Retailer Spotlight of the Month: 365 by Whole Foods

Whole Foods recently opened in Silver Lake, California the first of its smaller and budget-conscious new format stores: 365.

365 Store in Silver Lake, California

The new store format offers simple and clean design infused with many high-tech features to enhance offerings and streamline store operations (i.e. customers weigh their own produce to accelerate cashier transactions). At the center of the store is a section with prepared foods where customers can pick from the typical buffet but also order through an online kiosk and pick up at a window as well as an automated tea/coffee kiosk where customers can customize their own coffee and tea blends.  

The automated tea and coffee kiosk

The store main customer target are millennials, and the first store in Silver Lake includes a craft beer bar and vegan offerings from a local restaurant. However, its accessible layout and lower price point has also attracted an increasing number of seniors.

365 stores will generally measure 25,000 to 30,000 square feet, small compared with traditional Whole Foods locations, which average 38,000 and can go well beyond 50,000 square feet. They will also have roughly a quarter the number of products – reducing real estate and merchandise-related costs. Staffing is leaner and no longer specialized. An iPad app replaces wine experts, while meat, cheese and fish are in “grab-and-go” packages – meaning no butchers or cheese and fishmongers.

In addition to the first location, in Silver Lake, Calif., two more 365 stores are scheduled to open in 2016 (in Oregon and Washington), and 10 more are scheduled to open in 2017.  Stores will all have similar layout and design aesthetics, but for each, Whole Foods is planning to add local flavor through the addition of different local retailers. Still in the planning stages, Whole Foods says that shoppers may find bike shops, music stores, barber shops, pet supply retailers, or knife-sharpening services inside 365 stores.

For more info you can contact one of the company's regional offices. You can find their phone number and email here:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info/regional-offices