Whole Foods officials believe its new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores will open up more areas to create customer engagement and extend brand loyalty.
Slated to begin opening in 2016, the new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores will offer convenience and everyday low prices on natural and organic products that meet the company’s industry-leading quality standards.
Jeff Turnas, a 20-year Whole Foods Market veteran, will serve as president of 365 by Whole Foods Market and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Austin. Turnas has held various leadership positions on both the product and operations fronts, including president of the company’s North Atlantic Region, and most recently as president of its U.K. Region.
Company officials believe the new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores will enable them to take their high quality standards and great shopping experience to even more people in a smaller format with value pricing throughout these new stores.
Whole Foods Market co-CEO Walter Robb talked about the new store concept at last week’s William Blair investor conference.
“We think it has the potential to take this name and this number and reflect much further into the marketplace beyond just around products, but actually around creating a format which is fun, which is exciting, which is modern, which is streamlined, which is cool, which is convenient,” Robb explained. “The quality standards will remain the same. The quality standards will be across both of the banners, both Whole Foods Market and 365. We chose this name very deliberately, 365 by Whole Foods Market. We want to make it clear that we’re not dumbing down the quality standards this company has built and stands for at the present day in the marketplace. We want to take these quality standards and make them more broadly accessible to broader swaths of the market at a time when the market is asking for that to happen.”
Turnas can’t wait to launch the new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores.
“It’s exciting to take the best of Whole Foods, the things that work really well for us, but also shed some of the legacy and some of the things that slow us down,” Turnas explained. “We’re going to be quick, nimble, and we’re going to put a team together that’s going to create something that we’ll see where it goes. But it’s pretty exciting to take it on and I look forward to all of you seeing the first one.”
The new 365 by Whole Foods Market stores will be more curated, Turnas added
“We’re going to create a concept for our regions, our good operators to execute,” he said. “The exact mix in what it looks like, what it feels like … we’re putting it together, but we’re going to take the best of what we do and we’re going to bring it down to an opportunity for people to get in and out, get there quicker. But at the end of it, always know that the quality standards are not going to be changed or there’s no wavering from that. So there’s a trust that Whole Foods brings to a curated, little bit more directed way of opening and operating stores.”