Whole Foods Market
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Whole Foods Market Template:Nasdaq is an Austin, Texas based natural foods grocer, which, as of 2005, consists of over 165 locations in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Its CEO is John Mackey.
Whole Foods is widely known throughout the US for its high quality natural food products, many of which qualify as certified organic. For eight consecutive years now, the company has ranked favourably on Fortune magazines "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. The company has been cited for union busting, and does hold an anti-Union stance.
Whole Foods is currently in the midst of an international expansion; the company purchased a chain of six natural food stores in the United Kingdom under the name Fresh & Wild.
Whole Foods joined the ranks of the Fortune 500 in 2005, entering the list for the first time at position 479. (Source: Fortune.com)
Company Timeline
Source: Whole Foods
1978: John Mackey opens SaferWay in Austin, Texas.
1980: SaferWay merges with an Austin natural grocery store to open as Whole Foods Market with a staff of 19.
1984: Expands outside of Austin with store in Houston.
1988: Expands outside of Texas with purchase of Whole Foods Company in New Orleans.
1991: Acquires Wellspring Grocery of North Carolina.
1992: Company goes public and is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market; purchases Bread & Circus in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
1993: Acquires Mrs. Gooch's Natural Foods Markets in Los Angeles.
1995: Purchases the Northern California Bread of Life stores in the San Francisco Bay area.
1996: Purchases Fresh Fields on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
1997: Adds Florida Bread of Life stores; adds Whole Foods Market's 365 Everyday Value product line; purchases Allegro Coffee Company; acquires Merchant of Vino stores in the Detroit area.
1999: Acquires Nature's Heartland of Boston; opens 100th store in Torrence, Calif.
2000: Acquires Food 4 Thought Natural Food Market & Deli in Northern California.
2001: Opens first store in Manhattan; acquires three Harry's Farmers Market stores in Atlanta.
2002: Opens first location outside the United States in Canada (Toronto, Ontario); Whole Foods added to the NASDAQ-100 Index.
2003: Becomes United State's first national "certified organic" grocer; acquires Select Fish of Seattle and opens seafood processing plant in Atlanta, Ga.
2004: Acquires seven Fresh & Wild stores in the United Kingdom.
2005: Opens new world headquarters in Austin, Texas.
External link
- Company Website (http://www.wholefoods.com/)