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Whole Foods to reach new market in Rochester, New York
The specialty grocer currently has about 50 new stores in the pipeline, according to its CEO, and will open a new store near Rochester on April 12.
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The new location will feature hundreds of items from central and western New York and discovered by Whole Foods forager John Lawson. / Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
Whole Foods Market is opening a 50,000-square-foot store in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Brighton, the company announced.
The 50,000-square-foot store, located at 2740 Monroe Ave., is scheduled to open on April 12 and will be the first Whole Foods store in the Rochester area, according to the company.
"The store’s mid-century modern design also leans into Rochester’s rich history as an epicenter for photography,” Whole Foods noted in a statement. “This includes an enlarged film strip over the Specialty Department featuring local landmarks as a nod to Kodak.”
The new location will feature hundreds of items from central and western New York, discovered by Whole Foods forager John Lawson.
The store will also feature:
Produce from the grocer's Sourced for Good program, which collaborates with farmers and others, including Fair Trade USA, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade America, Fair Food Program, Equitable Food Initiative and Regenerative Organic Certified.
Offerings from local farms, such as Agbiotic, Intergrow Greenhouses, Stick and Stone Farm, and Hudson River Fruit.
A specialty department that also includes locally sourced items from Old Chatham Creamery and Family Farmstead Dairy; and a curated grocery section featuring Whole Foods’ private label items through its 365 by Whole Foods Market Brand.
The store will also feature a meat counter, seafood counter, extensive craft beer selection, prepared foods section, bakery and body care products department. The store’s opening day will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will include giveaways, free samples and live entertainment—and the first 500 customers will receive tote bags and Whole Foods scratch-and-win gift cards.
The Austin, Texas-based specialty grocer, which is owned by Amazon and claims more than 500 stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, also will donate a refrigerated van to the local charity Open Door Mission through its Whole Foods Market Nourishing our Neighborhoods program. Whole Foods will also make donations to food security charities Foodlink and Flower City Pickers.
The new store opening could be among the first of many this year, according to Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel, who said in January that the company has big expansion plans this year. “We are so bullish on our potential to continue to add stores,” Buechel said at the National Retail Federation’s NRF 2023 Retail’s Big Show in January. “We currently have about 50 stores in our pipeline. We're looking to grow that to at least a hundred. Ultimately, we want to be opening 30 or more stores a year.”
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