It has been more than a decade since Whole Foods Market opened a store in the UK, but today sees it launch its newest branch.

The opening marks a major milestone for the organic grocer. While the US-owned company has seen little recent expansion in the UK, it has undergone big changes in recent years, with a 40% increase in sales since its acquisition by Amazon in 2018.

“I think the Amazon acquisition allowed us to do a lot of great things, invest in price and explore new formats,” a Whole Foods spokesperson tells Grocery Gazette.

While Whole Foods has more than 500 stores worldwide, just seven of these are in the UK. After a 10-year stint with no new store openings, the grocery retailer is finally expanding its London presence with a new 21,800sq ft store at 120 King’s Road, Chelsea.

As the shop opens its doors to the public today (25 March), Grocery Gazette shares a first look at the new and exclusive features.

The “theatre of retail”

Presentation and assortment are key factors for the upmarket retailer says the company spokesperson, pointing out the store’s neatly stacked and colourful shelves: “We’re really focused on the theatre of retail. In a bustling city you want to come in and be able to relax and connect with the people and the products.”

It’s hard not to spot the emphasis on local community as you wander the store, with small red signs reading ‘Local’ dotted around. These point customers to locally-sourced and grown products, which Whole Foods says are becoming increasingly important to shoppers.

There are US influences weaved throughout the store, from open shelves that reflect the style of luxury US grocery retailer Erewhon, to the American cheesecakes in the bakery department.

“We are famous for our Brown Butter Cookies and in the US, we’re iconic for our Berry Chantilly Cake”, says the spokesperson. Both products are available in the King’s Road store.

With private label products growing in popularity both in the UK and the US, Whole Foods has also introduced private label weekday deals, including 25% off own-label soups on Thursdays.

“When we talk about quality and value, we want to make the quality accessible,” says the spokesperson.

Standout features

Some of the store’s standout features include the fresh meat, cheese and seafood counters, with open displays for shoppers to see the products.

“You don’t have to show the meat like this, you can just hide it,” says the spokesperson. “But I think there’s something really beautiful to be celebrated.”

The store displays prominent QR codes that allow shoppers to learn more about the credentials and provenance of meat and seafood ranges. “Customers, and Gen Z especially, are very conscious of where their food comes from,” the spokesperson adds.

The Kings Road store also offers cheese sampling, freshly made sushi, and a salad bar as well as a selection of more than 400 wines and a range of local beers, a full-service coffee bar and a ‘grind your own nut butter’ section.

To limit food waste, this latest store will also offer a partnership with surplus food platform Too Good To Go seven days a week, offering shoppers surplus prepared food approaching its sell-by or use-by date at discounted prices.

Exclusive products

While the new store looks to provide a connection with those in the surrounding Chelsea area, creating a community in the store itself is just as important. The shop has 111 team members, 60 of who are new to the company and have been hired locally.

Store team leader Bianca Rojas says: “We’re really excited because this is the first store that I really feel is ingrained already in the community. On the King’s Road, everybody knows each other, everybody works together, businesses and residents have been so welcoming to us.”

A feature unique to this store is its ice cream and pizza offering, with exclusive flavours picked out by team members.

“We worked with Ice Cream Union, which is a local producer that we have a really good relationship with”, Rojas says.

“They were able to give us samples of various different flavours. We wanted to incorporate flowers to tie into the Chelsea Flower Show and the vibe of the community. My team members got to sample them and decide which one we wanted to launch with.

“I think our customers will find it so special that they’ll be able to get something here that maybe isn’t available even at our other stores.”

The Rose and Pistachio ice cream isn’t the only product decided on by team members. A new pesto, fennel salami and hot honey pizza – made freshly in-store from an Italian pizza oven – was also decided on in-house.

“I love opening a new store and being able to incorporate our team members into making creative decisions that a lot of the time retail workers are kept out of, hopefully that helps us launch with a very bonded feel,” adds Rojas.

Other exclusive items in the curated grocery section include products from XOXO, Joe & Steph’s, Old Spike Roastery and Good Phats.

“Because King’s Road is a really foodie destination now, I think our customers are really going to be excited to have our quality standards, specialised foods and exclusive items available to them,” Rojas says.

What’s next?

While the opening of this store is a major step forward for Whole Foods in expanding its UK presence, the company won’t be stopping here.

The spokesperson tells Grocery Gazette that there are 90 stores in the pipeline right now, which will open across the US, Canada and the UK. While an exact figure for the UK has not been revealed, they confirm that Whole Foods is “actively looking at multiple sites in the UK”.

While elements of this store, including the layout, will likely be used in future UK sites, each will be planned “with the community in mind”.