[OKC] Whole Foods Coming to OKC

[Alig, Jennifer L.]

More info than was available yesterday...

 

Jennifer Alig

**My email has changed to Jennifer.Alig at deq.ok.gov.**

 


Whole Foods will open a store in Oklahoma City
National grocery chain confirms a lease is signed but is keeping
location under wraps 


BY STEVE LACKMEYER Oklahoman    


Published: May 6, 2010


Whole Foods confirmed Wednesday the chain has a signed lease to open a
store in Oklahoma City. 

Whole Foods started in 1980 with one store in Austin, Texas, and has
grown to 270 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods
has only one Oklahoma store - a location acquired through the company's
purchase of rival Wild Oats. The Whole Foods website lists the following
criteria for considering a new location: 


* 200,000 people or more living within a 20-minute drive time. 


* A store between 40,000 and 75,000 square feet. 


* Large number of college-educated residents. 


* Abundant parking. 


* Stand-alone site preferred. 


* Easy access from roadway, lighted intersection. 


* Excellent visibility, directly off of the street. 


* Must be located in a high traffic area. 

SOURCE: wholefoodsmarket.com 

The confirmation was initially provided by the company's marketing
department via Twitter in response to a question by The Oklahoman
regarding ongoing rumors the past two years. 

Whole Foods spokeswoman Libba Letton told The Oklahoman the location and
opening date will be announced as part of an earnings statement
scheduled for Wednesday. 

Letton said the chain has received numerous requests for an Oklahoma
City store over the past two years. 

Chain has 270 stores

Whole Foods is one of the nation's leading grocery chains that
specializes in natural and organic goods. The company operates more than
270 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. 

The chain has only one store in Oklahoma - a former Wild Oats store
acquired in 2007. 

Alison Oshel, retail specialist with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber,
said her office has worked with a broker the past two years trying to
lure a Whole Foods by providing market research and contacts with
interested parties. 

Oshel could not confirm or deny Whole Foods will be locating in the
Classen Curve area, as has been rumored for months. The new shopping
center being developed by Chesapeake Energy is home to several new
upscale retailers, and a large site has been cleared by the company
across the street that previously was home to the Hahn-Cook, Street &
Draper Funeral Home. 

"All retailers of that caliber (Whole Foods) come with co-tenancy
requirements," Oshel said. "Williams-Sonoma likes to be where there is
already a Talbots and Ann Taylor. They like to go together." 

Oshel said she has no doubt there is a demand in Oklahoma City for a
Whole Foods store. 

A survey conducted for the chamber by David Lobaugh and presented last
month showed Whole Foods ranking highest among retailers desired by
focus groups. The survey showed 76.2 percent of respondents ranked Whole
Foods as their top choice, and 54.2 percent said they would drive 20
minutes to shop at Whole Foods. 

"There is a huge demand for Whole Foods," Oshel said. 

"It's one of the most common requests we get on the chamber level that
we go recruit."


Read more:
http://www.newsok.com/article/3459246?searched=whole%20foods&custom_clic
k=search#ixzz0nAm0Q200

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainableokc.org/pipermail/okc-sustainableokc.org/attachments/20100506/4bca4a3f/attachment.htm>