Weehawken officials and business leaders broke ground on a “Whole Foods Market 365” on Tuesday, aiming to open the high-end supermarket chain’s first New Jersey location for its new, lower-priced store by mid-2019. (Photo by Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)
Township and company officials say New Jersey’s first “Whole Foods Market 365” lower-priced store could be selling organic goodies on the Weehawken waterfront by late 2018.
Whole Foods, which is being acquired by online retailer Amazon, has suffered from declining sales and closed some stores in recent years, as a result of competition from similarly green grocers as well as the chain’s “Whole Paycheck” reputation for high prices.
The Weehawken store is part of the response to that. Whole Foods’ northeast regional president, Christina Minardi, said during a groundbreaking ceremony in Weehawken on Tuesday that the “Whole Foods Market 365” was created as a “value store” intended to offer the same quality food at lower prices.
Other 365 stores are being opened in California, Washington State, Texas, and Brooklyn’s Fort Green neighborhood, Minardi said. New Jersey’s first standard Whole Foods Market opened in 2000 in Edgewater, just upriver from Weehawken, and remains in operation.
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