The story
Founded by John Mackey on Sep 20, 1980, in Austin.1
Early years
In 1978, John Mackey and Renee Lawson borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open a small vegetarian natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas (the name being a spoof of Safeway). When the two were evicted for storing food products in their apartment, they decided to live at the store. Because it was zoned for commercial use, there was no shower stall, so they bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher.
Two years later, Mackey and Lawson partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to merge SaferWay with the latter's Clarksville Natural Grocery, resulting in the opening of the original Whole Foods Market, which included meat products. At 10,500 square feet (980 m2) and with a staff of 19, the store was large in comparison to the standard health food store of the time.
On May 25, 1981, the most damaging flood in 100 years devastated Austin. Whole Foods' inventory was ruined, and most of the equipment was damaged. The loss was approximately $400,000, and Whole Foods Market had no insurance. Customers, neighbors, and staff assisted in repairing and cleaning up the damage. Creditors, vendors, and investors assisted in the recovery, and the store reopened 28 days later.
Expansion
Beginning in 1984, Whole Foods Market expanded from Austin, first to Houston and Dallas and then to New Orleans with the purchase of The Whole Food Co. in 1988. In 1989, the company expanded to the West Coast with a store in Palo Alto, California.
The company made its initial public offering on January 23, 1992. The company's ticker symbol on the Nasdaq was WFM.
While opening new stores, the company fueled rapid growth by acquiring other natural foods chains throughout the 1990s: Wellspring Grocery of North Carolina, Bread & Circus of Massachusetts and Rhode Island (banner retired in 2003), Mrs. Gooch's Natural Foods Markets of Los Angeles, Bread of Life of Northern California, Fresh Fields Markets on the East Coast for $134,5 Million in stock,and in the Midwest, Bread of Life of Florida, Detroit-area Merchant of Vino stores, and Nature's Heartland of Boston. The company purchased Allegro Coffee Company in 1997. The company's 100th store was opened in Torrance, California, in 1999.
The company started its third decade with additional acquisitions. The first was Natural Abilities in 2000, which did business as Food for Thought in Northern California. After the departure of then company president Chris Hitt and regional president Rich Cundiff, Southern California region, John Mackey promoted A. C. Gallo, president of the Northeast region, and Walter Robb, president of the Northern California region to co-COO and soon after added the titles of co-president. This led to the promotion of three new regional presidents and a new era for the company. David Lannon became president of the Northeast region, Anthony Gilmore became president of the Southwest region, and Ron Megehan became the Northern California region, president. In 2001, Whole Foods also moved into Manhattan. Later that year, Ken Meyer became president of the newly formed South region and Whole Foods Market acquired the assets of Harry's Farmers Market, which included three stores in Atlanta. In 2002, the company continued its expansion in North America and opened its first store in Toronto, Ontario. Further continuing its expansion, Select Fish of Seattle was acquired in 2003.
In late 2004, it was reported that Whole Foods had "cleared $188 million in profits in the last two years."
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In 2005, Whole Foods opened its 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) flagship store in downtown Austin. The company's headquarters moved into offices above the store.
Whole Foods opened its first store in Hawaii in 2008 and in 2008 it also opened a southeast distribution center in Braselton, Georgia, calling it the first "green distribution center" for the company.
Along with new acquisitions, such as the 2014 purchase of seven Dominick's Finer Foods locations in Chicago, Whole Foods has also sold stores to other companies. For example, 35 Henry's Farmers Market and Sun Harvest Market stores were sold to a subsidiary of Los Angeles grocer Smart & Final Inc. for $166 million in 2007.
Whole Foods opened its second store in western New York in Amherst, a suburb of Buffalo in September 2017.
As part of a streamlining campaign, in January 2017, the company reported that it would close three remaining regional kitchens in Everett, Massachusetts; Landover, Maryland; and Atlanta, Georgia.
In June 2017, Amazon purchased Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. Amazon plans for Whole Foods customers who also have an Amazon Prime account to be able to order groceries online and then pick them up in store for free.
In January 2019, to facilitate expansion into previously unserved areas, Amazon announced plans to acquire some former Sears and Kmart locations from Sears Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on October 15, 2018. These vacant locations would be demolished or remodeled to create new Whole Foods Market locations.
In April 2019, Whole Foods opened its largest store in the Southeast in Midtown Atlanta. The three-level store has a burger restaurant, an Allegro Coffee shop, and a rooftop terrace.
International expansion
Whole Foods entered the Canadian market in 2002 with a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) location in Toronto, at the upscale Hazelton Lanes shopping center in the city's Yorkville neighborhood. In 2013, with nine Whole Foods stores already running in Canada (all of them in Toronto and Vancouver area), the company's co-founder and CEO Mackey stated forecasts of opening 40 more stores in the country over an unspecified timeframe and eventually reaching $1-billion in annual Canadian sales. By January 2017—while announcing cancellation of 2015-2016 plans to open stores in Calgary and Edmonton—Whole Foods had 467 stores in three countries, majority of which were in the United States, except 9 in the United Kingdom and 12 in Canada. Among the twelve Canadian stores were five each in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, and one each in Ottawa and Victoria. In March 2020 there were 487 stores in the US, 14 in Canada and 7 in the UK.
In 2004, Whole Foods Market entered the UK by acquiring seven Fresh & Wild stores. In June 2007, it opened its first full-size store, a total of 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) on three levels, on the site of the old Barkers department store on Kensington High Street, West London and currently their largest store in the world. Company executives claimed that as many as forty stores might eventually be opened throughout the UK. However, by September 2008, in the wake of Whole Foods Market's financial troubles, Fresh & Wild had been reduced to four stores, all in London. The flagship Bristol branch closed because it had "not met profitability goals." In the year to September 28, 2008, the UK subsidiary lost £36 million due to a large impairment charge of £27 million and poor trading results due to the growing fears of a global recession. However, in 2011, global sales grew +8% each financial quarter as shoppers returned to the chain. A first Scottish store was opened on November 16, 2011, in Giffnock, Glasgow, which was closed in November 2017 along with the company's Cheltenham store as part of a rationalization plan. Whole Foods Market Inc. currently operates five different Whole Foods locations, all in Greater London: in Camden Town, Clapham Junction, Kensington, Piccadilly Circus and Stoke Newington.
Acquisition of Wild Oats Markets and antitrust complaint
On February 21, 2007, Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. announced the signing of a merger agreement under which Whole Foods Market, Inc. would acquire Wild Oats Markets Inc.'s outstanding common stock in a cash tender offer of $18.50 per share, or approximately $565 million based on fully diluted shares. Under the agreement, Whole Foods Market, Inc. would also assume Wild Oats Markets Inc.'s net debt totaling approximately $106 million as reported on September 30, 2006.
On June 27, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an administrative complaint challenging Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s acquisition of Wild Oats Markets Inc. According to the complaint, the FTC believed that the proposed transaction would violate federal antitrust laws by eliminating the substantial competition between two close competitors in the operation of premium natural and organic supermarkets nationwide. The FTC contended that if the transaction were to proceed, Whole Foods Market would have the ability to raise prices and reduce quality and services. Both Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats stated their intention to oppose the FTC's complaint vigorously, and a court hearing on the issue was scheduled for July 31 and August 1, 2007. CEO John Mackey started a blog on the subject to explain his opposition to the FTC's stance. Further blogging by Mackey was revealed when the FTC released papers detailing highly opinionated comments under the pseudonym "Rahodeb" that he made to the Whole Foods Yahoo! investment message board. This became the subject of an investigation when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) noted that the Regulation Fair Disclosure law of 2000 may have been violated. The SEC cleared Mackey of the charges on April 25, 2008.
On July 29, 2008, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned the district court's decision to allow the merger. The Court of Appeals ruled that "premium natural, and organic supermarkets" ("PNOS"), such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats, constitute a distinct submarket of all grocers. The court ruled that "mission-driven" consumers (those with an emphasis on social and environmental responsibility) would be adversely affected by the merger because substantial evidence by the FTC showed that Whole Foods intended to raise prices after the consummation of the merger. As part of its effort to combat the ruling, Whole Foods subpoenaed financial records, market studies, and future strategic plans belonging to New Seasons Market, a regional competitor based in the Portland area. In 2009, Whole Foods agreed to sell the Wild Oats chain.
2017–present: Amazon subsidiary
In February 2017, Whole Foods said it would close nine stores and lowered its financial projections for the year as the natural-foods company struggled with increased competition and slowing sales growth. In late April 2017, Whole Foods reported their sixth consecutive quarter of declining sales and announced that the company would be closing nine stores: two each in Colorado and California, and one each in Georgia, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Illinois. The loss of revenue was attributed to foot traffic being down and other supermarkets offering a similar experience for a lower cost.
In June 2017, Amazon announced it would acquire Whole Foods Market, adding some 400 physical stores to Amazon's e-commerce assets. The purchase was valued at $13.7 billion and caused Whole Foods's stock price to soar after the announcement was made.
In 2018, Whole Foods announced its possible intention to take over some vacant Sears and Kmart stores and refurbish them after Sears Holdings Corporation, which owned both chains, filed for bankruptcy in October.
In April 2022, Whole Foods in Austin, Texas, began allowing consumers to make purchases by scanning their palms. The system uses the Amazon One system connected to a customer's debit or credit card.
In September 2022, John Mackey stepped down from his position as CEO of the company, one he held since its inception in 1980. Jason Buechel succeeded him. Buechel previously was executive vice president and chief information officer (CIO) between 2013 and 2019, followed by a tenure as chief operating officer (COO) from 2019 until his promotion in 2022.
In March 2024, Whole Foods announced they will close their Fulham and Richmond stores in the UK, as well as their distribution center in Dartford. The Amazon-owned supermarket also announced that they have signed a lease for a new store on King's Road in London's Chelsea, expected to open its doors in 2025.
In January 2025 workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia voted to become the first unionized store in the grocery chain, hoping that a union could help negotiate higher wages and better benefits. Whole Foods said it was "disappointed" by the unionization. In February 2025, Whole Foods asked the National Labor Relations Board to reject the results of the union election, making unspecified allegations that the election was invalid.
From Wikipedia’s article on Whole Foods Market, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6