Whole Foods is one of the largest organic food chains in the United States of America. It has developed swiftly since the opening of its first business in 1980 in Austin, Texas. Whole Foods has well over 400 stores, over $8 billion in sales and over 50,000 employees. This company's success was due to procurement and purchase of Wild Oats, the second largest organic food supply grocer. Whole Foods primary focus was combined with product appearance and the way they strategize their business. It is one of the nation's leading grocery chain and is dominant in force. Whole Foods success story is built on their core values and loyalty to the customers who firmly believes in their success. According to Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, "Whole Foods has been able to bind together a very successful strategy based on organic, natural, and gourmet foods, for consumers wanting much more from their food purchases than mainstream food retailers have offered." .
Company History.
Whole Foods was founded in 1980 by John Mackey, Renee Lawson Hardy owners of Safer Way Natural Foods and Craig Well, and Mark Skiles owners of Clarksvill Natural Grocery. Whole Foods was founded in Austin Texas. The store opened with 19 staff members. In 1980 when Whole Foods opened, there were many small natural food stores open across the country. However, there were less than six natural food supermarkets in the United States. In 1984, a second store was opened in Dallas Texas. The next to open was in New Orleans with the purchase of Whole Foods Company in 1988 and in 1989 the company expanded to the west coast. Today Whole Foods stores can be found in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom specializing in organic and natural foods. This is a company that is traded on NASDAQ under DFM for $49.03 per share. Whole Foods has two co-CEO's Walter Robb and John Mackey. .
Whole Foods has been called the Grocer of the twenty- first century.
