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Whole Foods

Whole Foods Ontario Head - Interview

Found a posting of an interview with the head of the Ontario Division of Whole Foods.

http://broadband.bnn.ca/?vid=26348

In it he discusses the Canadian Organics Market and their own 'comparable' or 'same-store' sales growth.

(20% and 8% respectively)

And he also mentions future expansion, specifically signalling stores for Montreal, Otttawa...and multiple new Toronto-area stores.

*****

Of note....I saw in a another forum a suggestion that Whole Foods has just purchased land in Richmond Hill......

Not sure of the veracity, but the poster seemed sure enough...
 
I promise not to revive old posts like this but this one caught my eye...

I'm not sure how many people are aware but the location of the Whole Foods store in Oakville is the previous location of the Monsanto plant. :eek:

Ironic no?


I used to live on Inglehart Street - long, long ago.
 
Whole Foods - New Stores Rumour

I know there's an existing Whole Foods thread, but I thought it was getting stale.

So new rumour here...

Not confirmed, but I hear.....

Whole Foods will shortly announce 4-5 GTA/Eastern Canada stores.

I hear...

Mississauga (Square One is rumoured)
North York (Yonge + Sheppard)
Midtown (Yonge + Eglinton)
York Region (Richmond Hill)

Also one non-GTA location (either Ottawa or Montreal)

For the life of me, I can pick out where many of these might go, but Yonge+Eg ..... where would you fit a new 40,000 square foot store?

*******

None of these were announced, in yesterday's quarterly earnings announcement.

However, it was confirmed that the Canadian Operations are now highly profitable, growing, and indeed out performing the overall operation in profitability. ($14,000,000 net over the last 4 quarters, with roughly 4 stores)

Currently they have the 2 GTA stores, 1 in Vancouver, but also 3 small Capers stores in Vancouver picked up at part of the Wild Oats merger).
 
Whole Foods lists stores long before they open (sometimes several years) on their website, and for the Toronto area they only have Sherway listed.

I recently visited Whole Foods in Yorkville for the first time, and was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for more prepared meals since I'm not much of a cook and am trying to eat healthier. I'm gradually waning myself off fast food and other unhealthy food.
 
Maybe for Y&E, the base of one of the condos (Eglinton and Dunfield?). Yonge and Eglinton and Yonge and Sheppard aren't that far apart. They might do better like Bayview Village mall.
 
Re: Square One location.

Any guesses where it might be located? I can't see it in the mall proper or one of the new properties being developed in the surrounding parking lots/land. Perhaps among the early condo developments just west of the mall? Another possibility would be a portion of the large piece of land on the south side of Burnhamthorpe, between Confederation and Grand Park.

I enjoy visiting the Oakville location on occasion. I am a big fan of their coffee shop, pastries and cafe area. If one is built near my home in the MCC, I might have to take out a line of credit to cover the inevitable increase in visits.
 
Strange. The Sherway site's not on the Web page anymore.
I heard that the Sears on-site was fighting it, for some reason. Too bad. It would be nice to have one nearby, although I only purchase items that are on sale. They are pricey!
 
Is there a large enough space available in the mall or was the plan to build in the parking lot?

when i was at sherway last week, noted that the sears 2 level parkade was being levelled. it was aging as it were but seems ripe to me for a WF location with the footprint that parkade took.
 
It was being taken down? I haven't been to Sherway since the spring and I was under the impression that they were enlarging it. I guess it's hard to tell when everything is cordoned off but the actual work hasn't begun.

Your explanation would certainly explain Sears' opposition. WF would attract enough traffic in the nearby parking spaces that many Sherway shoppers would park towards the other end to avoid it. I guess Sears feels that this would reduce the number of shoppers passing through their store.
 
sherway's site only says "during the rehabilitation of the SEARS PARKING DECK
we invite you to use the SEARS PARKING SHUTTLE courtesy of ...."

http://www.sherwaygardens.ca/customerservice/index.ch2

other than that spot, i can't think of anywhere else to build something the size that WF requires without compromising existing parking - which can be a real hassle during the holidays with or without that parkade.
 
Sherway et al.

I know the staff at Yorkville have been shown the drawings and layout for the Sherway store.

There is/was some sort of hold up....

But the info I have is that they are projecting a Fall 2009 opening.

****

All this nonsense with the credit markets and the slow down in profits at the U.S. stores has Whole Foods slowing down their capital program.

But with 1 or 2 exceptions they're still committed to the same build-out, they just want to spread it over an extra year or two.

Whole Foods isn't all that leveraged (indebted) but debt does partially finance expansion. So there will likely be fewer stores announced in the next while.

However, since the Canadian stores are leading the chain in profit, I can imagine a few more will be coming.

****

As an interesting note about possible future stores....Whole Foods runs a loan program for small producers/farmers/suppliers.

They just extended it into Canada....

Into Ontario (where there are currently 2 stores); BC (where there are 4 or so); and....Quebec (currently no stores)

Perhaps that is indicative so something.....
 

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