Company mum on proposed expansion
The shiny new Whole Foods, all 42,000 square feet of it, slated to open this fall at South Park Centre sits silent and empty.
There are no signs announcing a launch date, or a job fair.
Repeated phone calls and emails requesting information made over a weeklong period to the company’s public relations personnel in the United States have yielded only a brief written response:
“Whole Foods Market hasn’t confirmed an opening date for the Edmonton store yet.”
The news, or lack thereof, comes as the organic food giant announced it would delay the opening of its proposed Calgary store.
According to Calgary news station 660 News, the company released a statement earlier this month saying they had terminated their lease at North Hills Mall, but remained committed to expanding in Canada.
Leasing agents in Calgary and Edmonton for First Capital Realty, which holds the Whole Foods lease at 3803 Calgary Trail South, did not respond to requests for information.
Whole Foods was founded in 1980 in Texas and has 455 stores in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. There are 10 stores in B.C. and Ontario, with new ones announced in 2015 for Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria.
Food marketing expert Sylvain Charlebois, dean of management and professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, said he wasn’t surprised to hear Whole Foods had changed its plans in Alberta, noting the economy might be a factor.
“Essentially, Whole Foods has made a living in selling premium products, and if many consumers are trading down, it’s always hard to sell premium products,” he said.
“It’s about economics. You’re looking at lots of organically grown products and price points are much higher.
“When the economy is not doing that well, then likely, you are looking at high-end retailers pulling back.”
When it comes to food, there are many substitutes in the marketplace, says Charlebois. High-end retailers don’t tend to lower their prices in response to economic shifts, but may find themselves priced out of the market.