Plans are now underway for the expansion of the popular Whole Foods grocery store chain, which currently has some 544 locations in the U.S., Canada, and Britain.
The company, which is based in Austin, has seen a change in its business plan since being acquired for $13.7 billion by online giant Amazon in the summer of 2017.
Having added ten new stores last year, Whole Foods, which made a name for itself from its start in 1978 focusing on organic selections, is now looking at developing and building an additional one hundred stores before the beginning of next year.
According to the Austin Business Journal, Whole Foods “plans to add 30-plus stores annually in just a few years.”
Within the last several weeks, the company has opened new locations in McKinney, Texas; Palm Beach, Florida; and Reston, Virginia.
Whole Foods stores generally range in size from 25,000 to 50,000 square feet. Last year, the company introduced what it called its “quick-shop store format” with facilities measuring anywhere from 7,000 to 14,000 square feet.
In announcing the smaller layout, a Whole Foods press release said: “In bustling hubs like Manhattan, where proximity matters, these stores will bring Whole Foods Markets closer to existing customers, while extending the company’s reach to others in surrounding neighborhoods.”
When the company was purchased by Amazon in 2017, Amazon quickly decided to keep intact the Whole Foods name, a “name that’s long been associated with healthy foods and better living,” noted the Austin American-Statesman.
August 29, 2025
By Garry Boulard
