Whole Foods To Open 7,000 Square Foot Stores

[pseudo3d]

I thought the small store fad died in the 2000s. Walmart abandoned "Marketside", Safeway/Vons gave up on "The Market", and of course Fresh & Easy was a colossal failure.

But someone has to keep throwing money at it hoping they figure it out...

My understanding that was Fresh & Easy (like Amazon) was hyped up to be a gamechanger in the industry (the first stores opened in late 2007) and everyone got spooked into rolling out similar concepts the following year. Walmart opened Marketside in 2008...SuperValu opened "Urban Fresh by Jewel" in 2008...Safeway opened The Market in 2008 (link)...I'm not sure if there were any others. As F&E was a dud, the small formats also died.

[veteran+]

I thought the small store fad died in the 2000s. Walmart abandoned "Marketside", Safeway/Vons gave up on "The Market", and of course Fresh & Easy was a colossal failure.

But someone has to keep throwing money at it hoping they figure it out...

My understanding that was Fresh & Easy (like Amazon) was hyped up to be a gamechanger in the industry (the first stores opened in late 2007) and everyone got spooked into rolling out similar concepts the following year. Walmart opened Marketside in 2008...SuperValu opened "Urban Fresh by Jewel" in 2008...Safeway opened The Market in 2008 (link)...I'm not sure if there were any others. As F&E was a dud, the small formats also died.

Fresh & Easy opened late 2006 and early 2007.

[ClownLoach]

I thought the small store fad died in the 2000s. Walmart abandoned "Marketside", Safeway/Vons gave up on "The Market", and of course Fresh & Easy was a colossal failure.

But someone has to keep throwing money at it hoping they figure it out...

My understanding that was Fresh & Easy (like Amazon) was hyped up to be a gamechanger in the industry (the first stores opened in late 2007) and everyone got spooked into rolling out similar concepts the following year. Walmart opened Marketside in 2008...SuperValu opened "Urban Fresh by Jewel" in 2008...Safeway opened The Market in 2008 (link)...I'm not sure if there were any others. As F&E was a dud, the small formats also died.

Fresh & Easy opened late 2006 and early 2007.

Looking at this WFM concept, it is so small and so limited that it is not even really comparable to Fresh & Easy. It is a health food convenience store. It is less than half the size of F&E.

As far as small format stores go, yes the market got really excited about them and everyone wanted to open one.

Here's what they all missed: while they were making a lot of noise about their flashy formats like F&E, meanwhile true small formats Trader Joe's and Aldi were multiplying like rabbits.

Although F&E imploded along with Marketside, etc. the TJs/Aldi duo was the success they wanted to be. Until 1996 Trader Joe's was primarily in California, now they have more stores in the East than the West. Aldi grew from East to West and is still adding store count on the West Coast.

So small format is not a fad but instead is here to stay, and it is completely dominated by Trader Joe's and Aldi. They are the successes all of the defunct stores named above wish they could be.

[J-Man]

There was a small-format Whole Foods in downtown Santa Monica (500 Wilshire Blvd.) that closed in 2017. I'm not sure of the square footage; I was in it a long time ago and it was definitely nowhere near a normal-sized WF (or even a 365.)

[ClownLoach]

There was a small-format Whole Foods in downtown Santa Monica (500 Wilshire Blvd.) that closed in 2017. I'm not sure of the square footage; I was in it a long time ago and it was definitely nowhere near a normal-sized WF (or even a 365.)

I think that was another converted Wild Oats. There is still one left in Laguna Beach.

[Bluelightspecial]

They have some of these small size stores in the bay area already but they are standard Whole Foods banner and just as described in locations where a full size store cannot fit.

They probably figured out these little stores get far higher ROI so they will go forward and expand them. Of course the number of locations where these will get great ROI and where they will dilute the brand will be a delicate balance.

Service departments look limited to a service coffee in the photos. Why even bother with service coffee, there is going to be a variety of existing coffee shops nearby anyway. Why waste space with THAT?

Agree. And Whole Foods has a bunch of small stores already that they took over years ago from retailers like Ms Gooch's and Westward Ho. There are two in my area and they are always packed. In an urban area like NYC, LA, or SF it definitely makes since.

[ClownLoach]

They have some of these small size stores in the bay area already but they are standard Whole Foods banner and just as described in locations where a full size store cannot fit.

They probably figured out these little stores get far higher ROI so they will go forward and expand them. Of course the number of locations where these will get great ROI and where they will dilute the brand will be a delicate balance.

Service departments look limited to a service coffee in the photos. Why even bother with service coffee, there is going to be a variety of existing coffee shops nearby anyway. Why waste space with THAT?

Agree. And Whole Foods has a bunch of small stores already that they took over years ago from retailers like Ms Gooch's and Westward Ho. There are two in my area and they are always packed. In an urban area like NYC, LA, or SF it definitely makes since.

This is like when a company that is adrift in an ocean of problems announces that they're fixing everything with a new logo.

This is just noise, a distraction to pretend that they have a clue and get the investors to stop questioning how a billion dollars in cash is sitting in purgatory with no update for a year (the Amazon Fresh closing fund), how a company worth a preposterous amount on paper had to actually take out a loan last year to maintain cash liquidity, and how a company that calls itself "Earth's most customer centric company" is seeing its brand reputation plummet to all-time lows.

They'll go change the sign on these existing smaller stores everyone's pointing out, I guess paint them plain white and green based on the snorefest pictures, open a couple more, and then issue a press release to investors with "Mission Accomplished" on it followed by a investor call with pre-submitted questions only to prevent having to answer any real hardballs.

[veteran+]

You called it!!!!

[pseudo3d]

My understanding that was Fresh & Easy (like Amazon) was hyped up to be a gamechanger in the industry (the first stores opened in late 2007) and everyone got spooked into rolling out similar concepts the following year. Walmart opened Marketside in 2008...SuperValu opened "Urban Fresh by Jewel" in 2008...Safeway opened The Market in 2008 (link)...I'm not sure if there were any others. As F&E was a dud, the small formats also died.

Fresh & Easy opened late 2006 and early 2007.

Looking at this WFM concept, it is so small and so limited that it is not even really comparable to Fresh & Easy. It is a health food convenience store. It is less than half the size of F&E.

As far as small format stores go, yes the market got really excited about them and everyone wanted to open one.

Here's what they all missed: while they were making a lot of noise about their flashy formats like F&E, meanwhile true small formats Trader Joe's and Aldi were multiplying like rabbits.

Although F&E imploded along with Marketside, etc. the TJs/Aldi duo was the success they wanted to be. Until 1996 Trader Joe's was primarily in California, now they have more stores in the East than the West. Aldi grew from East to West and is still adding store count on the West Coast.

So small format is not a fad but instead is here to stay, and it is completely dominated by Trader Joe's and Aldi. They are the successes all of the defunct stores named above wish they could be.

Aldi and Trader Joe's were successful because they offer/offered a unique product mix that just wasn't seen elsewhere. You weren't getting a sub-standard 15,000 square foot grocery store, you were getting a new experience that offered a fresh spin on the traditional grocery store with some exclusive products, interesting finds, and good deals. And by the time they were expanding in the 2000s they spent decades tweaking their merchandise mix, building up a solid supply chain, and building up a following.

The gravest sin that Lidl and Fresh & Easy (and to a lesser degree Amazon Fresh) all did was march in with an ambitious plan and declared war on the traditional supermarkets. If Tesco had not gone in with an entirely new (and non-standard) distribution system, opened half a dozen stores around the country, figured out what worked and what didn't, they might've had more success in their venture.

As it stands, no one really wants 7k square foot stores that are just the same as their larger stores but less stuff.

[ClownLoach]

Fresh & Easy opened late 2006 and early 2007.

Looking at this WFM concept, it is so small and so limited that it is not even really comparable to Fresh & Easy. It is a health food convenience store. It is less than half the size of F&E.

As far as small format stores go, yes the market got really excited about them and everyone wanted to open one.

Here's what they all missed: while they were making a lot of noise about their flashy formats like F&E, meanwhile true small formats Trader Joe's and Aldi were multiplying like rabbits.

Although F&E imploded along with Marketside, etc. the TJs/Aldi duo was the success they wanted to be. Until 1996 Trader Joe's was primarily in California, now they have more stores in the East than the West. Aldi grew from East to West and is still adding store count on the West Coast.

So small format is not a fad but instead is here to stay, and it is completely dominated by Trader Joe's and Aldi. They are the successes all of the defunct stores named above wish they could be.

Aldi and Trader Joe's were successful because they offer/offered a unique product mix that just wasn't seen elsewhere. You weren't getting a sub-standard 15,000 square foot grocery store, you were getting a new experience that offered a fresh spin on the traditional grocery store with some exclusive products, interesting finds, and good deals. And by the time they were expanding in the 2000s they spent decades tweaking their merchandise mix, building up a solid supply chain, and building up a following.

As it stands, no one really wants 7k square foot stores that are just the same as their larger stores but less stuff.

Fresh and Easy was absolutely intended to be a fresh spin on the traditional grocery store. Their products were unique and different. The problem was that they were so arrogant they built up infrastructure before opening which meant that they couldn't possibly make any money until they had a thousand stores or more. Then they picked mostly terrible locations. But as for being unique and different, I think they were way better than Aldi on that front. Aldi is a mostly boring sub-par mini grocery store, with just enough occasional special buys to spark some interest.