More on Whole Foods and Wild Oats

From our pals over at Natural-Specialty Food Memo, here's a little more info on Whole Foods' US expansion plans as well as what they might be looking at for the Wild Oats stores in the future. One has to assume that our Indianapolis store is in the 29-30 new stores planned for 2009. (I'm not sure there's any way they can make 2008 unless I'm totally wrong about where this store is planned to go at this point.) From Natural-Specialty Food Memo's post:

The 29-30 new stores will all likely be no smaller than 45,000 square feet (except in special cases like urban neighborhoods where there are geographical limitations of course) and as big as 80,000 square feet. The new stores also will be located both in regions like Texas and the west and east coasts, where Whole Foods' already has a substantial number of stores, and in new areas of the U.S. where the grocer has little or no current retail presence.

Whole Foods also is set to open its Whole Foods Express small-format, convenience-oriented prototype store in a renovated former Wild Oats market building in Boulder, Colorado later this year. If that test--and format--proves successful, we could see the supernatural grocer join the growing small-format grocery store revolution in the U.S. with additional Express stores in other parts of the country perhaps even beginning next year.

From what we've been able to learn thus far, the Whole Foods Express format will be about 15,000 square feet -to- 20,000 square feet in size. It will feature a limited selection of natural and organic grocery products, fresh produce and meats and other perishables.

A key feature of the Express store will be an extensive selection of natural, organic, healthy and tasty ready-to-eat and ready-to heat prepared foods. We also expect to see some sort of an in store cafe in the Express store, as well as a small version of a Whole Foods-style in-store Bistro food service venue.