Whole Foods Market

Open full sized image

A Whole Foods Market in Virginia.

© krblokhin-iStock/Getty Images

Whole Foods Market, the largest American chain of supermarkets that specializes in natural and organic foods. It operates stores in the United States and also in Canada and the United Kingdom. Corporate headquarters are in Austin, Texas. In 2017 Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon.com.

The first Whole Foods store opened its doors in Austin in September 1980, after John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy, owners of the SaferWay health food store, joined forces with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, owners of Clarksville Natural Grocery. Somewhat larger than a typical health food store, it offered a wider selection of food. A flash flood tore through the uninsured building only a few months after the opening, but—with help from an already loyal core group of customers—the damage was quickly repaired.

Mackey assumed leadership of Whole Foods as the company expanded. In the mid-1980s new stores were opened in Austin, Houston, and Dallas. The first expansion out of Texas came with the purchase of the Whole Food Company of New Orleans in 1988. Within the next decade Whole Foods became a national company, largely by purchasing existing local or regional natural food chains, including Wellspring Grocery (North Carolina, 1991), Bread & Circus (Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 1992), Mrs. Gooch’s (southern California, 1993), Fresh Fields (northeastern and mid-Atlantic states and Illinois, 1996), Bread of Life (Florida, 1997), Merchant of Vino (Michigan, 1997), and Harry’s Farmers Market (Georgia, 2001). The company first offered shares of its stock to the public in 1992.

Whole Foods moved into Canada in 2002 and into the United Kingdom with the purchase of Fresh & Wild in 2004. The company’s largest single purchase was Wild Oats Markets, which operated 109 stores in the United States and Canada at a time when Whole Foods had more than 190. The merger took effect in 2007, after a court overruled the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had predicted an adverse effect on competition in the market for natural and organic groceries. Whole Foods later sold 13 stores to satisfy the objections of the FTC. In 2016 the company opened its first stores under the new name 365 by Whole Foods. The 365 stores—named for a Whole Foods “store brand”—were smaller and carried less expensive merchandise than the company’s regular outlets.

Organic food, as sold by Whole Foods and other retailers, must meet standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but no official definition exists for natural food. Given this absence, Whole Foods compiled its own list of forbidden substances, including high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, and many kinds of artificial colourings, flavourings, sweeteners, and preservatives. The company also published standards for the humane care and slaughter of animals used for meat and other products. Whole Foods took a step to reduce litter when it stopped providing disposable plastic grocery bags in 2008.

In May 2017 Whole Foods overhauled its board as the company faced continued declining sales. Shortly thereafter it was announced that Amazon.com was buying Whole Foods. The deal, which was valued at more than $13 billion, closed in August.