WHOLE EARTH 1999-04-05

BARBARA MURRAY

BOSTON -- Despite formidable competition from the likes of Star Market, Trader Joe's and mainstream chains with sizable natural-food sections, Bread & Circus here is thriving.

The Bread & Circus subdivision of the Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market chain, headquartered in Newton Highlands, Mass., operates six stores in greater Boston. Whole Foods has recently announced its plan to acquire the four-unit Nature's Heartland chain, also here, which would strengthen its position even further.

According to Sandhya Raju, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, New York, the Boston stores are some of the most productive units in the Whole Foods chain, in terms of sales per square foot. While the companywide average is about $670, it is "north of $700 for Bread & Circus stores," Raju said.

Each Whole Foods unit nationwide does an average of $17 million in sales per year, out of units that average 24,000 square feet. The footprint for the new prototype, however, is 35,000 square feet. The challenge for the country's largest "super-natural," analysts say, is to maintain the level of profits that Whole Foods has become accustomed to, even though building new stores costs more and more. In addition, Whole Foods faces the challenge of increased competition.

SN recently visited five Bread & Circus stores in Boston over a three-day period and found them thronged with customers. Checkstands were active and merchandising was intense.

The Bread & Circus unit in Wellesley Hills is a small store -- probably about 6,000 square feet. There was lots of traffic at noon on a Thursday, when SN visited, and the store has only a small parking lot. At one point, cars were waiting in line to enter the lot.

When the door opens, the aromas of herbs and pesto fairly blast out. Narrow aisles make it hard to get through with a cart, but most people carry baskets and jostle elbow-to-elbow, which gives this suburban market an urban feel.

For a small store, the frozens aisle in Wellesley is extensive. Of 12 doors of frozens, three are for ice cream and sorbets.

The Symphony store, downtown near Symphony Hall in the heart of the city, follows the curved line of the semicircular building it occupies, which houses a parking garage above. This unit had a conventional box shape when it was owned by Stop & Shop, Quincy, Mass., according to shoppers who spoke with SN. The bulk-food section at the Symphony store is done in blonde wood, which creates a striking appearance as it follows the curved line of the unit's architecture.

"The bulk department here offers more than in any other Bread & Circus store," said shopper Linda Lombardi of Saugus. "Notice the bins are filled all the way to the top." The section houses 15 kinds of granola, meusli, rolled oats and more.

The Fresh Pond store on Alewife Brook Parkway in Cambridge was also acquired from Stop & Shop, and it is the largest unit in the chain. Dramatizing the "circus" part of the retailer's name are bright, tent-like panels of fabric in primary colors set up at the front end. They billow in the breeze each time the doors open.

"There's a lot of entertainment value to the stores; they try to make them look more lively than a conventional [supermarket]," said Raju of Merrill Lynch, who did a report on Whole Foods Market this past December.

The Fresh Pond flagship store will soon be renovated and slightly enlarged.

The unit has a large prepared-food section, huge salad bar and plenty of roomy tables at the front. This unit also has the largest Center Store section of all the units that SN visited, with 10 half-aisles of groceries. The front aisles are about 20 feet long, while the back aisles are about 26 feet. The product mix is extensive and includes all the major categories that are found in a conventional supermarket.

Beer and wine are sold only in the smaller, 20-year-old Cambridge Bread & Circus store on Prospect Street, and in the Hadley, Mass., unit, a store source said. In Massachusetts, she explained, each chain is limited to two liquor licenses.

At the Prospect Street store, which operates 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Whole Foods brand of fruit spreads, orange marmalade and assorted jams were all $2.99 for a 10-ounce jar.

Fruit spreads under the Bread & Circus label were also $2.99, while Whole Foods' everyday 365 brand sold for a $1.69, vs. $1.89 for the national Sorrell Ridge brand.

In juices, 365 brand was much cheaper: $5.30 for 1 gallon of natural juice, vs. $7.96 for After the Fall and $9.56 for Mountain Sun Organic. Per gallon price on Walnut Acres unsweetened cranberry nectar was $17.16 during SN's visit, while R.W. Knudsen products were selling for $23.96. Prices per gallon were given on the shelf tag. Organic Whole Kids apple juice, distributed by Whole Foods Market, was selling at $7.17 per gallon, or $2.69 for 48 ounces.

There is a wide range of Center Store items to choose from at this unit, including cereal, crackers, oils and vinegars, pasta and sauces, canned beans and soups, condiments and international foods. Some specialty items include rice pasta from Pastariso, and Ancient Harvest Quinoa (wheat- and gluten-free) pasta in rotelli, shells and elbows. During SN's visit, the price was $1.89 for 8 ounces.

Whole Foods brand of organic pastas was also $1.99 for 8 ounces. A big sign on a blackboard above the pasta display noted that Whole Foods pasta sauce was on sale for $2.99.

The 365 brand of solid white albacore tuna was $1.39 for a 6-ounce can, while 365 pasta sauce was $1.99 for 25 ounces. Flavors include roasted red pepper and pesto sundried tomato and roasted garlic and marinara flavors.

Brighton Bread & Circus has by far the most parking, and nine checkouts. SN also saw the most attractive merchandising in this unit. For example, atop the frozen-meat case is a symmetrical display of 365 canned cranberry sauce and bags of dried stuffing, with a yellow bowl of ivy in the center. The artful arrangement was highlighted by recessed lighting.

The Brighton store has a 30-foot frozen aisle. Besides the five doors of ice cream and sorbets, there are doors for breads, waffles and berries, juice and ice, and vegetables (including Cascadian Farm, 365, Birds Eye and SnoPac). Other doors are labeled nuggets and fish sticks, frozen entrees, veggie burgers, burritos and enchiladas, munchies, pasta, lasagna and shells and pizza.

Water is displayed opposite frozens. During SN's visit, Glaceau Mineral Enhanced Waters was displayed with a Special! sign. A half-liter bottle, regularly $1.49, was selling for 69 cents. The next aisle had more waters, as well as a filling station.

This store also has 23 feet of dog and cat food and paper products.

Community bulletin boards are a feature of all the Bread & Circus units, and they all have fliers promoting various speakers or events within the store. Evening cooking and wellness seminars at the Fresh Pond store, for example, are $5, but each participant gets a coupon good for $5 off a purchase of $25.

According to industry insiders as well as Whole Foods' annual report, the oldest, smallest Bread & Circus store in Cambridge will be replaced with a new unit that will be the largest in the Whole Foods chain. The Cambridge unit is one of 17 stores on the boards for the year 2000.