posted on December 03, 2010 22:06
Whole Foods Market Inc. is prepping for a new round of national expansion beyond the three new stores planned here in Austin and another two in the United Kingdom.
This month, the company signed seven new U.S. leases averaging 33,000 square feet in Laguna Niguel, Calif.; Miami; Minnetonka, Minn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Concordville, Penn.; and Lynnwood, Wash.
“We have signed 20 new leases over the last 12 months and expect to open a higher number of new stores beginning in 2012,” John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, said in the firm’s fourth quarter earnings conference call.
James Sud, executive vice president of growth and development, said the company is seeing a lot of real estate opportunities, although most are in second-generation space because the downturn has hindered new development.
Here’s an excerpt from the CoStar Group’s retail blog quoting from the conference call:
“We have the infrastructure, we have the cash, we have the cash flow, but we’re not going to just sign stores to hit some kind of growth number or some kind of percentage or some kind of target,” Sud said. “We’re going to sign stores if we find good locations that we think are going to deliver good returns on capital for us. So certainly, we’ve got the green light on. We’re still very proud of the fact that in our 30-plus year history, we’ve never had a store that we opened ourselves ever fail. So we’re really determined to keep that track record alive.”
For its fiscal 2010, the company reported sales of $9 billion and its latest quarterly results were positive. Net income rose to $57.5 million, or 33 cents per share, in the fourth fiscal quarter, up from $28.7 million, or 20 cents per share, the same three months last year.
Sud said he expects that by 2012, the company will average opening about 20 stores annually.
In Austin, the three stores in the works include:
• A store in the Hill Country Galleria, with an estimated target opening of spring 2012
• A Southwest Austin store in the Arbor Trails Shopping Center at Mopac Expressway and William Cannon Drive, with an estimated target opening of fall 2011
• A location at The Domain in North Austin, with an estimated target opening of spring 2013
Meanwhile overseas, the natural and organic foods retailer is opening a 22,000-square-foot store in Glasgow, Scotland, and a 20,000-square-foot shop in London, according to our previous story this month.
The location in Scotland will open in 2011, and London will come online in 2013, creating 300 jobs.
Whole Foods currently operates five stores in the London area, and this will be its first U.K. expansion since opening a store in Kensington in 2007.
Whole Foods, founded in 1980, operates about 300 stores in 38 U.S. states, Canada and the U.K. The company now has nearly 50 stores in development, averaging about 33,000-43,000 square feet, according to its website and latest press reports.
11/30/10, Austin Business Journal, Francisco Vara-Orta