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Smallest Whole Foods Market to debut

Whole Foods Market opens its first made-over Johnnie's Foodmaster location, the chain's smallest store yet.

Christine Kapperman, Senior Content Director

April 9, 2013

2 Min Read
Smallest Whole Foods Market to debut

What may be the smallest Whole Foods Market is set to open in Brookline, Mass., this week.

The 8,000-square-foot former Johnnie’s Foodmaster is scheduled to open Thursday, April 11. Traditional Whole Foods stores range from 50,000 to 70,000 square feet while the typical independent natural products store averages 6,300 square feet, according to Natural Foods Merchandiser’s annual Market Overview industry survey.

This location could preview more of what’s to come for the natural chain that has focused in the last year on expanding into smaller markets with smaller stores.

Take a sneak peek with pictures posted at brookline.patch.com of the store that will highlight ready-to-eat convenience, employ 75 and stock 4,000 products with a focus on New England flavor and flair.

“We didn’t eliminate any entire department,” associate team leader David Lomonaco told the Boston Herald in an article that previews the store. “We squeezed them in.”

The Boston Business Journal reported last month about the state of the area’s grocery shakeup with Whole Foods taking on six leases from Johnnie’s closures, and Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. taking others.

Johnnie’s Foodmaster was a family-owned supermarket chain started in 1947 that toughed it out in a competitive grocery environment until last fall, when it announced the Whole Foods agreement, as reported by the Boston Globe.
 

John DeJesus, owner of Johnnie’s Foodmaster, said in a statement that the opportunity to sell the other six to Whole Foods “made a tough decision much easier.” He added, “The time was right to make this change for our company. I am confident that we have found the best partner that offers the most positive outcome, not only for our employees but for the communities as well.”

 

About the Author

Christine Kapperman

Senior Content Director, New Hope Network

As the senior content director at New Hope Network, Christine Kapperman combines her 20-year journalism background with her passion for business to cover the natural products industry for newhope.com and Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine. She also led content at worldteanews.com. She loves tracking (and tasting) trends as she shares what’s next to show up in cups, plates and in pantries across the United States.

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