Morganton Ingles flooded by Helene won’t reopen until 2026, managers say

You’re opening when?

Morganton food shoppers awaiting the reopening of the popular Ingles store on Carbon City Road, a grocery destination that closed 51 weeks ago because of Hurricane Helene flooding, will, no surprise, have to wait longer than previously announced.

Start thinking 2026.

Ingles managers in Marion said the corporation is waiting to gauge the success of the redesigned Fletcher store before resuming renovations in Morganton.

The managers said they expect that Morganton’s new store won’t open until early next year. These managers previously said they expected the Morganton store to open in early December.

Speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to present corporate developments, the managers said the effectiveness of Fletcher’s interior layout could alter existing development plans in Morganton.

Changes in previous submitted development plans could delay permitting processes in Morganton.

The Fletcher operation, at 2901 Henderson Road in Fletcher, is a 96,120 square foot grocery store. Morganton’s Ingles store is listed as a 82,601-square-foot structure on Burke County tax records.

Ingles Corporation lists three western North Carolina stores still closed after Hurricane Helene. They are Morganton, Spruce Pine, and Swannanoa.

The firm’s Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-Q quarterly report for the nine months ended June 28, 2025, reported that net sales decreased by $276 million, or 6.5%, to $3.97 billion compared with 4.24 billion for the nine months ended June 29, 2024.

“Hurricane Helene severely impacted western North Carolina at the end of September 2024, and the Company estimates that approximately $55 to $65 million of revenue was lost during the three-week period immediately following the storm due to road and power outages which prevented some stores from opening or maintaining normal store hours, as well as due to electronic payment disruptions as a result of Hurricane Helene,” the filing states.

Ingles Corporation did not return requests for information.