Whole Foods is planning to open more than 30 new outlets in Canada over the next two years, giving it a total presence in the country of almost 100 stores.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal at the launch of the new 41,000ft2 Whole Foods outlet in Ottawa – the company’s 10th in Canada –, co-chief executive Walter Robb said the company had worked hard to be competitive on pricing at the new store.
“This is a dance between price, value and quality,” he said. “It’s a constant dance. We don’t all sell the same stuff. Part of our thing is to be relevant on price so that we can also bring the quality to the marketplace. We are not endeavouring to be in a race to the bottom, but a new top in quality.”
Whole Foods currently operates around 400 stores in the US, Canada and the UK and Robb said this figure is set to grow rapidly in the next two years given that “the opportunity for fresh, healthy foods is larger than ever”.
“We intend to grow as fast as we’ve ever grown – 40 new stores next year, 42-44 for the following,” he said.” That’s 10 per cent square footage growth on top of the 15m square feet of retail we already have.”
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