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 660 W. Linton Blvd., about midway between Interstate 95 and South Federal Highway, the shopping center’s developer, S.J. Collins Enterprises, announced this week.
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 groceraunt,” 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 industry-leading 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 tri-county 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, as well as private-label chocolates and other products not found in the larger version, Garrison said.
The self-serve prepared food bars that are typically located on the perimeter of regular Whole Foods stores are instead found in the center of 365 stores, a recent story in Business Insider stated.
Customers use tablets to order food prepared fresh in the store’s kitchen, and prices for most goods are displayed on electronic screens that can be updated quickly
A May 16 Los Angeles Times story announcing the opening of a new 365 store in Santa Monica this summer said the brand sells non-organic produce, though it still prioritizes quality.
The other 365 stores already open are in Lake Oswego, Oregon; Cedar Park, Texas; and Bellevue, Washington. Including the Santa Monica store, nine are scheduled to open in California. Others are planned in Decatur, Georgia; Bloomington, Indiana; Weehawken, New Jersey; Fort Greene, New York; Akron and Toledo, Ohio; Houston, Texas, and Fairfax, Virginia.
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.
The store he visited in Cedar Park, Texas, includes two or three kiosks operated by businesses from that area, including a juice bar and coffee bar, he said. “They’re not cookie cutter,” he said. “Each is unique to its specific market.”
Adding to the uncertainty are questions about changes planned after retail giant Amazon takes over ownership of the Whole Foods chain.
Paula Rosenblum, managing co-founder of Miami-based RSR Research, said Amazon is likely planning to integrate Whole Foods into its Prime Now delivery service that promises free two-hour delivery of a wide variety of household goods, including groceries.
How the smaller 365 will fit into that plan remains to be seen, she said.
A big challenge for 365, Rosenblum said, will be how to build trust among young people. Many have negative views of Whole Foods stemming in part from the 2015 revelation that stores in New York were mislabeling weights of its prepared foods and overcharging customers, she said.
Another challenge will be to correctly “curate” the store’s limited selection, she said. “Millennials prefer a curated assortment. They want you to pick and choose: ‘Give me what’s relevant and not what’s not relevant to me.'”
That leaves little room for error, Rosenblum said. “I wouldn’t want to be the buyer figuring out what goes into a 365 market,” she said.
rhurtibise@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4071, twitter: twitter.com/ronhurtibise
