Whole Foods: Value brand’s first market not yet determined

  • By Claudia Grisales Austin American-Statesman AUSTIN, Texas - Despite a report to the contrary, Whole Foods Market said Monday that
  • Monday, May 18, 2015 1:29pm
  • Business

In a story posted Friday afternoon, a Portland, Ore., media outlet said the Austin-based organic foods giant would launch a new chain of value brands next year in the Northwest based on comments made by a worker at a conference.

Not so fast, said Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Lowery.

“There’s no market for certain at this time,” Lowery said Monday.

In a second-quarter earnings call earlier this month, Whole Foods executives revealed plans to launch a new, but as yet unnamed, chain of smaller, value focused stores next year to draw more millennials as shoppers.

It said it would reveal little about the plans until this summer. So far, the news has set off a firestorm of speculation, from what the stores could be called to where the brand could launch next year.

In Friday’s story, the Portland Business Journal, which began as “Let the speculation begin,” said a Whole Foods forager for Whole Foods’ Northwest region, Denise Breyley, told a Portland audience a day earlier that they would “be some of the first to pilot this new concept.”

The comments were part of a food forum series. Breyley was also reported as saying the store size would be about 25,000 square feet and carry many of the same Whole Foods products seen at the retailer’s larger stores.

Whole Foods’ average store size is 38,000 square feet. In recent years, it has launched plans for smaller stores, including a 14,000-square foot store in Prescott, Ariz., and an 18,000-square foot store slated for a Chicago area neighborhood.

Analysts and industry experts have said it’s too early to say whether the new store brand aimed younger shoppers help kick-start Whole Foods Market’s slowing sales growth. The retailer has faced growing competition as larger and smaller grocers jump into the fray with organic offerings.

Whole Foods is one of Austin’s highest-profile companies with more than 2,500 employees in Central Texas who are part of an overall 88,000 workforce at 417 stores worldwide.

The retailer saw a challenging earnings report more than a year ago, bouncing back after launching a five-part strategy to win back customers, including its first national ad campaign and a grocery delivery and pickup service.

This month, it faced another round of challenging earnings, when it met Wall Street expectations on earnings per share but missed on revenue and same-store sales.

For example, in a key industry metric, Whole Foods reported same-store sales growth of 3.6 percent, below analyst projections of 5.3 percent and well below the 10 percent or higher sales growth Whole Foods enjoyed in previous years.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.