Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market announced in a March 4 press release that the soon-to-open location at 1175 Third Avenue (at 69th Street) will be the very first ‘Whole Foods Market Daily Shop,’ a smaller format store the company plans to bring to cities around the country.
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The Upper East Side store is expected to open by the end of the year and “additional locations in New York City [will] follow.” This will be the second Whole Foods in the neighborhood.
The Amazon-owned grocer says the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop will be a “quick-shop store format designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods a quick, convenient shopping experience…” with the same “high-quality offerings they expect from Whole Foods Market.”
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These stores will be about a quarter to a half the size of a traditional Whole Foods, occupying between 7,000 and 14,000 square feet. The goal is to bring Whole Foods products to a wider audience in urban areas where proximity and convenience are important. Christina Minardi, Executive Vice President of Growth & Development at Whole Foods, says they will be “tailoring every square foot to the unique, fast-paced needs of urban lifestyles.”
Whole Foods
The new store will focus on “grab-and-go meals and snacks, weekly essentials, and a quick, easy destination to pick up ingredients to complete a meal.” Though smaller, it will still offer fresh produce, meats and seafood, in addition to prepared foods and 365-branded products. “In addition, the location that is expected to open this year will be the first Whole Foods Market store in Manhattan to offer Juice & Java, a venue for coffee, tea, fresh pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and various desserts.”
Whole Foods
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Whole Foods says this new format is not a replacement for its traditional stores, but rather a way to reach more customers.
The space at 1175 Third Avenue is on the ground floor of the Trump Palace Condominiums and was formerly home to a Food Emporium that closed about a year ago. That store was much larger, at over 25,000 square feet spread across two floors.
The Upper East Side got its first Whole Foods Market (at 1551 Third Avenue between 87th and 88th streets) back in 2015. They now operate 17 locations in the five boroughs, with the latest at One Wall Street opening in January of last year.
I would not have used the phrase “grab and go” in 2024.
The smaller store is probably a better use of space; less over-priced produce and pre-cooked meals.
The photo depicts a store with far more aisle room than the packed Third Ave market. You do wonder what is going to be left out…and about staff and how fast the checkouts will be.