotte, put a visit on your vegan bucket list!

The Greener Apple, one of Charlotte’s oldest vegan businesses, is up for “Best Vegan Supermarket”.

But The Greener Apple is so much more than that. The store was founded by vegan veteran Lee Rathers at the beginning of Charlotte’s vegan movement, and for several years one of the few places you could find vegan staples. Today, she still carries some of those old-school favorites but specializes in unique, new, or harder-to-find items. Prepare to walk out with not only pantry staples but also bags of yummy snacks!

Did I say bags? I mean, reusable bags of course! The Greener Apple is also eco-friendly, selling not only reusable bags and market totes but an amazing array of home goods. Reusable sandwich bags? Laundry detergent? Bug repellent? Check, check, and check.

And then there’s the vegan-friendly cosmetics, and vegan recipe books, and … did I mention The Greener Apple is located inside a used bookstore? A book store that has cats and poetry readings and weekly Friday book quizzes for $15 gift certificates?

The Greener Apple has survived some rocky times. The Covid lockdown was hard, forcing many small businesses to close. The Greener Apple persevered, survived, and began to thrive again once lockdown was lifted. Then, the landlord at the original Central Avenue location declined to renew the lease, leaving The Greener Apple and Book Buyers scrambling to find a new location in a very short span of time. They finally chose Eastway Crossing, right next door to the popular Bart’s Mart.

It’s always a worry for small businesses that once you move, your customers will forget you, or think you’ve simply gone out of business. Fortunately, The Greener Apple’s customers followed – AND The Greener Apple picked up new customers, as well!

The Greener Apple has been a contender for a VegNews Veggie Award multiple times before, but has never placed in the top three. (I may be wrong, but I don’t think a Charlotte institution has ever won a VegNews award!)

What are you waiting for? There’s only a few days left to vote! You could even win a prize from VegNews, just for voting!

The VegNews Veggie Awards – Click Here To Vote!

Voting ends January 31st, so vote now! Help put Charlotte on the vegan map and give The Greener Apple some long-overdue appreciation!

The prizes you could win just by voting in the VegNews Veggie Awards include:

Luxury Vegan Vacation to Mexico from Palmaïa
Ultimate Vegan Foodie Weekend in Austin from SEED
Snack Delivery + $500 Costco Gift Card from Crisp Power
Epic Vegan Food Feast from Kite Hill
Magical Vegan Candy Bar Party from Trupo
$500 Shopping Spree from Sunwarrior

THE GREENER APPLE
3040 Eastway Drive
Suite B
Charlotte, NC 28205
+1 704-344-8611
lee@thegreenerapple.com

Mon: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Tues: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Wed: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Thurs: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Fri: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Sat: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm – 6:00pm