Wholly different store
Whole Foods bringing its low-cost alternative to Delray Beach.
DELRAY BEACH— Organic grocery giant Whole Foods is bringing its Millennial-focused “Whole Foods Market 365” concept to Florida with plans to open the smaller-scale store in Delray Beach in early 2019.
But the company isn’t providing details about what shoppers will find there, or how plans for the offshoot might be impacted by the pending $13.7 billion sale of the Whole Foods chain to Amazon.
The store, which Whole Foods says will provide “an affordable and convenient shopping experience,” will anchor a renovated Delray Plaza at 660W. Linton Blvd., about midway between Interstate 95 and South Federal Highway, the shopping center’s developer, S.J. Collins Enterprises, announced thisweek.
Only four Whole Foods 365 stores have opened in the United States so far. The first debuted in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in April 2016. The Delray Beach store will be the first in Florida.
The Los Angeles store features a smaller footprint with more prepared food offerings, craft coffee and beer bars, self-serve tea station, and an emphasis on dining in-store, according to a news release accompanying its opening.
“I view it almost like a grocer aunt,” said Jeff Garrison, a partner at S.J. Collins, which has leased space to Whole Foods at 18 other retail centers.
Whole Foods announced the Delray Beach store in a short news release on Thursday, but a Whole Foods spokeswoman contacted on Friday declined to provide more information.
Juan Núñez, president of Whole Foods Market’s Florida Region, was quoted in the news release as saying the new store “will delight both new and longtime Whole Foods shoppers.”
According to the release, “The carefully curated product selection at Whole Foods Market 365 stores provide a streamlined and modern experience, while still adhering to Whole Foods Market’s industryleading quality standards.”
In an interview Friday, Garrison said he could not speak on behalf of Whole Foods about the planned Delray Beach store. But he said his company is developing sites for three other 365 stores and he has attended openings of two of the four existing locations.
“It seems like it’s going to be a great fit,” Garrison said. “There’s a heavy traffic pattern in Delray. There’s a good daytime population. A lot of houses. It’s going to match the lifestyle of the area, its residents and businesses.”
Other retailers considering moving to the renovated shopping center because of Whole Foods’ planned presence include salons, spas, fitness centers and fast casual eateries, he said. Confirmed tenants include newcomers First Watch, a “daytime cafe,” and Zoes Kitchen, a Mediterranean food chain not yet located in the tricounty region. Three existing tenants will remain at the center, Garrison said.
The 365 stores are smaller, about 30,000 square feet compared to more than 40,000 square feet for a traditional Whole Foods. But much of that is because the back of the store, where inventory is stored, has been reduced, he said. So shoppers might not notice much reduction of the front retail area, he said.
The smaller stores still include a butcher and seafood counter, salad bar and sushi, aswell as privatelabel chocolates and other products not found in the larger version, Garrison said.
Garrison said the company made tweaks as it opened its first four stores. That makes it difficult to predict with certainty what awaits consumers in Delray Beach, he said.
“I view it almost like a grocer aunt.” Jeff Garrison, S.J. Collins Enterprises